Fighter Within Reviews
I wanted to love the second offering from Ubisoft of a Kinect fighting game, but this simply falls flat on every level. If you own an Xbox One, do not go anywhere near this game.
We know that there are plenty of fighting game enthusiasts out there who are hoping to expand their hit boxes beyond Killer Instinct, but Fighter Within is not the title to do it with. Furthermore, Fighter Within only sets an immensely bleak tone in regard to future Kinect-exclusives. Even with its reduced price tag, the Fighter Within is a broken mess everyone could do without.
Avoid at all costs.
It's with a heavy heart that I write this review of Fighter Within. When I saw the announcement, I was excited, knowing what the Xbox One Kinect could do for a genre like this. Daoka bit off far more than they could chew, and this time it wasn't the hardware. The Kinect was purpose built for exactly this sort of game, but Daoka simply wasn't up to the task. As a fighter and a gamer, I'm deeply insulted by Fighter Within.
Fighter Within doesn't just tarnish the tenuous franchise that Ubisoft seems to be attempting to forge. It does motion-controlled brawlers a disservice, writing off a genre that probably shouldn't exist anyway. Even worse it tarnishes Microsoft's shiny new Kinect as well as the black box to which it's leashed.
Simply put, this game is a total disaster. It's incredibly frustrating to play, the narrative is horrific, gesture control is broken and the menu system will make you pull your hair out within 5 minutes. If there's any glimmer of positive praise for the game, it's that you will probably lose weight while attempting to play the game. Flailing my arms and legs around during each match just to register a single movement on the screen has been more intense than any Xbox Fitness workout. If you have any love for fighting games, you should avoid the 'Fighter Within' at all costs.