With Angry Birds downloaded by the jillions, a Kinect version of this motion-based mobile game was inevitable. More surprising, though, is that Microsoft Studios beat Rovio to the punch (Angry Birds Trilogy isn’t out till holiday) — and that Wreckateer puts a genuinely unique spin on Birds’ physics-based destruction.
The goal here is simple: using a special ballista, you launch missiles at various goblin-filled castles, aiming to do as much as damage as possible to towers, bridges, houses, and other structures. Playing from an over-the-shoulder view, you physically reach out and grab the ballista’s handles with both hands, step back, adjust your arm height (to determine your firing arc), and then swing your arms to the side to launch a missile. As the camera tracks the projectile up-close, you can wave your hands to nudge the ball up/down/left/right in the hopes of hitting, say, the base of a massive spire.
Demolishing castles has a definite learning curve…in a good way. It’s pretty easy (at least early on) to topple enough of each one to earn a bronze medal and move on to the next; but to nab silver or gold, you’ll have to cause considerable wreckage with each of your handful of shots. Fortunately, the Kinect controls are accurate, responsive, and, for the most part, feel natural, which’ll encourage you to replay the 60 stages and notch higher scores for leaderboard fame (or to beat a pal in local, taking-turns multiplayer). A few times we hit a glitch that turned our onscreen avatar sideways, making it nearly impossible to fire the ballista, but reloading the stage fixed the issue.
Should we aim for the 5K bonuses, the golden balloon, or the castle towers? Tempting targets abound.
You'd freak out, too, if a giant metal ball was headed your way.As trite as it may sound, how much you like Wreckateer will at least partly come down to your enthusiasm for Kinect controls — ones that work well, that is — in the face of a good alternative. Like Fruit Ninja, this kind of gameplay arguably controls better, or at least easier, on a touch-screen device, where waving a fingertip is simply faster and easier than moving four limbs…and Angry Birds is free, not $10.
What redeems Wreckateer, ultimately, is its variety. Each gleefully cartoony castle is sprinkled with point targets, explosive satchel charges, cowering goblins, and special icons that make your shot speed up, bounce, and so on. Your Basic Shots are boring iron balls, but other projectiles are much more enticing, particularly the Flying Shot — which you steer at will like an Arkham City Batarang — and the Split Shot, which separates into four pellets you control as a group. We had a blast using both to flatten buildings, and in those moments, we felt like true Wreckateers.
Twisting and expanding the Split Shot just right lets you take out multiple towers in one strike.PUBLISHER: Microsoft Studios • DEVELOPER: Iron Galaxy • ESRB: Everyone 10+ • MULTIPLAYER: 2 (local only) • ACHIEVEMENTS: Tricky • COST: 800 Microsoft Points ($10) • RELEASE DATE: July 25, 2012
+ Enjoyable take on an Angry Birds–style, physics-based destruction game; solid game mechanics.
+ Good variety of shots and icons; the Flying Shot and Split Shot are particularly fun.
– Occasional Kinect glitches; this game type is arguably better suited for a touch screen.
? Why are goblins always bad guys?
