Fighter Within

Reception

Fighter Within received generally unfavorable reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic, and its negative reception became notable. The Kinect controls were heavily criticized, with several reviews suggesting the problems were just as prevalent as those with the Kinect for Xbox 360. Game Informer stated, "Fighter Within is garbage." GameZone's Mike Splechta said the game really showcases the larger problem with Kinect-only games: they just don't work. IGN reported that the game could only adequately detect basic punches, describing it as a disjointed, haphazard mess due to unpredictable motion detection, and considered its storyline laughably bad and a flimsy excuse to fight a long stream of AI opponents who look just as dumb as they fight. GameSpot described the gameplay as requiring players to stand like a lemon in front of the TV for what seems like an eternity during excruciatingly long loading times, punch at thin air as fast as possible until triggering a combo, watch the lifeless combo animation, and repeat until the opponent is defeated. Digital Spy gave the game a score of one star out of five, saying that perhaps as a tech demo and nothing more it would have raised a smile, but as a full-priced, next-generation title it really isn't worth the time or money. Metro similarly gave it a score of two out of ten, calling it a bad game and a very poor start for next generation Kinect games, even if there is still some small cause for optimism beneath the bland fighting action. The Digital Fix gave it a score of one out of ten, stating that on the Xbox 360 it would be a disaster reduced to a footnote, but as a launch title for the new generation it is worse: a parasite feeding off the goodwill and desperation of early-adopters.