A new Kinect game has just launched for the Xbox One called Squid Hero for Kinect. The party game is playable in either a solo or co-op mode and tasks the player with manipulating a squid’s tentacles through arm movements and moving the creature around obstacles by leaning to the right or left.
Points can be earned by saving small creatures or by smashing approaching blocks of ice that drift towards the user while the difficulty level increases through the incorporation of special rhythm levels and races against another player or computer-controlled character. There are even giant boss battles with robotic monsters littered throughout the game to provide an extra challenge and the level design, which shifts between open ocean and smaller rivers and even dark caves, provide some variety in what could have been a very generic visual appearance.
Squid Hero for Kinect is created by the same developers behind another fun Xbox One Kinect game called Boom Ball which uses the player’s movements to direct a virtual ball at objects on screen. It’s a mix between a sports and puzzle game and, like Squid Hero, is aimed at all age groups from little kids to adult gamers.
Microsoft may have backed away a little bit from its initial vision of having the new Kinect as an integral part of the Xbox One console but there are still some fantastic experiences on the current gen console. Some of the best examples of games that make great use of the sensor/camera are Dance Central Spotlight, Fantasia Music Evolved, Fruit Ninja and the popular Just Dance franchise. There’s also the convenience that voice commands and facial recognition bring to navigating the console’s system and accessing functions like logging in and recording video that make the Kinect a highly recommended peripheral worth investing in.
Do you use Kinect on your Xbox One? To what degree? Let us know in the comments below.
Further reading: Microsoft, Squid Hero, Video Games, Xbox One, Xbox One Games
