PlayStation 3
Published by Sony Computer
Entertainment Europe
Developed by SCEE London Studio
Every so often we are given the opportunity
to take a look at a game that's not really a title that you would
consider as being applicable for deaf gamers. As in all previous
instances like this we are simply taking a look at the game in order to
see how accessible it is. By its very nature, DanceStar Party isn't a
game that's intended for a deaf audience but many people like to dance
irrespective of whether they can hear or not so a look at the game is
certainly worth it.
DanceStar Party offers a variety of single
and multiplayer modes that cater for up to twenty players. There are
beginner, intermediate and professional difficulty dance routines for
each of the forty included songs. If that weren't enough for you, you
can even create and record your own routines. Each song can either be
played for its full length or you can opt for a shortened version.
Whilst it has no bearing on the game as far as we're concerned, it's
worth mentioning that there's a good mix of old and new songs here which
can only serve to make the game more appealing to a wider audience. You
can also purchase more songs from the online store.
During any given dance you'll see a person
carrying out the dance in the middle of the screen and on the right side
of the screen, as you look at it, you'll see illustrations showing you
what actions to carry out. At times I found these illustrations a little
confusing but this isn't really a problem because as you can look at the
dancer and simply copy their movements. You are given text feedback on
your performance and a numerical score is kept at the top of the screen.
All of the songs are subtitled. DanceStar Party also includes the option
to sing. This option is disabled by default however and is something
that can simply be ignored. When you've completed your dance you're give
the results and the opportunity to upload the video highlights to
Facebook, YouTube or Twitter. You can also upload the various snapshots
that the game has taken of you during your performance if you wish.
During a dance you'll hold the PlayStation
Move controller in your hand and with the aid of the PlayStation Eye
camera the game is able to keep a track of your movements. Obviously
it's only possible for the game to truly track the movement of the hand
that's holding the Move controller and this doesn't allow the game to
analyse all of your body movements. However, as long as you don't go out
of your way to try and fool the game, by only moving the arm that's
holding the controller, it does seem to be fairly accurate in
recognising your actions.
The game also allows you to keep track of the
calories you're burning in Workout mode. You'll pick songs which have
been grouped in collections ranging from a sedate to an energetic pace,
and dance to them whilst burning calories in the process. Whilst it's
great that there's a mode that allows you to monitor the calories you've
burned, I don't think it really needed a separate mode to show you how
many calories you've burned. The option to have displayed the
information in all of the game's modes would have been preferable.
As we said at the top of the review, this isn't a game that can be fairly reviewed by deaf gamers as audio plays a big role here by the very nature of the game. That said, from my time with the game I haven't experienced anything that prevents deaf gamers from playing the game. The game's presentation is absolutely fine with all of the important feedback being given visually. On the whole DanceStar Party is a solid dancing game which, obvious problems aside, can be enjoyed by deaf gamers who just want to have a dance.