Rare has been hard at work with Kinect Sports Rivals, the first game to take advantage of the new super sensitive Kinect 2 sensor for the Xbox One. The game has some classic games from the first Kinect Sports: Bowling, Soccer and Tennis but adds new sports such as Climbing, Target Shooting and Wake Racing. Kinect Sports Rivals is different from the original Kinect Sports, you are on an island and competing in various events to gain fans, fame and fortune. Think of it as an Olympics of sorts with rival teams that you must beat. You can eventually join one of the teams and lead your team victory!
The first impressive display of the Kinect sensor is the initial setup where the Kinect scanner will scan your face into the game. The creepy part is it’s really accurate and did a pretty good job of scanning my face into the game. The game even told me to put my glasses back on because I had taken them off just before the scan started, remind me not to leave my Xbox One plugged in at night in case it wakes up and takes over the world while I am asleep. You can adjust this scan in the in the game if you accidentally smiled or talked during the scanning process.
You’ll then meet your coach who will then guide you through the menu system and straight into some tutorials of each sport. Meeting the teams is also part of the game so you can decide which team you will want to join later on in your career. There are three teams you can join, the Eagle Team, Wolf Clan and Viper Network.
At first you’ll be flip flopping around the room as you try to figure out which movements you should be doing, such as I was trying to drive a car instead of a water ski do and ended up crashing many times. Fortunately, the game throws easier opponents at you and slowly increases the difficulty at a good pace so you don’t lose straight off. The Wake Racing was pretty fun, not just a simple racer, you must perform stunts and use power ups such as Speed Boost, Force Field and drop Mines to defeat your opponents at the race.
Another fun sport is the Climbing, there are 6 mountains to climb. This involves quite a bit of co-ordination as you have to have a firm grip while reaching for the next one above. You’ll also have to climb sideways and diagonally sometimes. If you are close enough to an opponents, you can grab their feet and toss them off the mountain, however they can do this to you as well. There are three power ups in this challenge, Super Jump where you can jump really high get to the top faster, Shock Shield where your opponents will get shocked if they try to grab you and Blast Wave which will weaken your opponents grip. It is important to keep a good rhythm in the game but not go to fast where you’ll have to rest.
Target Shooting is the last of the new games, this involves having a steady aim with your hand and shooting various targets. Some targets must be shot in order, others have to be avoided at all costs, some change colours where Gold is the highest score. There is also a turret that is your power up, this is used to steal points from your opponent who gets the same targets as you. Power ups include: Blind Fire, when activate your opponent’s target are blank so they don’t know what they are shooting at, Target Bonus which increases the value of your own target and Gun Jammer which causes your opponent’s gun to jam.
Bowling is back and it’s really precise this time. If you happen to curve left when you are throwing a bowling ball in real life, Kinect Sports Rivals will pick that up! The power ups include Hand Switcher which forces your opponent to use their opposite hand to throw the next ball, Speed Bowl increases the speed of your bowl and Meteor Ball which leaves a hole your opponent must avoid in the next shot.
Soccer is much harder now as the Kinect 2 tracks your force and direction of your kicks with much more precision. You still can’t run around the field, so it’s more like foosball. You can now more easily pass over or do low kicks, it is important to time your kicks to open players. Saving the ball also involves quick reflexes as you use your hands, head and feet to stop incoming shots. Power ups include: Goal Shields and block the net, Super Charge charges up your shots and Time Steal forces the shot clock to be faster for your opponent.
Tennis is back in Kinect Sports Rivals! One of the most fun sports from the original Kinect Sports involves balance of power and timing to hit the tennis ball. Wildly swinging hard will get you nowhere in this game, you need to ensure you hit the ball with a sufficient force but time it perfectly so it beats your opponent. The Energy Boost power up will increase your stamina so you can have more energy to hit the ball, the Super Racket power up will time your hits exactly right and Disruptor Racket will make your opponents racket smaller.
Graphics are very nice being a next gen console; the music includes a variety of unique and top 40 tracks that you will recognize. Some of the voice acting is a little corny, but hey what do you expect in a cartoony island?
There is also a companion app called the Kinect Sports Hub, this is where you can find a monthly challenge that is not in the game. By participating in the monthly challenges in each sport, you will raise up in the various levels (Leagues start from Bronze up to Master League). Each new League unlocks new outfits you can use in the regular game.
At the time of this review, Online Multiplayer was limited to your friends only. I couldn’t find any option to challenge any random person online. This is a big letdown as obviously you want to beat complete people strangers to become the ultimate champion. Local play is available in some games as split screen, but not all and is a blast once you’ve got everyone setup.
I also got stuck in the Kinect Sports Rival app somehow and could not return to the game at all, I finally resorted to shouting LISTEN and choosing a sport to get back to the main game menu. Very odd indeed!
Over all most of the sports are pretty fun, some players might just stick with the quick play mode instead of playing the game through as a “single player story mode”. The soccer being one of the least fun games, the other sports are a blast to try out. If you were excited about Kinect Sports on the Xbox 360, this Kinect Sports Rivals for the Xbox One will be a fun game for you! If you are not into motion games, make a pass on this one.
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