For Star Wars fans already incensed by execrable prequels, muscle-bound merchandise and Jedi Masters flogging mobile phones on televisions and billboards across the land, the collection of mini games comprising Kinect Star Wars is unlikely to rescue the franchise’s dignity.
Using motion controls to wield a lightsaber and Force powers is an idea packed with promise and potential, but physical interaction with the game is bewilderingly clumsy. Gestures often fail to register with the Kinect Sensor and leave your hero floundering as waves of Battle Droids sweep in. And while a decent variety of Jedi powers are made available to players as the game unfolds, many of these attacks feel feeble as they can be deflected by even the most insignificant enemy, rarely giving players a delicious rush of empowerment or allowing them to realise their ultimate childhood fantasy of becoming a master of the Force.
Graphics that vary wildly in quality during different sections of the adventure, on-rails action that makes for a restrictive experience that's not in keeping with the game’s galaxy-spanning source material, and a disconcerting lack of recognisable characters from the epic franchise in the main quest also conspire to make this a deeply unsatisfying Star Wars experience. But it's the cheesy dance minigames that will be most offensive to diehard devotees; outrageous scenes that reduce the brooding Dark Lord of the Sith to a camp hoofer mincing around a discotheque like Louis Spence with a bucket on his head.