I remember the day like it was yesterday. E3 2009 saw Kudo Tsunoda take to the stage and make a complete arse of himself. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. At one point the onscreen avatar went mental and it's legs and arms contorted into inhuman shapes and angles and I laughed so hard my Jack Daniels sprayed my PC monitor. It was right at that moment when I realised that Kinect was Microsoft's attempt at cashing in on the Nintendo Wii but it was never going to happen. We're now in 2016 and Kinect has clearly been a flop. Even bundling the device with the original Xbox One launch hasn't managed to breath life into it but without warning a game comes along that uses Kinect in such a simple way it almost makes you believe Kinect could have worked as a gaming peripheral, almost.
I've reviewed my fare share of Kinect games over the years and they all have one thing in common. They are shite. So when I had the opportunity to review FRU by Through Games my expectations were set to low. How wrong was I. FRU took me completely by surprise by not only utilising Kinect in a surprising way but also providing me with a very unique platforming game.
If there's a story behind FRU I couldn't even begin to tell you what it is because as far as I can tell there isn't one. So I'm just going to delve straight into the gameplay which I will try and explain. Even though this is a Kinect game you will still need to use your controller to move your character around the screen and to jump onto platform. Which is a wise control decision because precision is key to platforming games and I've yet to play a Kinect game that has anything like precision controls. In FRU the silhouette your body casts onto the screen is used to highlight hidden platforms so you can continue forward and hide visible platforms that can stop your characters progress across the screen.
One of the early stages led me into a section with a huge wall in the middle of the screen. I positioned my large frame so the wall disappeared but that just created another problem. Even though the wall halted my progress the platform it stood upon made a handy bridge across a huge space but now that had also disappeared. Somehow I had to remove the wall and unfortunately the platform but still be able to cross the chasm removing them both would create. The answer was staring at me from my TV. My bulky body that has hindered me all my life was now a tool for good. Positioning myself so I rid the screen of the wall and platform I slowly squatted down while extending both my arms from one side of the screen to the other. I quickly moved my character across my makeshift body bridge and stood up feeling rather proud of myself over the next few hours I was to find myself contorting my body into positions I never thought possible.
While all this was going on my kids who were in the front room with me we've in fits me laughter but also very eager to have a go themselves which isn't anything unusual in itself. But when I finally relented and let them play the amount of time they spent playing FRU did surprise me. They played it until they had completed it and for a Kinect game to keep two kids engaged for such a long time stunned me. There is a bit more to FRU other than making obstacles disappear and reappear though. Each chapter has its own unique mechanics. Chapter two creates a water bubble inside your silhouette so the character can swim in it, chapter three (which had my kids in hysterics) gets you to cover up switches to activate them with whatever part of your body you can and chapter four makes you dodge lava as it pours down.
Controlling the character with the joypad while contorting your body into all manner of shapes might sound difficult but Through Games have made it so simple that it never becomes intrusive. But if you do find it becoming intrusive you can pass the controller over to someone else and they can take over the control of the character for you. FRU is a very short game weighing in at just over three hours worth of gameplay and those hours just fly by even if you do feel the need to take a rest every now and then .FRU is a short but sweet example of what the Kinect could have been. Through Games have taken a simple concept and turned it into Kinects only must play game. If only they had been given the chance from the beginning maybe Kinect wouldn't already be dead and buried.
1.57 GB
13/07/2016
Through Games
Through Games
Action & Adventure, Family, Other, Platformer, Puzzle & Trivia
Fru is available now for £11.99
Review copy supplied by XCN.