Sports Games

In a world that too often we take damn seriously (in spite of the maturity of artistic mediums frankly laughable, considering the thickness of the videogame "average") is good that there are exceptions, such as noisy Texans Twisted Pixel. With their tremendous verve and their irreverent humor, the boys of Austin - fresh fresh acquisition by Microsoft - in fact, seem to base all their productions on a dogmatic golden rule: to entertain the player with well-designed solutions play (though never particularly original or refined), but also put him to death with laughter.

as it may seem trite or perhaps not found a dramatically disruptive, the result is one of them should not be underestimated: Twisted Pixel titles end up in fact to be worshiped by virtue of their ability, able to distinguish itself from all other modes of entertainment for the peculiar, often more similar to those of a screwball comedy than to those of a canonical game. If you have not already done so, download the demo of Comic Jumper to believe: between idiotissimi jingles, sexual innuendo and hilarious characters beyond the limit of the improbable, you just need just a few minutes to let yourself be captivated by a formula irresistible, that can somehow regardless of the actually gameplay.

In view of the track record and the originality of the proposal, great was the wait for The Gunstringer, new project of the fathers 'Splosion Man specifically built around Kinect. Originally announced as a Live Arcade title - but later promoted to regular release in stores bundled with Fruit Ninja Kinect , marking the debut of a game Twisted Pixel edition "physical" - The Gunstringer looks like a rail shooter focused on the desire for revenge of a skeletal puppet, betrayed and trapped by his old gang (including among others a man inflatable tube, a madam and a steam cut oversized voodoo priestess).

Do not panic in front of a plot that is intentionally triumph of nonsense: in practice, you will find yourself facing a clone of Sin & Punishment in the western sauce / toy, no doubt made ​​even more special by the unique control system strictly Kinect-centric. The choice of a protagonist puppet is anything but random fact: the idea is to turn you into a real showman, with his left hand used to control the movement horizontal / vertical Gunstringer and the right engaged in the management of the target .

The real uniqueness of the control system is to be found anyway in the actual mechanics of shooting: once fixed the lock on the viewfinder targets (up to a maximum of six at a time), you will have to shoot it suddenly move the wrist, mimicking so the gestures used by children with an imaginary gun to fire outlined by the thumb and forefinger. One found maybe a little 'naive, but ultimately very satisfying to recreate gunfights taste deliciously innocent, which mix well with the Far West made ​​of cardboard, wood and recycled materials on which it is founded The Gunstringer.

pity that for reasons technical controls will serve to be a mixed blessing experience: on one hand, to aim in a very natural and immediate, are effective and satisfying, the other is much less successful management of the movements of the character (especially concerns in the occasions that require a certain precision in the positioning of the protagonist).

A truly disturbing situation, however disconnected from assumed limitations in hardware: as clearly demonstrated by Child of Eden , Kinect is perfectly capable of interpreting movements also very light and measured, particularly by limiting the scope of its research to well-defined points.

is so suppose that the developer is probably conceptual, with the device on impostante full scan of the body when in fact it would be more than enough - and significantly more effective - the only tracking the player's hands.

If all this add a very bland level design, not exactly exciting gunfights (because despite the obvious inspiration, the excellence of Treasure remains monstrously far in this direction) and boringly repetitive fights with bosses, unfortunately does not improve the overall impact.

Mind : The Gunstringer is not a bad game, and even lets you play all nicely summed up in the end, accompanying the funny puppet messicaneggiante to a tasty conclusion. Not enough, however, found the usual brilliant contour (the intensive admixture between shot with real actors and the use of a 3D model of what the narrator saw Bastion , through the usual light-hearted tone or delirious quotes from Troma) to make taking the proverbial spark: the impression is of a title on the verge of taking off, which unfortunately can not really rise from the ground as the player wants.