Dance Central 3

The first real video game series I ever really started following is Harmonix's Kinect game series, Dance Central. I got the original for my birthday about...three years ago? I'm not sure. Anyway, I LOVED it, and have been getting the sequels ever since. Well, there's only been two other games, but still!

Anyway, I received Dance Central 3 for Christmas. I had heard that this would be the first game in this series (and the first in general, I think) to actually have a plot. It is featured in it's unique "Story Mode". Dr. Tan, the mysterious villain that has been hinted at since the original but only seen in DC2, is trying again to regulate all dancing under his command by taking down all the "crews" in Dance Central, where dancing is everything to its residents.

The DCI (Dance Central Intelligence) invites you to a "party", and after proving your skills by dancing "Bass Down Low" (which I did, earning five stars the very first time without practicing beforehand, thank you very much) and reveals that they are looking for an agent to go through time and stop Tan, who has set up HQ in the future, since the original agents they sent (the D-Coy crew) have become MIA. You are then sent to the 70's, after being told that the only way to defeat Tan in the future is to learn the popular moves of the past, called Crazes. Each craze consists of four "power moves", which are scattered within the songs of each decade.

However, not every song has a power move. And, (I think Harmonix added this just to annoy people and force them to dance to more songs than necessary) even if you find the power moves, you need to gain enough "star energy" (aka, stars you earn from each song, added up) before you can decode the craze and travel back to the present.

I found this a bit complicated at first, but got into it after a while. I love time travel plots, and dancing, so put together? YES! But, since this is a dance game and not a plot adventure game or anything, there aren't any paradoxes, or really interesting plot points. *spoiler* Well, except maybe the fact that Tan put his own son under the power of his mind control helmets!

I didn't like how the first and last song of every decade was spontaneous, and you had no idea what to expect, so you are almost set up for failure unless you just rock. I like rehearsing well before I actually preform a song!

One thing I LOVED was the 8-Bit animation for the credits. Too cute! Speaking of the credits, it looks as if the Glitteratti is planning mischief. Sequel-inference much?

I have been expecting the announcement for DC4 for a while now, since it is practically inevitable that there is going to be a DC4, but instead a different spin on the series was announced. The next game in the series is going to be called Dance Central: Blackout. The title comes from the fact that, in game, the screen is completely dark, except for occasional move judgments, such as "good". You aren't shown any moves, you have to use your (sold separately >.<) headset and listen for directions. The Harmonix people think that this will help us really connect with the music.

What?!? That sounds hard, and so not fun! How are you supposed to even hear the music, if commands are being said over your headset, and the music is coming from your TV speakers?! I don't think I'll be immediately begging for this, like the other games. I'll watch videos of others playing it first, to see their opinion and the total gameplay experience. 

In other words, I will wait for DC4/5 (based on if they consider Blackout DC4 or not). In fact, I have some suggestions for a possible DC4/5:

• Option of changing difficulty level between songs in a playlist (some songs I can perform on Medium or Hard, but others only on Easy)
• Option to use your XBOX Live avatar as your in-game dancer
• Improved voice commands- you know, so you don't ask for one song and the game brings up a completely different song. I don't know if that's so much of a problem with DC's software as much as it is the lower quality of the Kinect microphone, though, so Harmonix might not be able to do anything about that.
• LESS commentary from Boombox! He gets annoying after a while (especially on playlists), and sometimes he suggests something right as you are trying to say a command during Rehearsal, and the XBOX misunderstands you.
• Less songs with sexually suggestive or foul lyrics.
• A fully freestyle mode: I know that they tried to have a freestyle move with "Make Your Move", but that is more of a Simon Says game. Plus, it is only multiplayer (not a lot of people I know enjoy dancing, so I can't put this mode into any use!) Can't there be a mode where you make  your own moves through the entire song, in single player?
• Player lines that in-game characters can react to (for example, if I said a yo mamma joke out loud, as if to Taye, then she would understand, and respond with "Oh no.You did not just go there.")

That's about it. I hope some of these are implemented in DC4/5!