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Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect Launch Games
We rate the first six titles
Review
Kinect Adventures
Bundled with the hardware, Kinect Adventures is a compilation of minigames intended to introduce players to Kinect's distinct brand of motion-controlled gaming.
It's a title developed with the whole family in mind, where children and parents can compete against each other on a level playing field. But, like all other bundled motion-controlled games, Kinect Adventures' novelty soon wears thin.
A rush?
That's not to say the game isn't enjoyable, or a decent demo of the tech, just that it's a particularly lightweight introduction to the world of Kinect.
All five minigames have their merits, but the stand-out games are 20,000 Leaks and River Rush, especially when played by two players. In the first game, players are placed in a glass box at the bottom of the ocean. The objective is to plug cracks in the glass made by cute-but-malevolent fish and sharks. It's a great show off of Kinect's 3D space mapping, as you use the whole play space, moving left, right, forwards and backwards to plug the leaks with both hands and feet.
River Rush is instantly familiar as the game shown in many Kinect pre-release tech demos, where you steer a raft down white water rapids by side-stepping left and right and jumping to leap over obstacles and ramps. It's a great looking minigame - with especially impressive water effects - and a lot of fun when two players are steering the raft. But even with collectible Adventure Pins increasing the challenge, players will soon tire of its limited courses.
Rally round the family
The remaining three games, Rallyball, Space Pop and River Ridge all entertain in their own way, and all hint at the future potential of Kinect. But, despite an adventure mode, which mixes up the game types and includes an element of progression, and despite timed play and Xbox Live play, Kinect Adventures is just too meagre an offering to sustain interest for more than a few hours.
Reg Rating 60%
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Biting the hand that feeds IT
