Shape Up Review – Game-Based Fitness, Xbox One w/ Kinect

With the arrival of a new year, it seems most aim to renew their aims to eat better and exercise more. With Just Dance 2015 and now Shape Up, both from Ubisoft, I’m somewhat doing better in the latter aspect. Man, these games can make me sweat like crazy!

Shape Up Review – Digital Silliness as Motivation

Shape Up takes a different approach to fitness. Instead of straight workouts, an element of fun is introduced. With cartoonish landscapes and silly tasks, it’s not quite as daunting to get moving. You can choose to focus on cardio, ab work, or muscle training and the game keep a record of your progress.

There are three modes you can select, depending on what level of exercise you want to do – Quick Play, Training Quest, and Online Match.

• Quick Play – Pick a game-based activity if you only have a few minutes or only want to do certain exercises. Each game is a 90-second burst of BURN.
• Training Quest – Train three times a week on a set of five varied activities. After four weeks, aim to go up again the current reigning champion of cardio or muscle.
• Online Match – If you need competition to keep you motivated, connect with others to compare stats and challenge each other to improve.

Shape Up Review – Game-Based Fitness, Xbox One w/ Kinect

After two or three activities, though, I’m worn out.  I like that there’s a virtual personal trainer to walk you through the movements. It cracks me up that players are actually put in the game!

It’s also a great way for the kids to be your unsuspecting workout partners. Just make sure you have a Kinect to use with your Xbox One as everything is based on tracking your movement via the camera. My daughter prefers to go up against my clone (recorded footage from my last workout) versus the in-game trainer. She is not as enthused about getting in shape (typical kid) so she’ll begrudgingly do the basic moves. Somehow she still gets higher scores than me even if I’m really trying hard do well. Grrrr!

If you’re not motivated to get up and exercise, Shape Up can’t help much. After all, you have to decide to turn the game on and put in the effort for a good work out. But, if the issue lies in not wanting to go to the gym or being bored with other fitness routines, then you might give Shape Up a try.

Game download provided for review, part of my participation as an UbiStars official blogger for Ubisoft titles. All opinions are my own.