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As an owner of the original Kinect game, and a player of many other workout games since (UFC, Biggest Loser, etc) I have to say that I'm pleasantly surprised with this new version.
As the original one did, the game gives you a body scan when you originally sign in. That image is then what is used to play games. Oddly enough though, I've yet to find anywhere in the game where I can modify anything it measured. It also didn't ask me for my weight so I have no idea where to input that or update it. It did recognize that I was a previous player and carried over my calorie burn count which I thought was great. After that, a ton of achievements were unlocked, which I also didn't mind :)
Gone are the days of the dreaded menu system from the past. Now, your hands are used in a push and hold motion to activate what you want to do. This is much improved over the old hold the arm out with hand extended to touch a dot for 4 seconds to activate. I always had problems with that one.
The main menu is broken down into 4 sections: My Zone (your settings, goals etc...btw, be sure to go in and change the measurement system to Imperial for those in the US since it is defaulted to metric), Activities, Workouts and Classes. Once I told the game what I wanted to achieve (with several options to choose from) it created a routine for me to follow and there are several to choose from:
Classes include African Rhythms, Boot Camp, Hip Hop, Bollywood, Cardio Boxing, Yoga, Latin Dance and Zen Energy.
Activities include Warm Up, Stack Up, Stomp It, Run the World, Wallbreaker and Jump Rope. Run the World here is amazing...more about that later.
Workouts include Cardio, Arms, Abs, Toning, Back, Sports Prep, Glutes, Health and Legs
I jumped right into the Run the World and have to say this is fantastic! You run in place in various cities around the world and jog by landmarks. To keep the run interesting, you are monitored for speed (how quickly your knees are moving) and given challenges throughout the run including "high knees" and speed challenges. Along the way, you pass makers regarding the landmarks and a color photo pops up with the training giving you a brief history lesson or fact about it. Very cool.
The recognition on sit-ups went very well, with push-ups still a little off for me. I may have been doing something wrong, but it is the by far the best recognition of push-ups for me of any game I've used before. During your training the background will change and spice it up which was also a nice feature.
One final item that didn't change that seemed to bother a lot of previous players was that there is really no defined way to exit the game or button to push. You still have to get to the pause menu or use your controller to go to the dashboard. If someone can figure out where to input/update the current weight and pass that along, I would greatly appreciate it.
All in all, I have to say that I'm very impressed with the new version as I believe they've really worked on making it a great workout game that is much improved from the first one.
**Later in the day edit**
I think they have hit a home run with this game. The jump rope section is like crack! It's guitar hero, except with your feet. An absolute blast and fun for the whole family! (without getting them addicted to crack, of course) :)
I also did the Boot Camp initial workout and was pretty dang tired after doing it, and I'm really no slouch. The only issue with that was the trainer just started going into movements so you miss a few the first time. But seriously, the background changes through a military theme throughout.
LOVING IT!!
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The original Your Shape: Fitness Evolved provided an excellent showcase of what the Kinect was capable of in regards to fitness and exercise. Its motion detection was revolutionary in terms of how well it detected how well you were performing exercises, and the mini-games it included were both tons of fun and moderately good exercise.
I'm happy to say that Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2012 does push the platform forward, in an evolutionary if not a revolutionary way. Still, it is by far the best "pure workout" game that you can get on the Kinect.
When you start out the game, you see a blue screen which adjusts the sensor and detects who you are. You're then brought to a home screen, where you see a stylized cartoon image of yourself. That's right, there's no need to create an avatar, because you ARE the avatar. This little change was a huge improvement over the first version, where you played as a brightly colored silhouette. It makes a world of difference, because now you can see your limbs and your body position much clearer than before and match them against the on-screen trainer. More on that below.
The home screen shows a number of different counters: medals won, badges won, and percent of content you've played through. On the right you can see the total number of calories you've burned playing the game. I do like the fact that there are clear milestones and targets to aim for, which will keep you coming back to the game. (One question a lot of people have is--did Ubisoft fix the annoying bug from the first version where it'd lose track of which sessions you've finished in a given routine. The happy answer is yes--now, no matter what order you do the exercises in the system will keep accurate track of which ones you've completed).
