Game Review: uDraw Studio: Instant Artist

The expansion of uDraw to the PS3 and Xbox 360 brings a very family friendly option to both systems and opens up the artistic side of both. This game (which is also available as a standalone title for the Wii) is broken into three parts, each of which emphasizes self-expression in a different way. Art Camp lets kids participate in a half-dozen activities, such as paint-by-numbers and dot-to-dot pictures — as well as an arcade-like game where you whack aliens who fly across the canvas. (It’s a cute idea, but not a lot of fun.)

Art Studio is literally an open canvas, letting players use the game to create whatever they’d like via the peripheral. And Art School is a very thorough tutorial full of instructions on how to improve your art skills, covering all of the basics of art and design. The interface keeps tools on screen; and players can share and send images. While it’s a wonderful artistic tool, the peripheral isn’t perfect. The cord feels short and users will fight against it from time to time, which can be annoying — and drawing on a peripheral in your lap, while watching it appear on screen isn’t any easier than it was on the 2010 Wii game of a similar name. (Should you own that one, there’s more to this game, but probably not enough to justify paying full price.)

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