Boom Ball 2 by Virtual Air Guitar Company is a game on Xbox One with Kinect required. Yes, it’s one of the rare ones. Actually, Virtual Guitar Company just makes Kinect games. Boom Ball 2 consists of you using your body, maneuvering your arms in waving motions to control a ball that destroys blocks in a 3D environment. Think of it as playing handball, but in between you and the wall are blocks that need to be destroyed by the ball.
There are fifty levels in Boom Ball 2 and each level increases in difficulty. The first level is pretty simple: hit the blocks, have them explode, and do it in the shortest amount of time. Hopefully do this using only one ball. From there the levels become more difficult by adding in such elements as moving blocks, impenetrable blocks, and blocks you have to hit more than once with your standard ball.
There is a four-star rating system which takes into account time and amount of balls used. To attain all four stars, you must complete the level in the allotted time for gold, and you must not lose a ball. To give you an idea, I achieved only one four-star rating in all fifty levels of the game. Yes, it’s very hard!
There are other features in the game too. To get a powerful boom ball, you must knock out a certain level of blocks. This causes your boom meter to grow with each and every exploding block. You will also be cued by your boom meter when you get close to the amount of blocks needed to achieve boom ball status. Once you get to boom ball status though, it’s just insanity from there. You can use the destructive boom ball however you like and can knock out large sections at a time. Just go nuts! There’s also a crosshair provided so you can target a specific area rather than flailing your arms around.
The boom ball for me is the target of the game. To get one you have to be as quick as possible and you have to use it effectively. The quicker you get to this, the quicker you will get to the four-star rating. There are other types of balls in the game but nothing is more satisfying as reaching the boom ball.
Summary
I must say, I had quite an enjoyable time with Boom Ball 2. It’s a simple Kinect game that offers a fun experience, with nice music and sometimes enjoyable puzzles. Overall it wasn’t perfect. It’s basically Pong on steroids, in 3D, and can work while sitting or standing with Kinect. The game is priced nicely at $10 and I had more fun with this than I do with most games priced in that range.
With Kinect you must understand certain limitations when it comes to the size of your room, calibration and so on. I understand all of this, they didn’t call me ProjectNatalFan for nothing, but when I tried it out at first, it was a disaster. I don’t think this is an issue with the game, it has more to do with the Kinect. You just need a lot of space where two players can stand comfortably far away from the screen. It doesn’t work in cramped apartments and other tight spaces. Playing in single-player was fine, but when I asked a friend to join in, that’s when it became arduous. I wish the space requirement wasn’t that much. Despite all that, I enjoyed the game and enjoyed it even more when I found the best way to play it: sitting in my chair. I just wish I could’ve played the game in co-op properly by overcoming the limitations of the hardware.
TimDog was a community contributor to ICXM, writing 1 article in 2017 covering game reviews. ICXM operated as an independent Xbox and Windows gaming outlet through the Xbox One X launch year and Microsoft’s wider Play Anywhere / UWP gaming initiative, drawing from a rotating bench of editorial volunteers. They post on X as @BeastFireTimdog.