At the main menu, you have a variety of choices which are color-coded into categories. The blue icons represent your tools. You can keep track of your overall progress, set objectives and take a fitness quiz so the system can recommend specific workouts for you, or go online to share your progress with the community. I do like that they made the fitness test optional in this version, so those who want to can just jump into the exercises.
There are three remaining categories: Yellow icons represent "Activities", which are mini-games. Red icons represent "Workouts" which are traditional generic calisthenics and strength building exercises of the kind you might find at a gym. Finally, purple icons represent "Classes", which are essentially themed Workouts.
Under the yellow "Activities", you have the following mini-games:
1) Wallbreaker: This is essentially the same game as "Virtual Smash" in last year's version. In it, you have to punch across your body to hit blue blocks that appear next to your virtual character's body. The more blocks you punch accurately and quickly, the higher your multiplier will go up and the more a grid behind you will fill up--fill it up completely and it'll collapse. As you get to higher levels you'll have to kick blocks as well and avoid red blocks and giant anvils swinging at you. Even though this is basically a rehash of last year's version, it's still immensely fun, and the fact that you're controlling "you" and not just a silhouette of you adds a certain dimension to the game. I'd rate this one a 4 of 5 for workout intensity and a 5 of 5 for fun.
2) Stack 'Em Up: This one is essentially the same game as the game from last year's version called..."Stack 'Em Up". This is the one where you're holding a plank and trying to catch and balance blocks that are falling from the sky. There are some new twists this year--to make your bar longer you have to raise a leg in the air. Also, the blocks come in different sizes, and they can even turn into ice or catch on fire (you need to kick a giant water drop to make it rain). Interestingly, I found the graphics of last year's version much clearer than this year's, especially when it tells you where to drop your blocks. This one gets a 3 of 5 for workout intensity and a 5 of 5 for fun.
3) Run the World: Ah, finally something brand new. This is an activity where you "run in place". But there's a twist. You can choose either New York or London and basically "run through" the city from landmark to landmark. When I first heard about this one, I was excited--I thought it might be a virtual reality experience where you could literally run through actual streets (if this sounds outlandish, remember that the technology is already there with Google Maps and Bing Maps, not to mention driving games that have mapped out those cities' streets). But in reality, the experience was much less impressive than that. You basically just run in place on a blank white screen following a line of stylized "yellow dots" on the road. As you run, you do see buildings to your left and right, but they're just generic grey outlines. As you "approach" a famous landmark you'll see that building's distinctive outline, see a tiny photo of the building, and read some trivia about it. Note also that the distances you run are not literal--I'm quite familiar with downtown New York, and there's no way you can run from 40 Wall Street to the Woolworth Building to City Hall in 5 minutes. Still, I did like how the system was able to detect how fast I was "running" and how at least captured the feeling of running through a city. Overall, this activity definitely made what was otherwise a tedious activity pretty interesting. Workout intensity of this one was a 5 of 5, but for fun I give it a 3 of 5.
4) Jump Rope: This is another new activity, and it's a winner. It's a twist on jump rope. You start out by holding your hand as if you're holding a jump rope, and an energetic beat will start playing. You'll see icons of two feet under you, and need to jump to the beat while matching the pattern of feet (either two close together, two far apart, or just the left or the right). Even on Easy mode I was wiped out after this one, but I found it immensely fun. 5 of 5 for workout intensity, 5 of 5 for fun.
5) Stomp It: This game is very similar to "Light Race" from last year's version, where you stand in the middle of something similar to a "Simon" game and move your feet to correctly hit the colored panels under your feet. This year, they've improved it by matching the colored lights to a beat and give you a visual cue of which panel will light up next, so it's more like a step aerobics exercise (versus last year's version where you were just randomly stomping). You still need a ton of room for this one, and if your Kinect doesn't have a clear view of your feet at all times it's not going to be fun for you at all. This one was a 4 of 5 for intensity, and a 4 of 5 for fun.
