Sports Champions - Move Required (PS3)

Sports Champions is the launch game on the PS Move. The game features 6 different sports all with unique gameplay styles, these sports include: Disc Golf, Bocce, Table Tennis, Volley Ball, Archery and Gladiator Duel. In each sport your matches are graded out of 3 stars.

The first sport i will start with is Gladiator Duel which is by far my favourite on the game. You have a sword and sheild and your aim is to knock out the other opponent or hit them out of the ring. The game is very tactical as you have to block and parry incoming attacks and aim your hits to precision. The accruacy is brilliant, your sword will hit where you want it and you can control your sheild easily, blocking high and low attacks. There is no lag throughout the duel and the graphics are fantastic. There are 3 tournaments to complete gradually increasing in difficulty, swords to unlock and outfits. With 11 matches in each tournament there is a lot of playing required to complete all of them.

The second sport is Table Tennis. First to 7 points wins. Once again the accruacy on the controller is brilliant, you can easily put spin on your shots and you even have to move towards the camera if the ball lands near the net. It is very releastic, the ball sometimes hits the edge of your paddle and misses the table completly if you go for too much spin, and also unlick Wii Tennis your shots wont always hit the table. The graphics are again fantastic. As in every sport there are 3 tournaments, equipment unlocks and outfit unlocks. However, the difficulty increase from the first to second tournament is quite steep.

The game also contains Archery. In Archery you are not always aiming for a target, in some matches you have to shoot fruit on stands at different heights and distances and in others you have to shoot falling money bags. Also one match is a game of connect three which is a very nice touch to the game. The aiming is very precise and the action of getting an arrow from your back and putting it on the bow is very releastic and makes the game more authentistic. With the game mode changing every match the sport never gets boring.

Also on the game is Disc Golf. In this sport you have to throw a frisbee around a course and get it into a large metal basket, basically it is golf with a frisbee. The game tracks your hand movement very well, the frisbee is thrown depending on the angle of your hand and the power. Also you can choose from different frisbees for long drives or putters. The courses on the game are very detailed and have the best graphics on the game, the courses can vary from caves, to forests and even playground parks. Also Disc Golf is the best sport for multiplayer in my opinion, with up to 4 players the game can become very competative as well as fun.

Bocce or Bowls is also included on the game. In Bocce you need to get your ball closest to the pallino (the small white ball). The game is not played on a normal bowls green but in playgrounds and broadwalks so there are obsatcles you need to dodge to get to the pallino. You can control the height, spin and power on your throw which is all tracked very well by the camera. With the surrondings and obstacles changing every round it never becomes repetative.

The last sport is Volley Ball which is probably the poorest on the game. Graphically it is great, when you move your footprints come out in the sand which is a small touch but adds realism. However, the game gets boring very fast. It plays great and the movements in the game resemble real actions in real life Volley Ball but it just doesnt appeal and feels like the sport is lacking depth. With only new venues the game mode gets very repetative. Cooperative multiplayer provides good fun with a friend but Volley Ball Will be the sport you play the least.

Overall Sports Champions is a great lauch game for Move which shows off the accruacy and power of the move controller, with over 30 matches in each sport to play there is a long single player and also split screen multiplayer provides lots of fun.

4/5

Archery - Will be alot better with 2 controllers but with 1 it is still entertaining, requires a steady hand and good aim, the only downside is that it gets a bit tedious after a while.

Gladiator Dual - one of my favorites, again will be better with 2 controllers however even without it is very tactical and keeps you entertained for ages.

Table Tennis - The most realistic and one of my joint favorite, if u use the controller exactly like it was a ping pong paddle then you will have hours of fun with this game, it recognizes chops and top spin to almost perfection.

Bocce - a chilled out game, not very exciting but gives the game variety as a whole.

Volley Ball - quite simple and not to much skill apart from timing, but it is a good multiplayer game.

Frisbee Golf - Another chilled game but it is very realistic as well and will keep u entertained for long especially with multiplayer.

Overall - A very polished game and im pretty sure no other move game at the moment is better than it. 100% go for this as your first move game!

Purchased this game at the same time as the move starter pack and an additional move controller, quite an investment I know but for the cost of a meal and a few drinks in the local I thought why not!

The game as a whole knocks the socks off any wii games I've played, the controllers are great to use and responsive and the set up easy. All the games have a set of characters you can choose from (about 12 I think) and Bronze, Silver and Gold level cups to unlock and compete for. Feedback on the individual games would be as follows:

Archery: Brilliant fun with one or two controllers and likewise for one or two players, a pleasurable mix of challenges can keep you amused for a good long while which you'll want to return and do again, good accuracy with a steady hand and quite tiring for your strong arm!

Bocce: Couldn't quite get the hang of this Boules/lawn bowls game so went back to what I was enjoying (archery and gladiator)

Gladiator: My favourite, awesome using 2 controllers, one as your weapon and one as shield, you can ram your opponent with the shield to stun them and then slice and dice, very energetic so as a bit of a fitness freak I wanted to see how many calories I burned so wore my heart monitor whilst playing once, 600 calories an hour fighting an AI character in your living room is better than sitting on your sofa watching TV on a dark wet autumn eve!

Beach Volley Ball: Fairly simple but again energetic, make sure your not playing near a ceiling light... ooops.

Table tennis: Once you relax and try not to compare how real or unreal it is its good fun, I found it hard to master.

Disc Golf: Great chilled out fun that's pretty realistic with how the frisbee responds! Fly it over and around obstacles like a golf course (as the name suggests), very enjoyable.

All of the above are good fun to play with friends and family no matter how old or young, would recommend for an xmas present, maybe burn off some of those celebrations...

I look forward to what the future brings for the move compatible games industry, I think this is just the beginning.