RipTen | Is Mass Effect 3 Really 'Better with Kinect'?

Way back at E3 2011, Microsoft surprised (and disappointed) a lot of gamers with a keynote presentation focused more on the Kinect than on traditional games. One thing was clear, though, the House of Xbox was trying to bridge the gap between games exclusively for the peripheral and titles that the core market will actually buy. From head-tracking in Forza 4 to the “Gunsmith” features in Ubisoft’s next Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon game, the “Better with Kinect” label has started to get off the ground.

[CrzyFooL]

NOPE.

XD

[greeneggsnsam]

I find it hard to accept that a traditional game can be made better with Kinect. They have to be designed as kinect games.

[Captain Qwark 9]

as long as they limit the use, then yes it can be. full blown kinect controls on a traditional game, then no.

features like this simply add to the experience are welcome and neat. simply becuase they can add a level of immersion or you can ignore them. either way they dont take anything away becuase they are not required. its similar to a game supporting move but not requiring it.

[Gaming101]

This is according to Microsoft who is desperately trying to make sure their multi-billion dollar investment doesn't become a useless obsolete feature like Sony's Sixaxis features. Take it with a grain of salt.

[darthv72]

is different about adding voice recog to the kinect edition that couldnt be done on the ps3 with the eye's mic?

honest question.

[zeal0us]

-Nope if you are used to/prefer a controller.
-Nope if you believe this could of been done with a headset.
-Nope if you don't got a Kinect.
-Nope if you got a kinect and still plan on using the controller...lol.
-Nope if you are a Kinect Hater/just dislike Kinect.
-Yes if you are a paid employee of Bioware who design this feature.
-Yes if you are a hardcore Kinect fanboy.

5v2, Nope's Wins!

[NeXXXuS]

Made me lol pretty hard there zeal0us XD

[BugsBunny]

lol...good comment :)

and yet people don't see that, the cons outweigh the pros

Did like all the Xbox fanboys raid this article....

[fluffydelusions]

Only if you are a BW employee or a MS stockholder

[ZippyZapper]

360 + game saves + Kinect = yuuuup

[IM_KINECTED]

It definitely gives you more of an immersed feeling. I preferred to play the demo with Kinect, I didn't have to pause the game to set my teammates up. I am really liking the Kinect functionality with games like this, Halo CEA, Forza 4 and I'm interested to see how it plays with Ghost Recon.

[Parapraxis]

Shocking that coming from you.....

[IM_KINECTED]

Coming from me? Not exactly sure what that means, but nice attempt to troll.

*Edit*
So I have Kinect in my name in a vague attempt to be clever and name myself after something in the gaming industry and that makes me a Microsoft fanboy or something?

I get a ton of disagrees with no explanation because I actually think Mass Effect 3 is better and you feel more immersed with Kinect?

It's almost like I don't own all the consoles or play them equally or something....../s

[NiteX]

How can you not know what he means?! You have Kinect in your name!!!!! Your a bot!

[BlackjackCF]

I'd love to play it with Kinect but... blah.

[BugsBunny]

No, not really.

It's still a gimmick at the end of the day, one which will get old fast.

To shout a command out or to press a button which is just as quick.

Hmmmm....what to choose, what to choose

[Forza_is_King]

Why do those which we don't mention on this site keep saying shout? You can use your big boy inside voice you know? There is no shouting needed when using it but you are just ignorant with no experience in using the kinect with MA 3 so how would you know? You're just a MS hater.

Keep crying.

I will be playing the definitive version of ME 3 with kinect on the 360 where I will be transporting my character over since ME 1.

[BugsBunny]

Oh for gods sake we get it, you love your Xbox and you love Microsoft...every Xbox related article recently there you are defending the crap out of them.

Then you say immature/trollish things like

"Keep crying"

"I will be playing the definitive version of ME 3 with kinect on the 360"

or you go on to call someone "a MS hater." when all they're doing is having an opinion. When did I say I hated MS, oh wait I didn't, just trying to spin things so you can start an argument

Jeez....

[GearsOfWar]

BugsBunny

It's funny you're calling him out for accusing you of being "a MS hater", when you used all three of your bubbles to do just that.

[Virtual_Reality]

They need to add more features that can be activated only with Kinect commands but in a way that can improve gameplay also that requires more skills for a competitive player, not for the casual audience.

But this is not the case, Kinect does not improve significantly the gameplay let alone the competitiveness when you play against other players.

[tigertron]

Call me old fashioned but I'd rather just push a button than memorise a list of voice commands.

[BattleTorn]

memorize a list of voice commands?

You have no problem remembering what buttons do, right?

remember that X=reload isn't much harder than knowing "Reload"=reload.

You seem to remember that;

"Joystick-click, scroll power-ups wheel, find fire logo" = incendiary ammo

But you can't remmeber "incendiary ammo"=fire ammo

???

[Christopher]

I get your point, BattleTorn, but having to memorize: Party member name + exact ability is a lot more than having to remember the reload button or just pausing the game and being given all the time you need to find and use an ability without having to remember the name, just what it does (that sounds weird, but that is the way my mind works -- kind of like how I know how to get home, but for the life of me I can't remember some of the streets I have to take to get there).

Now, if you play with the same two squad members, I can see this not being much of an issue. But, when you do switch them out, there is a bit of a memory game to go into it.

Furthermore, if you are not used to saying your actions but relying on your muscle memory to use a controller for abilities, it is a learning curve for such things. Especially in periods where combat is frenetic.

All of these can be worked through with repetition, though, if you are keen on the concept.

Personally, I just don't want to talk at my TV for hours on end and I like the fact that using the controller to fire off abilities pauses the game and allows me to target my opponent better and fire off three abilities as once.

[tigertron]

Well said cgoodno, if you've been gaming for many years like I have you'll be more used to pressing buttons, it comes naturally rather than saying aload of commands.

[M1chl]

I dont know, but it works pretty well. Way better than I expected. After ME 3 demo, I tried Binary Domain with microphone and it doesnt work at all. So maybe that speech recognition in kinect works great...

[Dazel]

In a word no, you just feel like a dick. Kinect has its uses but this ain't one of them, neither is the Ghost Recon Gun Smith thing. Stick to party games MS, Kinect will never be hardcore.

[BattleTorn]

Everyone here just blindly hate Kinect, and any MS related.

How are voice commands a bad feature? (If you don't like the feature, don't use it. But an added feature shouldn't be a bad thing)

ME wt Kinect isn't forcing you play with animated animals, or wave your hands around, dance or excersice.

It's allowing your to change to your Shotgun by just saying "Shotgun".

What is the big deal people?

Personally I never used to give my squad members orders in previous Mass Effect games. I actually like the idea of being able to give orders (without stoping the gameplay to open a scrool-wheel) just by saying "Garrus Move up"

[Forza_is_King]

It's been proven time and time again by those across the Internet. ME3 is simply better with kinect.

Why is it this that say its not are the same people who either don't have a kinect to find out for themselves or are your typical Sony loyalist?

No matter how much the Sony loyalist so desperatly want MS and kinect to fail, ME3 with the use of kinect just keeps proving them wrong and shows that MS hit a home run with kinect.

Expect more future multiplats like ghost recon to be better with kinect.

MS + Kinect + Mass Effect 3 = Definitive version

Case closed

[Siren30]

Its a cool added feature. If you have a kinect then enjoy it, but I'm sure most people on here that are trying to downplay this probably don't even own a 360.

[m23]

I tried out the demo using Kinect, and it works pretty well just like advertised. It is pretty useful in combat since you don't have to pause all the time to give commands.