Fighters Uncaged is a terrible fighting experience and earns the award as the worst Kinect game to date.
THE GOOD
-Fighting without a controller is a really cool concept
THE BAD
-Highly unresponsive controls
-Unrewarding gameplay
-Terrible music and voice work
-No multiplayer
OVERVIEW
Fighters Uncaged is the first attempt at a full length fighting game for the Kinect. The idea of brawling against an opponent without the use of a controller is a very appealing concept. Now, couple this creative thinking with a powerhouse developer, like Ubisoft, and you should have a recipe for success. Unfortunately, this game is poorly executed and the "coolness" that I described above quickly fades after playing through the first ten minutes.
Before you get the chance to duke it out with some random schmucks off the street, you have to suffer through a long and arduous training session. This sparring practice let's you try out various attacks and blocks on a trainer. The story is pretty much nonexistent unless you read the instruction booklet. The manual explains that the main character, Simon, is trying to win illegal fights to help his father out with some mob boss. The game doesn't explain any of this while you're playing so it makes it seem like you're just some random guy picking fights with people for no apparent reason.
GAMEPLAY
The motion controls are complete and utter garbage. You're supposed to be able to perform all sorts of punches, kicks and other bone crushing strikes and it would be really cool if the Kinect correctly recognized your movements. Unfortunately, if ten percent of your flailing was tracked correctly, that would actually be a success. There have been numerous times where a high punch would register as a low kick or sometimes even not doing anything will provoke the Kinect sensor to throw a volley of attacks. While fighting, you can't move forward or backward so you have to pay attention to the distance between you and your opponent (via the icon in the bottom middle portion of the screen) and attack accordingly (i.e. uppercuts don't work on an opponent at medium range).
The entire premise of the game is to beat up your adversary in a one-on-one grudge match. There are many tattoo-laden tough guys to rumble with that have cliché names like Jawbreaker, One Jab and Piston Joe. Your performance during a match determines whether or not you can unlock more fools to fight. After each battle, you're scored based on time remaining and damage taken. This score turns into Crowns only if you beat your existing point total. One thing that really irked me was that it seemed like your score was based solely on how well you did in the final round; which meant that the other rounds, in this best of three match, didn't matter. Plus, you have to achieve an absurd amount of Crowns to unlock other enemies so you end up fighting the same losers over and over again. This format really makes the gameplay quite frustrating, stale and boring.
Another downer for this already pathetic piece of trash is the fact that there is no multiplayer action. Why would you make a fighting game without a mulitplayer option? Most people, including myself, pick up fighting games to beat up their friends and claim bragging rights. Instead, Fighters Uncaged only let's you fight the computer; no thanks.
GRAPHICS & SOUND
The level designs are ugly and why are some of these "illegal fights" conducted out in the open during the daytime? The character animations are terrible and each of the fighters themselves (even the main protagonist) come off as complete tools.
The music is boring and shallow; repeating the same short vamp over and over again. The voice work is just as terrible and the awful one-liners are absolutely pathetic. One of my favorites came from the main character after a victory when he says, "You talk too much and punch too little". Its lines like these that made me think if a preschooler was contracted to write for the game.
CONCLUSION
Fighters Uncaged is a pathetic and terrible fighting experience. The motion controls are unresponsive, the gameplay is unrewarding and just about everything else in this game is complete garbage. There were many times where I wanted to take the disk out and slam it against the wall. The fact that doing that would have been a more enjoyable than actually playing is a good enough reason why I wouldn't recommend this game to anyone. It's extremely disappointing that a top name like Ubisoft would allow a game like this to hit the shelves. Fighters Uncaged is a perfect example of Kinect shovelware.