One of the biggest draws for motion controlled games, is the fact that they work perfectly in a party setting. Gathering friends and family to take part in competitive, light-hearted games is a great way to get a party started. The developers over at SuperMassive games know this, and decided to give their first PlayStation Move title a fitting name: Start the Party.
For a game to be fun at a party it needs a few things. It needs to be easily accessible so anyone of any age can pick it up and immediately be able to play it, it’s got to be competitive without being too serious and it has to be good for a few laughs. Start the Party does all of those things well and more.
The game consists of various mini-games available in both single and pass and play multiplayer modes. Playing by yourself? The games you’ll have access to is limited as opposed to what’s available in the party modes. Pick and choose from one of 9 mini-games and aim for the highest score. Alternatively, there’s a survival mode that throws random mini-games at you until you fail.
The game is called Start the Party for a reason; it’s not meant for solo play. For this game to show its value, you’re going to need to gather your friends and family and play together. Up to 4 players can play the party modes at once. Select a color and then snap a photo of yourself using the PlayStation Eye camera, next you’ll speak your name into the Eye’s built in mic. Do this for each player, and let the fun begin.
Party mode serves up a randomized list of mini-games and modes. The goal here is to score the most points in each round to earn stars. The player with the most stars at the end of the game wins. Each round features a different goal. One particular round lets you rob stars from other players. Another shoots rapid-fire mini-games at you, while yet another gives you three strikes to get a high score in just one game. To break things up and add some mischief, there is a Joker round that lets you draw on the face of an opponent or re-record their name to something much more embarrassing.
The games themselves aren’t deep. Instead they’re extremely simple, quirky, and a ton of fun. Even though the majority of the games play very similarly, it feels like there is a lot more variety than what’s actually there. The most important feature of Start the Party is the fact it uses the PlayStation Eye to put you in the game. Using augmented reality, the game turns the on-screen Move controller in your hand into hilarious tools to play the mini-games. You’ll be doing everything from flying birds into their nest using a fan, to giving haircuts, to brushing an alligator’s massive teeth. All of the games set out to do what their supposed to, and that’s to provide a hell of a good time.
Core gamers looking for a deep experience, or loners wanting a solo affair will be gravely disappointed in Start the Party. However, those of you who buy it for what it is meant to be are in for a real treat. Start the Party does what the titles says it will, and makes for side-splitting, goofy fun time with friends and family.
PlayStation LifeStyle’s Final Score
Weak single player experience Light-hearted fun for all ages |
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