Kinect: Star Wars

Kinect: Star Wars is finally here. Rewind back a bit to E3 two years ago when it was first unveiled as more of a tech demo and how awesome it looked. Using the force to push back stormtroopers, clashing lightsabers in battle — this was going to be the hardcore game for the Kinect. As much as it pains me to say this, it falls short of the hardcore market, and by a longshot too. Kinect: Star Wars instead caters to a younger crowd of Star Wars fans, or the die hards that have to own everything Star Wars related.

That isn't to say that the game is bad. In fact, I was surprised at how much better it was since its last outing at E3. It was more responsive, had more modes, and looked really great.

The main attraction in the game obviously is the Story mode. After choosing who you want to play as, you're then trained in the arts of a lightsaber, and then whisked off to Kashyyyk for more training by Master Yoda. In true Star Wars fashion, sh*t hits the fan. Kashyyyk gets overrun and you're tasked to get rid of the attacking Trandoshans and battle droids.

Let's be honest here, what really matters is how awesome you feel when you swing a lightsaber. Kinect: Star Wars doesn't do a terrible job at it, but there is still something missing to the experience. For the most part, the game can read your movements fine, with horizontal slashes and vertical slashes, but this is far from a one-to-one experience. The biggest issue here is that you're holding nothing. It's tough to even imagine a lightsaber in your hand when there is no resistance, especially in a lightsaber duel. You also use your other hand to force push or lift objects which can be very helpful against other enemies, but it also feels slightly awkward, mainly due to the fact that it sometimes doesn't read your hand correctly.