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Review: Kinect Star Wars

Let’s face it: from the moment the world knew what Kinect could do (or, at least, what it claimed it could do that fateful first E3), the world dreamed of swinging a lightsaber around in real time.

Whilst at the same time making that “woosh, woosh” noise, of course.

Fast forward a few years to 2012. That saber-swinging time, Microsoft promises, is now upon us! Meet Kinect Star Wars, a title that coincides with the release of the Star Wars-branded Xbox 360 Kinect bundle. From that marketing pitch alone, we know the game is targeted at die-hard fans, but how will normal gamers go with this title? Or, for that matter, how will children?

You’ll get more out of Kinect Star Wars if you put more in. There are a heap of modes to try out, but the main storyline – or “Jedi Destiny” mode – is a great place to start. You’ll take on the role of a Padawan Jedi as he or she learns Jedi skills and tries to become a light-side bad-ass. You’ll jump, kick, force push and saber-swing your way through enemies, dodging past obstacle course sections at times in an effort to break up the combat.  You move around and swing? So does your on-screen Jedi. Simple as that.

Well, mostly simple. Like all Kinect titles, tracking can sometimes be spotty. If you step forward to run at enemies, you’ll probably get a “Step back” sensor warning. If you jump, the sensor might miss it, and you’ll be killed by an enemy’s rocket salvo before you can leap again. Swinging a lightsaber is fairly decent; it’s pretty much one-to-one, and that’s where the fun lies. Where the fun stops abruptly is when you have to square off with mini-bosses that require four or five strategic blocks before you can get a real hit in.

I pretty much jumped over enemies and then swiped at them to get kills. But, the move is so effective, the game quickly turned into “rinse, repeat.”

Other modes are sometimes interesting, and sometimes random: bored of Dance Central? Well, then try Kinect Star Wars’ dance mode. You’ll be jiggling to songs like “Han Solo,” a reappropriation of “Flying Solo” by Chris Brown. It’s alright…but it’s random. Extras like separate lightsaber duels, podracing, or the Rampage-esque “Rancor Rampage” mode fit much better with Star Wars lore and are quite fun at that.

Story-wise, it’s pretty Star Wars-esque to me. I won’t claim to know if it falls within established canon or not, but you’ll be running through planets and starships fighting bad guys, and at times riding landspeeders or space fighters to achieve goals. It’s a great sci-fi romp, and fans and kids should love every minute of it.

Even Star Wars fans are going to get tired of Kinect’s menu system. Yes Microsoft, it’s great that you got Anthony Daniels to do C-3PO’s voice, but I don’t need him to give a speech everytime I want to move from one menu structure to the other. It takes FAR too long to get from the main screen to a mode, and then set up the mode and play from there. It’s ridiculous. One time? Great. After that, let me toggle some setting to skip it from that point onward.

The bottom line is this: if you’re a Star Wars fan, you’ll enjoy this game. If you’ve got kids, they’ll love this game. If you’re not so fussed about George Lucas’ creation, you’ll probably want to give this a miss, even at its cheaper price. Fans will ignore the fact that the game becomes a flail-a-thon, but those on the fence won’t be so merciful. Appreciate the game for what it is, and you’ll won’t go wrong.

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About the author

Steve Wright

Steve's the owner of this very site and an active games journalist nearing twenty (TWENTY!?!) years. He's a Canadian-Australian gay gaming geek, ice hockey player and fan. Husband to Matt and cat dad to Wally and Quinn.