"Workouts", represented by the red icons, are basically traditional calisthenics, cardio, and strength building types of activities that a trainer would do with you at a gym. The workouts are categorized by the part of the body or the exercise goal you want to focus on. They include the following (the number of exercise routines under each is in parentheses):
1) Arms (12)
2) Abs (13)
3) Cardio (10)
4) Toning (9)
5) Back (12)
6) Sports Preparation (8)
7) Glutes (12)
8) Health (3)
9) Legs (12)
They've got all the basic exercises covered pretty well. For example, when I selected the first workout under "Arms", the exercises were knee push-ups and slow mountain climbs. A typical exercise under "Abs" will have you doing all kinds of crunches, from basic crunches, to V knees to the chest, to up and down planks.
As in the first version, to the left of the screen you'll observe your virtual trainer doing the exercise, using the proper technique. You'll see an image of yourself to the right of the trainer. I really liked how the cartoon trainer and the cartoony you looked very similar, both in terms of size and visual style. As I said, new to this version is the ability to see your arms and legs clearly, so you can work on matching the trainer's body position and moves precisely. There are also visual cues that'll show you exactly where your head should be and where your feet should be. Finally, there's music so that you can time your reps to the beat perfectly (you'd be surprised at how many workout games just play random music and don't bother to match it to your reps).
A woman's voice will talk your through all the exercises, calling out instructions and encouragement. Regarding the latter, I found that she tended to err a little on the "overly encouraging" side--even when I wasn't doing the exercises right, she'd be shouting out compliments and encouragement. Happily, the motion detection is definitely spot-on--after the workout you'll see precisely what percentage of the workout you nailed, and I found it to be remarkably accurate.
"Classes", represented by the purple icons, are very similar to workouts. You go through a series of set exercises, you have a virtual cartoon trainer who will demonstrate the proper moves, and you'll control the cartoony "you" standing next to him or her as you try to match the moves. The difference is that while "workouts" were like generic exercises you might do at the gym, "classes" all follow a specific theme, such as a certain style of dance, a boxing training session, and even a military bootcamp. Here are the options and the number of routines in each:
1) Africa Rhythms (12)
2) Boot Camp (6)
3) Hip Hop (12)
4) Cardio Boxing (14)
5) Destination: Bollywood (12)
6) Yoga (4)
7) Latin Dance (12)
8) Zen Energy (8)
I tried the boot camp one first. Sure enough, you and your virtual trainer (a gruff drill sergeant) are in the field of a military boot camp complete with a helicopter and occasional explosions happening around you. Even at the easy levels, you're taken through a grueling set of exercises, from running to "Olympian squats" to "stun attacks" to push ups. The trainer stays in character throughout, shouting instructions to you amid various random interjections ("you're tired? I don't care!", "does it hurt? Good!").
I also tried the Bollywood one. Like the rest of the dance-themed classes, it had different levels with names like "Learn it", "Rehearse It", "Speed It Up", and "Show it Off". I tried the beginning level, and it brought me through some very authentic Bollywood dance steps with names like "Bolly Arms", "Aarti Step" and "Blossom Step". The moves were very authentic. I wouldn't say this part of the game is exactly Dance Central, but it's not bad either.
Overall, I'd say this is a worthwhile purchase if you're serious about using your Xbox for fitness and exercise. Those who purchased last year's version (especially if you purchased a lot of the DLC) may find a lot of what's in this year's version redundant. But I'd say there are enough improvements to make it a worthwhile purchase. I loved the improved avatar, enjoyed the new activities they added, and appreciate the fact that they didn't skimp this year on the number of exercises you can do before resorting to purchasing more as downloadable content. From the title, I'm assuming Ubisoft intends to release one of these every year; here's hoping that they continue to innovate the series moving forward and don't get lazy and rest on past laurels.
Best Deals for Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012 - Xbox 360
Played this last night for about an hour. Instead of a real work out I jumped around from activity to activity. I like all of the new classes they've added. I used Cardio Boxing a lot last game,(lost 45 pounds) and can see I'll be using the Hip Hop and Latin dancing often too.
The look and feel of this game is jazzed up a lot. The sterile white work out room is replaced by an environment that differs with what you're doing and at least in the classes, it changes as you progress. For example, cardio boxing is plain room with a flat floor when you start, but as you progress, punching bags drop from the ceiling, the ring pops up around you, etc. They're only decorations -you cannot interact with thembut its visually stimulating. That said, I found the stimulation a little distracting and missed a few moves!
