Moves fly fast and furious in Dance Central 3 — there’s little question that the latest game in this popular Kinect franchise has been overhauled to accommodate serious dancers. We had to swap our Nikes for slick-soled dance sneakers to keep up with the spins, floor work, and just the sheer craziness of the routines. But despite the intimidation factor of its beefed-up difficulty, Dance Central 3 is ultimately for everyone who loves having fun while moving to music — no matter their skill level. This philosophy is prevalent in every aspect of the game, be it the time-travel conceit of Story mode, the eye-crossing speed of the choreography in DC3’s ultimate song (Usher’s “OMG”), or the brutality of replicating the on-the-fly footwork created by your opponents in Make Your Move mode.
If you want to keep up with new-crew DCI, you’d better get light on your feet, and fast.All of Dance Central 2’s features — the standard setlist, career mode, side-by-side co-op, and competitive play — have returned, but their scope has been widened. Routines have all seen a leap in difficulty; the career mode’s been given a much bigger story; and multiplayer finally feels like its own whole, separate component, with a host of versus-mode options ranging from simply having to keep a beat to inventing choreography that tangles your buddy’s feet. Dance Central 3’s emphasis seems to draw on the franchise’s roots — making dance approachable for people of all backgrounds, as opposed to DC2’s catering to the dance-faithful.
This mindset is most obvious in the party-game approach to multiplayer. We like how simple it now is for anyone to get off the couch: songs are kept short and sweet, and the three new versus-mode options — Keep The Beat (keep time with the music), Strike A Pose (assume the poses shown onscreen), and Make Your Move (create your own choreography to trip up your opponent) — are far simpler than the returning Battle mode, which requires players to dance to choreography and be quick enough to poach flashcards during the Free-4-All mini-game segments. Silly touches like high-fiving to start a round or Crew Throwdown’s tournament vibe keep things appropriately lighthearted.
DC3 features a wide variety of well-known songs, ranging from the Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.” to Justin Bieber’s “Boyfriend.”The career mode — now known as Story mode — is also an easy, amusing entry point into DC3’s funky madness. As a recruit for undercover organization DCI, your job is to help stop Dr. Tan and his army by going back in time to uncover various “crazes” like the Hustle; as you decode these fads and earn enough stars to hop between decades, you’ll gain more info on how to defeat the nefarious rhythm-challenged villain. Each era (five in total) contains irreverent, spoof-tastic moments, topped by a mellow final confrontation with Tan that’s more a simple summary of what you’ve been up to than an ultimate test of your skills. Players who don’t feel compelled to compete or dance for the sake of it will have lots of fun in this expression of Harmonix’s trademark goofiness; we found ourselves chuckling often during cutscenes.
But even the mind-blowing difficulty of the routines themselves isdesigned to draw people in — regardless of your skill level, you will have plenty to chew on if you enjoy challenges. Some really freaking hard choreography awaits you: though the game retains DC2’s system of measuring difficulty (songs are grouped according to their Skill Level rating, which ranges from 1–7 bars, and you can then choose between Beginner [new to DC3], Easy, Medium, or Hard choreography for an individual track), some songs as low as 2 bars caused our feet to tangle...on Medium. (Contrast that with last year, when we scooted through most of DC2’s 6-bar Hard routines without practicing them first.) With fresh choreographers in the mix, and quite a few of the songs calling to mind the routines we’ve seen in actual hip-hop classes, you’ll be pumped to tackle a new level of dancing.
Rehearse mode has changed the gesture for how you get to the slower speed and video feedback.Of course, DC3 isn’t perfect. The menu alterations to Rehearse (the mode formerly known as “Break-It-Down”) make switching between fast and slow speeds feel clunkier; Voice Commands, though improved from last year, are sometimes hyper-sensitive; body-tracking is more generous than we’d like; and we suspect the difficulty ratings for songs aren’t quite as accurate as in previous years. (Why does one 2-bar song feel harder than the 5-bar songs?)
Still, Dance Central 3 worked its way into us, even more deeply than Dance Central 2 did. Whereas we loved DC2 and its routines with a fierce consciousness, Dance Central 3 infiltrated our bodies without us knowing it. We absent-mindedly replicate arm ripples and body pops while sitting at our desk, and bust out heel flicks while brushing our teeth. We don’t gush to our friends that they have to buy this game — we’re too busy thinking about it…all the time. Thanks to DC3, the dance bug won’t just bite you; It’ll latch onto your brain stem.
PUBLISHER: Microsoft Studios • DEVELOPER: Harmonix • ESRB: Teen • MULTIPLAYER: 2–8 co-op or versus (local, side-by-side play only) • ACHIEVEMENTS: How devoted are you? • COST: $50 • RELEASE DATE: October 16, 2012
+ Impressive scope that amply covers party, casual, and hardcore dance fan-types.
+ Mind-blowing, addictive choreography.
+ Delightfully goofy Story mode; expanded variety of multiplayer options.
? Can more developers please offer easter eggs (and Achievements!) for sitting through long credits?
