A great disturbance in the force…

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Kinect Star Wars has been released, to sum it up we look to Old Ben himself.
 
 
“I felt a great disturbance in the Force… as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.” – Obi-Wan Kenobi
 

Yeah, we all knew it was going to be bad. We all knew it was going to step all over our childhood memories, but that’s not why I’m upset with this game. It’s the blatant misuse of the license that has me scratching my head in disbelief. Did the developers really think that the most desired playable features in Star Wars were dancing, and rampaging through Tatooine as a rancor?
 
Honestly, after the initial reveal back in 2010 I thought it was going to be crap. This was compounded after the whole “Lightsaber On!” display from E3 2011…
 

 
Now it looked cool, up until it was actually time to play the game. Then… well, you saw. It’s sad that one of the coolest properties out there is “forced” into games with no meaningful game play value.
 
Let’s step away from Star Wars for a second. I’ve never been a big fan of Kinect for gaming. Primarily because I don’t see a hardcore appeal. The most successful use of the Kinect in core games generally amount to using a specific feature, not the entire device as a controller. For a game to be successful, we need input. We need to be able to move our character around. We need to be able to change weapons on the fly. We need to be able to have precise, pinpoint controls. We need quick reaction times. The Kinect just doesn’t offer what a core gamer needs. For casual fun, it’s great. But why spend money on a Kinect when I already own a Wii?
 
I’m not going to rant about why I hate Kinect, and why motion controls are stupid. That’s an old topic, and one that could go on for days. What I will say is that Kinect Star Wars had potential… on a different console. The PSMove would have made this game shine like no other. The controller tends to be far more responsive then the Kinect, and offers a significant number of more input options. More inputs allow you to be more in control of what you’re doing. That means fewer on rail segments, and more moving around and slicing up your opponents with a lightsaber actually in hand! You could actually feel like a Jedi! Instead, we get Kinect Star Wars.
 
Kinect Star Wars is a bore. It doesn’t give you the feeling that you are a Jedi, like most Star Wars games depends upon. Instead it makes you feel like an intergalactic doofus, dancing to pop music in your living room…
 

 
 

Eric is not a boss. You can Email Eric or follow Eric on Twitter @EricSweeten or Facebook

6 responses to “A great disturbance in the force…”

1. JohnScott says:

   April 3, 2012 at 1:29 pm

   Rancors aren’t even FROM Tatooine. Everybody knows they are native to Dantomir. I mean, really!

2. JohnScott says:

   April 3, 2012 at 1:29 pm

   Rancors aren’t even FROM Tatooine. Everybody knows they are native to Dantomir. I mean, really!

3. Chris says:

   April 3, 2012 at 1:52 pm

   And everyone knows it’s Dathomir.

   • JohnScott says:

     April 3, 2012 at 4:18 pm

     Sorry, fat fingered. That was what I meant.

4. Chris says:

   April 3, 2012 at 1:52 pm

   And everyone knows it’s Dathomir.

   • JohnScott says:

     April 3, 2012 at 4:18 pm

     Sorry, fat fingered. That was what I meant.