Kung-Fu High Impact (Xbox 360) Review
Posted by Mark Salmela on 12.23.2011
Pretend you’re Bruce Lee with the power of Kinect.
Title: Kung-Fu High Impact
Publisher: UTV Ignition Games
Developer: Virtual Air Guitar Company
Genre: Action
Players: 1 - 5
Rated: T for Teen
Kung-Fu High Impact is actually a port of last year’s Kung-Fu Live, which came out on the PS3. It wasn’t very good on the PS3, but if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again as they say. So now Kung-Fu Live has been remade to take advantage of the Kinect and been rebranded as Kung-Fu High Impact. Is it any better? Let’s find out.
Kung-Fu High Impact wants you to feel as if you’re Bruce Lee starring in your own action movie. High Impact uses Kinect to scan your image into the game and interpret punches and kicks as actual moves in the game. Think of it like the digitized sprites used in the original Mortal Kombat games. Your character’s avatar is pretty accurate and looks good in HD, assuming you don’t use the Nyko Zoom peripheral. During my playtime with the game anytime I used the Nyko Zoom peripheral my character’s head would be cut off in weird places and parts of my body would disappear, but removing the peripheral and using Kinect by itself fixed most of the issues I experienced. Overall it’s not perfect but it works well.
The story in Kung-Fu High Impact is presented to you as if you were the star of your own comic book. There are comic book panels, an overenthusiastic announcer, and dialogue boxes. Before each cut scene the game will ask you to get into various poses with Kinect which will be incorporated into the cut scenes. This novelty is pretty clever and is some of the most fun you’ll have with the game. It’s a novelty that’ll grow old after an hour or so however, but there’s something appealing to seeing your avatar in wacky poses while “tension” rises.
As for the actual game, Kung-Fu High Impact is a 2D sidescrolling brawler. Enemies will appear from either the left or the right, and you simply punch, kick, or block in that direction to fight. The game is pretty forgiving on attacks, which turns out to be a positive since it allows you to perform wacky, over-the-top moves and still have them be registered by the game. Everything from jumping knee thrusts, to backwards spin kicks, and even swinging back fists are registered as attacks and will do damage to your opponent. Even more surprising is that during my playtime with High Impact the game was smart enough to distinguish my blocking motions from my attacking motions with impressive accuracy. I have to say that the technology in High Impact works surprisingly well for combat.
Things aren’t perfect however, and it’s when you’re navigating levels that things start to fall apart. As I mentioned High Impact registers your attacks quite well, but it has a hard time telling when you’re trying to move. You’re supposed to sidestep to move, but it’s much easier to do one of the game’s special attacks called the Power Punch to move across the screen. This attack lunges your avatar forward halfway across the screen, and it’s significantly easier to move by constantly spamming that attack rather than trying to sidestep your way across the screen. Another problem I had with navigating the environment is reaching higher platforms. You’re supposed to be able to reach higher planes by doing a backflip, but High Impact has a hard time recognizing your backflips unless you really throw your back into it. It shouldn’t be this hard to reach a platform 10 feet above your character. If you don’t jump and actually throw your back into it High Impact won’t recognize what you’re trying to do and won’t flip, which can lead to frustrating deaths.
Where Kung-Fu High Impact disappoints most is in the actual gameplay itself. As I just described most of the game functions pretty well. Most of your attacks are recognized and there’s a novelty charm to seeing yourself represented digitally in a game. The problem here is that the actual game just isn’t very fun to play. For the most part you’re dropped into arena-style levels and end up flailing your arms around at enemies and hoping for the best. There’s no real skill or timing to the combat. By the end of the third level I was simply making slapping motions and considering that good enough for the game. There’s no real enemy AI other than charge and swipe so there’s little reason for you to do anything but charge and swipe back. Enemies will occasionally try to block your attacks, but if you keep flailing your arms around the screen long enough you’ll hit them. There’s little to no reason to use kicking attacks either. If they do more damage than punching attacks it’s not noticeable, and it’s a lot quicker and more efficient to make punching motions than kicking motions at the screen.
There are 4 special attacks which are unlocked as you progress through the game’s 14 chapters in the story mode. There’s the previously mentioned Power Punch, which lunges your character across the screen in a powerful punching attack. In addition there’s a ground pound attack which stuns enemies, a lightning bolt attack, and an attack which slows down time. They’re neat novelties, but they have to be used sparingly since there’s a magic meter which drains each time you use one of these attacks.
Finally, in addition to the story mode, there’s a survival mode, a mayhem mode, and a multiplayer mode. Survival mode is pretty self-explanatory. You’re dropped into a level and fight enemies for as long as you can until you either lose all your health or pass out from exhaustion. Mayhem mode is very similar, but you choose which types of enemies you want to fight, where you want to fight, and various options to tweak such as game speed. You’ll probably play each of these modes once or twice before losing interest. Finally there’s the multiplayer mode, where up to 4 players can use controllers to control enemies to fight the one player using Kinect. It’s a slightly enjoyable mode but it grows tiresome very quickly. You’ll have more fun interacting with your friends then you will get from playing the actual game.
Pros
- Seeing yourself as a digitized sprite is fun.
- The cut scenes are presented in a clever manner.
- You’re allowed a wide range of freedom with your attacks.
- Attacks register pretty well and are usually responsive.
- Power attacks are fun to perform.
- Multiplayer mode is enjoyable.
Cons
- Navigating the environment is a chore.
- Attacks and movement aren't recognized 100% of the time.
- You’re often better off flailing your arms around than trying to use strategy.
- You’ll grow bored of the game quickly.
- There’s little variation in the gameplay.
- This game is definitely a one trick pony.
The 411 Be prepared to make a fool of yourself in front of Kinect for the millionth time.
Kung-Fu High Impact is enjoyable for the first half hour or so, but then you’ll grow bored, frustrated, and tired by the gameplay. The combat registers well with Kinect, but the gameplay is so boring and so bland that you’ll end up flailing your arms around like a monkey waiting for all the enemies to die. High Impact is a game that’s technically impressive, but there’s no real game to enjoy. The story is short, the story isn’t that fun to play, and the other modes are merely a distraction from the main game. Kung-Fu High Impact would gain a better recommendation as a $10 downloadable XBLA game, but there’s not enough material to recommend purchasing a full retail version of the game.
Graphics
8.0
It’s a nice novelty to see yourself represented as a digitized sprite in the game.
Gameplay
5.0
The technology works for the most part, but the game using the technology isn’t fun.
Sound
5.0
Music is pretty non-existent. It sure isn’t memorable.
Lasting Appeal
5.0
You can finish everything the game has to offer in 3 – 5 hours.
Fun Factor
5.0
This is a case of diminishing returns. It’s fun for the first half hour or so, but you’ll grow bored of the gameplay very quickly.
