Yoostar 2: In The Movies

From the outside, Yoostar 2 does not look like a good game. The guy on the front of the box makes it scream bargain bin and the Kinect logo certainly doesn't do it any favors. Kinect games have been known for being lame party games that don't deserve your time or dollars and Yoostar's biggest flaws originate from the Kinect hardware. But if you're willing to give Yoostar a shot, you'll realize that beneath its ugly looks is one of the funnest party games to grace consoles in years. 
 
Yoostar is based off a simple concept. It pastes your body into a famous movie scene (replacing one of the characters from that scene) and has you read lines from a teleprompter or ad lib. The game has over 80 scenes to choose from which includes such classics as The Godfather and such train wrecks as Employee of the Month. Yoostar's list of films and TV shows is its biggest strength. It's almost guaranteed that you'll find a scene that you love and the game does a great job putting you in the movie, despite some technical flaws such as the fact that you sometimes are missing the top of your head. These flaws are more linked to the Kinect hardware than to the actual game, which goes to show that Kinect still has a long way to go before becoming a decent piece of tech.  
 
Yoostar is built around two modes. The quickplay mode lets you pick any scene, mess around with it and then upload it to the official Yoostar site or to one of your favorite social sites. The social aspect of the game is well handled as you are constantly fed information about how your uploaded videos are doing and it is easy to view other people's videos. The second part of the game is the Challenge Mode. This mode has you completing sets of scenes according to certain conditions. These conditions range from entertaining (mime out a scene) to frustrating (recite an entire scene without a teleprompter). This mode is a nice diversion and benefits people who want to play on their own and really test their movie knowledge. 
 
Yoostar shines when you are playing with other people. Goofing around in front of the backdrop of an exploding car never gets old, which makes the fact that only 5 scenes in the game can be played with another person absurd. For a game geared towards the masses, simultaneous two player acting for at least half of the scenes would've been much appreciated. You feel that the developers were trying to make something big but were stopped by the Kinect hardware. Bodies don't always fit inside the frame, the slightest amount of background noise can ruin a scene and the video quality is poor. The fact that Kinect can't see the difference between two people is also one of the reasons why there are so few two player scenes. 
 
If you can manage to look past some of Yoostar's shortcomings, than this is a must buy if you have a Kinect and are looking for something to play that doesn't require you to lose 10 pounds. As far as party games go, this one will provide you with hours of entertaining, letting you fulfill your dream of being a movie star and hoping onto the big screen. 
 
One Word Review: Party 
 
Yann