Kodu is an amazing tool. Limitations are frustrating, but the more time you put into it, the more you can eventually do.

User Rating: 7 | Kodu Game Lab X360
By DrRoberto | Review Date:
Let's face it, we've all thought of what it would be like to be a game designer. I've certainly tried every game creation program out there, and learned the hard way that one needs to learn to write code to really make a game. Sure, there are tools like Kodu or Game Maker for the non-programmers, but when it comes down to it, if you want to make Games with a capital "g," you need to learn how to code. Some people have it, and others (myself included,) cannot and never will figure out programming. No matter how many smug blogs/tutorials I read where people tell me to "get a book and practice," my brain just does not understand programming. Kodu attempts to fill that gap, which it does well, but go into it knowing that there are severe limitations to the games that you can create.

Kodu will get you making very simple games right out of the gates. World design is fun and easy, and the overall look of most of the stuff I've seen reminds me of N64 Mario-type graphics. All of the avatars that one can use are cutesy, and all of the objects are very rounded and bouncy looking. There is a limited palette of colors to choose from for the objects, but there are tons of textures to use for the actual level design. Again, they are geared toward cartoonish games, but YouTube Kodu, and you can see how people are stretching the limitations of design with the engine.

The "programming" is very straight forward, and reminded me a lot of LEGO Mindstorms, in that it is all drag and drop in sequence. You will get frustrated at wanting to do some kind of behavior for an avatar, but not being able to figure out how to do it. Still, keeping the design idea pure and simple can yield great casual games. My first finished attempt was to build a city map with various roads and buildings. The player controlled a vaguely motorcycle-ish thing which could accelerate, jump, and fire both machine guns and missiles. There was a "garage" which replenished health, and a factory across town which would pump out enemy flying saucers. With this model, I was able to keep tweaking sound effects, control schemes, and enemy behaviors.

I tried to make another game where the player would control a school of fish that had to collect food while avoiding depth charges dropped by boats on the surface of the water. I know, look out Tetris! Anyway, I got the mechanics of controlling the fish down, got the boats dropping exploding depth charges, but could never figure out quite how to make it all work in concert. Since then, I've gone back to Kodu to start many ideas up, only to hit a brick wall of wanting to do something, but seeing the limitations inherent in a fixed drag and drop programming language. It's okay to have to MacGyver a few things each game, but if you want any kind of complexity in your games, you will need to duct tape and epoxy the hell out of Kodu.

This review may sound a bit negative, but Kodu is still an amazing toolset. I endorse getting it and hope for more projects like this on all consoles. It looks like it was designed for kids, but kids won't get much out of it, as the learning curve can be steep. With a ton of time, learning, and forethought, people are cranking out some cool stuff, but at best, you will be able to make an Atari clone. Still, that's pretty reasonable for not having to code, right?

Other Helpful Reviews for Kodu Game Lab

Load Comments (0)