You bend to get into starting position, pop up at the buzzer as if to launch yourself into the water, and then swim by moving your arms as you would in a pool. Success in Michael Phelps: Push the Limit is about matching the arm rhythm demonstrated onscreen, which isn’t as easy as it sounds, particularly when attempting to do a backstroke while standing straight up. It’s quite an upper-body workout, but one that — by virtue of its simple mechanic — neglects the importance of breathing, kicking, and endurance in swimming.
Your career is short-lived, taking you through three progressively harder seasons. Beating the second and third ones is hard: unless you can perfect the timing of your arm motions, you’ll get toasted by the other swimmers.
The game features split-screen and online multiplayer, but two people flailing their arms next to each other is a disaster waiting to happen. The real killer, though, is that Phelps isn’t a good pick-up-and-play game. It’s initially confusing, and ultimately, it’s not nearly as fun as it should be.
Publisher: 505 Games • Developer: Blitz Games • ESRB: Everyone • Multiplayer: 2 local or over Xbox Live • Achievements: Don't bother • Cost: $50
+ A good upper-body workout.
– Tutorials do a poor job of explaining what to do.
– Career mode is too difficult and too short.
? Why not just go to a local pool and have an actual swim for fun?
