Become the swashbuckling cat with the sharp sword and even sharper wits in this game set in the fairy tale universe of Shrek! Based on the Puss in Boots movie, this slick adventure begins in Puss in Boots’ hometown and takes you up the beanstalk to the Giant’s castle in the sky, and beyond. Learn swordplay as you duel banditos and fight with unmistakable Puss in Boots style. Outsmart enemies with clever tricks and use quick reflexes to perform cool moves in battle. Just don’t get too caught up in being a hero -- be sure to save some time to sing for the senoritas you meet on your journey.

Dim lights Embed Embed this video on your site

Puss In Boots Game Overview

When reviewing games for kids, it's important to try to see the gameplay through their eyes. You need to look at everything you do in other games such as graphics, music and controls to name a few, but you always need to remember the target audience. Thankfully, my 13 year old is still young enough to enjoy helping out in this area so we usually work on these reviews together. In the case of Puss In Boots, it's rated E10, but I'm sure anyone between the ages of 5 - 15 will be a likely candidate to play and enjoy this game. I'm sure some adult fans might even enjoy it for awhile, but make no mistake that it is a title that plays well for children, and that's quite an accomplishment in its own when you consider the relatively wide range of ages and the differences between them.

Gameplay

Puss In Boots is a Kinect game, and if you have played any games on the system, you'll understand how frustrating it can be sometimes to do simple tasks. I love the concept of Kinect, it's just that the implementation to this point leaves a little to be desired. Thankfully, this title might have the best Kinect controls we have tried to date. You have a mixture of movments to keep you busy including our favorite, sword play. The sword fighting, by itself, might actually be the single most enjoyable aspect of any of the games we have played for Kinect. You can also control Puss In Boots' by sneaking, posing, jumping and even balancing. It's worth repeating that everything about the controls, from balancing to sword playing, are so precise. Simply put, it's the way a Kinect game should be created.

There are 4 options for gameplay including Adventure, Challenges, Options and Extras. The games menu is simple and uses a "hover and lock system", but you get a nice paw to move around. The adventure mode is a story mode. When you jump in to the Adventure mode, you will immediately notice that Puss is really detailed as the main character, and the game environment is well done too. You enter the game and get started in the action immediately. Without ruining too much of the story, the first level begins with a bar fight with swords. You use gestures to draw your sword, but don't worry, the game explains all of this as you go along. You can swing the sword left, right, up, down and even diagonally. There are also 3 special moves including a Kick, Claws and Guitar. The names are descriptive enough to give you an idea of what they are.

Besides the fighting, there are other things you need to do where you are required to jump to different ledges, climbing, balancing your way across a rope bridge, and dodging things by moving left and right and even “Serenade” cats with an air guitar. It's actually quite funny. These movements are where those Kinect controls really shine. For example, sneaking your way through an area by walking in place when the game instructs you to "Sneak" on the screen. There are many other movments such as hiding behind objects, but we'll leave some of the specifics for you to discover. 

The last type of gameplay that is introduced is a “leaning” game. With leaning, you are in different situations, the first has you in a suitcase chained to a stage-coach. By leaning left and right, you slide around left and right in the suitcase. Later on, it gets a little better as you ride a leaf like a skate/surf/snow board and you are able to lean forward and backward to go faster or slow down. Leaning is super accurate as well, even better than the Skiing in Kinect Sports Season 2. The only issue with Adventure mode is that it's relatively short -- there’s only 9 levels. But again, when you consider it's a children's game, that's probably more than enough to keep them happy. The Challenge area of the game offers five mini-games for 1-2 players that you can unlock by playing the Adventure mode.

Puss In Boots Review in a Glance

Overall, Puss In Boots is a good game, the motion controls are top-notch, the graphics are done well and it's a game kids will enjoy. Definitely Recommended. 3.5 / 5

Release Info:  

Released 25th of October, 2011

Platforms: XBOX 360
Genre: Fighting, Movie game
ESRB: Everyone 10+ (E10)
Creator(s): THQ