If there’s one thing that the Kinect doesn’t have a shortage of, it’s workout-related video games. Several publishers want you to get in shape with their motion-supported efforts, including THQ (The Biggest Loser), Ubisoft (Your Shape: Fitness Evolved) and Electronic Arts (EA Sports Active 2.0). They’re all effective, but they all seem to follow a similar format, something that most casual users can embrace, but nothing for the hardcore P90X users to take a break with. That’s where UFC Personal Trainer comes in. Rather than go with the casual exercise approach that other games roll with, this product instead trains you like a UFC trainer would, going through exercises that involve punches, kicks and other physical movements to help get you in shape. It’s a nice change from the norm for the most part, but a few slight issues in presentation and body tracking keep this from being an ultimate champion.
Here’s how the game works. You choose from one of various trainers within the UFC (including several familiar superstars, in case you’ve been playing UFC Undisputed 2010 like a madman) and then train with them through a series of workouts. Not every gruff superstar is included (you can’t work out with “Rampage” Jackson, for instance), but the ones that are here, including Jon Jones, Frank Mir and Cain Velasquez, are well represented, providing tips and techniques to help get you in shape. Before you begin, you’ll need to perform a fitness test, which consists of a few quick exercises to introduce you to the toughness of UFC Personal Trainer’s approach. From there, you’ll have a series of workouts available, including the option to run through a vigorous 60-day program. There are times that you’ll be able to rest easier than on certain days, but overall you’ll have to maintain a balance between various activities, including sit-ups, push-ups and other physical movements. Again, most of these involve punches or kicks, so if you’re not quite in fighting shape (or, dare we say it, over 300 pounds), you might want to seek out an alternative.
The tempo for UFC Personal Trainer is definitely upbeat, and that’s one thing that works to its advantages. Rather than run you through more casual exercises like the other games, this one actually requires a bit of work. In fact, it might be too overbearing for some, even if it’s something as simple as sit-ups. Fortunately, the game never overdemands to the point that you’ll curse out the trainer, though the vocal recognition portion of Trainer really needs some work. We shouted out a command at the trainer three times at one point, only to confusedly go into a pause menu. Great. That’s not the only problem here. There are times when body tracking becomes an issue in this game. For instance, with push-ups, Trainer requires you to lean forward, with your head facing the Kinect device, rather than going with a side view like the sit-ups did. As a result, nine times out of ten, you’ll find the device loses track of you completely, forcing you to readjust until you can get it to notice you. After two calibrations and annoyingly moving a couch out of the way, we were able to proceed, but it’s a shame that THQ didn’t rethink positioning with some of these exercises. A side view would’ve worked just fine.
This feature review concludes on the next page, please click Page 2 below to see our final thoughts on UFC Personal Trainer.