The menu system is different, but not worse or better than what the first game had. I liked the titles of things previously. The titles were more descriptive to me, (Cardio Boxing Silver Part 1 Versus Cardio Boxing Learn it!) but I assume I'll get used to the new naming system.
I don't get how the initiatives feature works. When you start it, it asks you some questions about your fitness goals then highlights some exercises with flags and suggests a frequency and length of workouts. It told me to workout 30 minutes, twice a week for 4 weeks. But then I was lost. Am I supposed to pick and choose flagged items that add up to 30 minutes? I wish it would just launch 30 minutes of activities one after the other, but maybe I am missing a button.
I liked how the time and calorie info was presented in the previous version more. In this version instead of square on, it's shown in a front to back perspective that was hard for my old eyes to read at a glance. Also missed is the easy to find "how-many-calories-did-I-burn-today" number. If its in the game other than online in the Yourshape center, then I can't find it.
But overall, this game is everything its predecessor was and even more. The amount of content is overwhelming at the moment, and I had NO issues with it reading my movements. The differences are something a new player won't care about, and a original YSFE player will get used to.
=== 3 days later ===
I *think* the program works by just following the flags and doing any combination of the exercises to get to the total number of minutes over all by the end of the time period. For example, it said 30 minutes twice a week for 4 weeks --so thats 2 X 30 X 4 = 240 minutes. I did 27 minutes Thursday and 37 minutes today, so it now if you go back into where the program is set up it shows 64 minutes out of the 240 = about 25% (can't remember the exact number it showed me.) I'd prefer it tell me EXACTLY what to do, because for example, I will probably lean heavily on the cardio (easier for me) and ignore the arm strength training (harder for me) because its so flexible and doesn't force me!
But I finally tried the boot camp! WOW is all I can say, the first one yesterday was very, very tough but I made it through. Today's was REALLY challenging and I had to give up on several places (5 or 6 times) and then start up again after 20 seconds of rest. I was sweating like crazy, and def breathing hard, so I know its working me out hard. Can't wait to keep doing it till I can make it through without breaking a sweat!
Honest reviews on Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012 - Xbox 360
This is just what I needed for the start of another Wisconsin winter!
I've played Your Shape 2012 for about 6 hours worth now, so I think have a good enough impression of it. I didn't buy the first Your Shape game, because of the lukewarm reviews it got, because of my disinterest in Wii Fit after a few weeks, and because I do work out fairly regularly at the YMCA. But I had a feeling about this new one, so I bought it.
So far, I think it's a great game with a ton of fun, calorie burning and strength and flexibility building workouts. As a teen I never did sports, but I maintained a healthy weight, probably due solely to teenage metabolism. In my 20s, I struggled with weight. At my highest I weighed just under 300 pounds. I've kept off 110-130 (depending on the month) pounds for over 10 years. Not the greatest, but not bad when you're 6 feet tall. ANY game (DDR!), program, machine, activity, etc. that is somewhat tough, but also fun and motivating is good in my book. Your Shape Fitness 2012 fits in this category.
OVERVIEW
The game has all sorts of warm ups, exercises and classes (supposedly about 90 hours' worth) to keep you sweating and keep you coming back. And there's enough variety that if you find an activity or two that you despise (Stomp It -I suck at it!) there are plenty of other activities to keep you happy (LOVE the punching/combat routines). The female voice that talks to you through the activities is pleasant. I've had some games, like versions of Dance Dance Revolution, where I've turned the voices completely off because they irritated me so much. There are different instructors in different classes and workouts, dressed for the activity they're doing.
The Kinect Sensor is pretty darn accurate in regards to what I'm doing and when. Seeing ME on the screen was a little disconcerting at first. But, when I considered how much it helps to watch a mirror when exercising to see what I'm doing right and wrong, I realized how useful seeing myself on the screen is. Even if I look 10 pounds heavier than I am. It doesn't seem to 'get' me certain times, like when I'm doing certain Yoga poses --registering as 0% accomplished sometimes -but there are few situations where I've had this issue. It's even dead-on with most of the floor exercises. Remember when you're playing, whether you score 0% or 100%, as long as you're moving and working out, you ARE doing good for your body. So don't worry about your accuracy too much!
