THQ revealed on the website for de Blob 2 that it now has a release date of February 22, 2011. THQ also revealed today that, though it is coming out for the Wii, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, de Blob 2 will only have motion controls on the Wii and PlayStation 3. Move support will be included, while Kinect support will not be. The announcement trailer is posted after the break. READ MORE
November 2010
As soccer games go, Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 moves fairly slow, and that’s okay with me. Everything feels more deliberate and meaningful because of the reduced speed, and the game is easier to follow and control than other soccer games on the market. Pro Evo 2011 has implemented some other changes from previous iterations as well, and these changes serve to differentiate Pro Evo 2011 from FIFA 11 and improve upon prior versions.
The slower gameplay speed does two things: it makes the game feel much more personal since everything is not so frantic and you’re not constantly scrambling for the ball, and it allows you to keep pressure on the ball which brings the game down to a more personal level. This can result in more fouls when pressuring a defensive player, but the trade-off is well worth it. Online play has also been improved. Not only can you jump onto Live and play friends in a match, but Konami has added the Online Master League mode which allows you to earn rewards for good play. You’ll come across new players, oddly-shaped soccer balls, and even classic Konami sounds inserted into the game. Have you always thought the World Cup would be better if they just dubbed Frogger sounds over the action? Well now you can see if you’re right.
PES 2011 also allows customization of teams, players, stadiums, logos, and cheers. Building your own stadium is one more way to make the experience your own. The amount of time that can be sunk into making a custom arena is staggering, but if you decide to take a team through multiple seasons it is a great touch that their stadium, logo, and fans are your own custom creations.
I imagine that the reasoning is mostly financial, but I would have liked to see more well-known teams in PES 2011. The French and Dutch premier leagues are included in their entirety, but I don’t really know any of those teams. Where are the teams from MLS, and why are only two English teams (Tottenham and Manchester) included? The light roster hurts all the more when compared to FIFA 11 which includes a ton of official leagues. The action is good, but sports games are always improved by the ability to play as your favorite team on their home turf.
PES 2011 hasn’t taken the crown away from FIFA 11, but if you have room on your shelf for two soccer games this year then Pro Evo 2011 is worth your time. It is vastly improved over last year’s game, and the changes set it apart from the competition even if they haven’t taken the top spot.
Pros: Slow speed makes for a more intimate game, great customization options
Cons: Lack of recognized teams
The Kinect, Microsoft’s new motion-control device, is here. This page will be updated with Kinect reviews and other features as we post them this holiday season.
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Microsoft saw Nintendo making tons of money on Wii Sports and wanted in on the action. Who would they get to make a game like a Nintendo game? Well, they seemingly said to themselves, how about that part of Nintendo we bought?
So it is that Rare, former developer of Donkey Kong Country and current purveyor of virtual doll clothing, was put at the helm of Kinect Sports. For all intents and purposes, the game feels like a Wii Sports game, from the menus to the avatar movements. That’s not such a bad thing, though, because the gameplay itself is different enough.
Most of the time, that is. With Table Tennis and Bowling, you’ve gotten this before, and while Kinect is great at tracking arms, it’s not as good at tracking wrist movements. They’re serviceable for parties or houses without a Wii, but it’s not a reason to give Kinect Sports a purchase.
What is, though, is Soccer. It’s a simplified form of the sport that plays more like Ultimate Frisbee, since dribbling is gone and it’s a matter of choosing when and in what direction to pass to a teammate. When you get close enough, you then take a shot on the opposing goalkeeper, who can move both hands and feet to try to stop it. Even an out-of-bounds ball gets exciting, as free kicks and corner kicks have their own challenge.
The Track and Field events are fun as well, in a way reminiscent of, well, Konami’s Track and Field series. This time, though, it’s actual leg-pumping instead of button-mashing, and it provides the necessary visceral feel.
Sitting in the middle are Beach Volleyball and Boxing. Beach Volleyball is just too simplified, but jumping and swatting is a fun thing to do over and over again anyway. Boxing has a bit more detail than the Wii Sports version, but there’s just a bit more hand recognition that needs to happen to give the game nuance.
The little Rare extras are nice. The game catches video of you playing and creates a montage for you to watch at the end (and share with friends if you’d like). All play raises your ranking, adding a little progression to a game that could get stale, and different difficulty options let you crank it up to where you need it when you need it without beating a bunch of scrubs to get there.
This is the game you want to have to show off the game to family and friends over the holidays. It’s not ground-breaking, but it’s a lot of fun.
With a new control system that detects arm and leg movements, a fitness game was inevitable. Your Shape: Fitness Evolved fills the void at launch, but does it have enough staying power to warrant a purchase? In a word, yes.
The game, taking a cue from Wii Fit and EA Sports Active, includes exercise routines and tracks your progress over time. In addition to the straight exercises, there are two fitness classes (yoga and cardio boxing) and minigames that require strenuous movement.
As you perform movements, the game judges you on how well you’re lifting your knees, moving your arms and keeping in rhythm. This is where the game’s a bit finicky, as sometimes it just misreads you and doesn’t register a kick or squat. It’s not crucial, though, since the percentage scores that result aren’t the focus of the game and nothing’s tied to it. It works most of the time, though, so it’s good enough at what it’s supposed to do: encourage you to do better.
The exercises are grouped into routines that are designed for a specific purpose, be it toning, losing weight or just breaking a sweat. Each has a length, and when you start one of the programs, it tracks your progress for a set number of sessions.
The games are interesting, if derivative. There’s a hula hoop game for people who want to move their hips, a Simon-like step-on-the-lights challenge, one where you hold your arms out to balance blocks on a plank and one where you punch and kick blocks that appear in front of you. The most entertaining is the punching, as it’s satisfying to watch the blocks explode in Mario-like fashion. All work fine, and though multiplayer is supported, they’re really only useful for taking a break between workouts.
One headache for Kinect owners at launch has been the shoddy menu frameworks in most games, but Your Shape totally nails it. It measures your arm length, then puts selections around you so you can reach out and touch each one comfortably. This works wonders, and is leagues better than the “hold your arm out in an exact position that isn’t pointing at anything in particular” setup of the first-party games, not to mention some third-party attempts.
Ultimately, none of this matters if you don’t want a fitness game. If you have a Kinect, though, you’re fairly likely to desire one, though, and this fits the bill rather nicely.
