With the introduction of the Kinect, there has been a slew of workout games released for the Xbox 360. While it's nice that they were trying to get their audience moving, each game suffered from the same core problem. Zumba Fitness? The Biggest Loser? Your Shape Fitness? They were all for chicks. Each may have been fun in its own way, but buying one from a game store was accompanied with a certain sort of "this is actually for someone else" shame. Thankfully, UFC Personal Trainer has arrived to knee this stigma right in the face. There is nothing girly about this game; it fills the time between basic workouts like push ups and sit-ups with punching, kicking and kneeing. The workouts are shown by world famous MMA trainers, and their voices and character models are all immediately recognizable to the hard core fans.
The workouts are fairly intense; after the fitness diagnostic and a 15 minute pre-programmed workout I felt like I had just finished a P90X workout. For the diagnostic, the game asks you to do push ups and sit-ups, then jumping jacks to get a baseline of your heart rate and stamina. It then lets you pick one of the trainers who will run you through a quick warm up of stretches and calisthenics, followed by a brutal gauntlet of kick-boxing and jujitsu, mixed with squats, yoga, and other more traditional exercises. It is also possible to custom tailor your own workouts and keep track of calories burned, time spent, etc.
The game also has a few multi-player modes, such as "Side by Side"(both at the same time) and "Hot Seat" (taking turns) as well as a highly original "Challenge Mode" on XBL in which you can complete a routine, then send it to a friend as a challenge. This is probably the first game in which the top of the leaderboards really could, literally, beat you up.
This game is not without its problems, however. I found during this test that the game is very picky about placement of the Kinect; I had to be the maximum distance from the Kinect and others had to be far outside its view in order for all of my reps to count. It's much more precise than "Biggest Loser", but if you don't have the full 12ft play area it can be frustrating, especially when you nail 80 sit-ups and only have 60 counted. It also went to the pause screen fairly often when my roommate stepped to the side to watch, and its "side by side" multiplayer mode can be a little scary if the person next to you is wild with their punches.
Overall though, it is by fair the best work out game so far on the market, for any system bar none (edging out Zumba by sheer testosterone).
Submitted By: Daniel Dewey (Employee)
The game exercise seems cool and interesting. I would like to purchase it and try it out for myself. I hope I still have the eagerness to do exercise at home coz most of the time I'm only playing and farming wow gold at my couch.
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