My copy of EA Sports Active 2 showed up today. I went for the PS3 version as it seemed the most practical option thanks to its wireless motion sensing armbands. I don’t have a Kinect and the Wii version sees you constantly getting tangled up in the Nunchuk cable, which isn’t ideal. The motion sensing on the Wii version is a bit dodgy at times, too. (It is a little on the PS3 version, as it happens, but that may just be my appalling posture.)
So, how was it? It’s good. While the graphics are functional at best even in glorious HD, the game, like its predecessor, puts up a good fight. By the end of your 30-ish minute workout you’ll likely be sweating. The addition of a heart rate monitor to the mix also lets you see how hard you’re working yourself, which is pretty neat.
There’s a good broad range of exercises on offer, too, and not all of them are straight muscle workouts. There’s a nice mix of simple motion games that require “proper” exercise moves to complete alongside more traditional stretches and resistance exercises. And the warmups and cooldown stretches are much better integrated than in the previous version — rather than simply doing low intensity versions of other exercises, there are now dedicated warmup and cooldown stretches to complete, which bookend your workout nicely.
The resistance band is, once again, rather flimsy and doesn’t offer very much resistance. With the wireless armbands, however, you’re free to use your own weights and can even tell the game what you’re using for it to more accurately calculate your calorie usage. This is neat — I may look into acquiring some weights for use alongside the programme, if only to avoid being constantly outwitted by that stupid elastic band.
After one workout, it seems good. There’s a nice range of “gamey” features to encourage motivation — there’s a “gauge” to fill each day, for example, encouraging you to complete exercises and the game’s surveys, and a wide range of trophies to unlock and publicly brag to your friends about.
There’s also some online functionality that I’d be keen to try out once we get Internetz here. I’m not sure what it offers but it appears there’s some sort of “group” system, presumably allowing friends to motivate each other. If anyone else out there has a copy and wants to group up once I get Internet next Tuesday, just let me know.
And so it’s time for a rest now. ‘Cause I’m bloody knackered.
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