I love Body Combat classes at the Y, and I find all the punching/kicking Your Shape classes and activities to be very similar. They're slow to start out, but it's really good because it gives true beginners a chance to figure out what they're doing. Once you understand the moves, you can pursue the higher level, longer length classes. Destination Bollywood, something I know I'd never have tried in front of actual people, is also turning out to be really fun. I'm getting to the point where I may actually attempt a class "in the real world" like this someday. The Zen Classes are relaxing and a great way to do final stretches at the end of a workout. Some of the activities and classes might be too complicated for younger kids, but there are enough games like Run The World and Jump Rope, that they'll probably keep wanting to play, too. (Those are also fun for adults!) We have four kids (ages 9-13), and they've all enjoyed Your Shape too, although I figure they think of it as more like a game, so I'm not sure how long it'll keep their interest.
OBJECTIVES
One thing that's a little weird, and non-motivation-like, is you can set up an Objective for your workouts. You can choose an option like "Get Toned" or "Lose The Muffin Top" and, depending on a few other things you choose, you'll be told how much time and how often you should exercise each week. If you do this, activities that fit your chosen Objective will be flagged from then on, until you finish your Objective or change Objectives. This is all good, but I've found ONLY the flagged activities count towards your Objective -so you might work out 50 minutes, but if only 20 minutes were of flagged activities, your Objective will only be 20 minutes closer to being done. What's more, is many of these flagged activities are in the harder range -meaning, you may need to work up to that activity awhile before you can do the hard version of it. Some of the harder activities are locked until you complete easier versions of that routine. This is all fine, and not a deal breaker, but I think some people will get frustrated at how difficult it may be to reach Objectives they set out to accomplish. Also, some may push themselves to do harder versions of an activity than they're ready for, so as to do the Flagged Objective activities.
Well, whatever. I just suggest you don't take the Objectives too seriously. Hopefully this will be fixed in an update, but if not, it's not the end of the world.
ONLINE COMMUNITY
In game, when you complete different activities/workouts, it'll show you how you rank compared to your friends. But that only works if your friends are consistently using it too. There's supposed to be this huge "Online Community" on Ubisoft where you can join events and challenges, and compare your accomplishments to others around the world. So far, that's been pretty much a joke. The only thing I've been able to do is log into Uplay, make an account there, and look at my profile, which consists of my name and birthdate. Facebook just has a Your Shape 2012 page, but there is currently no way to upload your times/etc. into it, although in the actual game there's a video you can watch, which says you can do just that. On my iPhone I've installed the Your Shape app (free). The app lets you see how many minutes you've worked out and how many calories you've burned each day in a little graph. That's it so far. I just wish they'd say they're working on this stuff, and maybe have a way to tell people when it's up and running, instead of saying this amazing Online Community is working and awesome, when it clearly isn't. I'll update this part of my review if that changes.
QUICK TIP PAUSING THE GAME
I couldn't figure the out the first few times I played, so maybe this will help others: If you need to pause it or take a break, just leave the Kinect sensor's range for a moment. The game immediately pauses, and when you come back you can resume the activity you were doing, or go back to the main menu.
RATINGS ON A 5-STAR SYSTEM
Varied exercises 5
Varied difficultly levels 5
Fun factor 4.5
Keep-you-coming-back factor 4.5
Online community connection 2 (at least it sounds like they'll have this going sometime!)
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012 - Xbox 360
I have played the first version and was excited to get my hands on the next version looking for new challenges and improvements. After exercising for the past two weeks, I'm not entirely impressed. What I'm impressed with is the different and types of exercises (a big plus).
However, there are two issues with the game, in my opinion. For one, the new version lacks instruction (none) on movements (the first version provided instruction, but only once and couldn't revisit the help later, if you needed it). I think this a major drawback, especially for individuals not coordinated (causes a lot of frustration). Second, the game claims flexibility in exercise routines. However, all the game does is allow you to choose exercises targeting different parts of the body for your workout.
With that said, I will continue to use the program because it does get my heart going (which is my goal).
If you learn quickly and very coordinated, then this program is for you.
