Review: SSX (Xbox 360)

Huzzah!  My first game completed of 2013!  Hopefully this year I'll be able to clear my backlog a bit more than I did last year and I've started off by finishing off a game I started not long after it came out last Spring.  With any luck I'll also be firing out reviews more frequently and to help me do that I'll try to keep them pretty short and to the point.  So, time to hit the slopes...

SSX is the first Snowboarding game I've spent any serious time with since 1080 Snowboarding on the trusty old N64 and it's fair to say the two games couldn't be more different.  While 1080 took the approach of a somewhat realistic simulation (apart from the giant pandas), this reboot of SSX sticks to its roots with an over the top arcade approach with crazy tricks galore - they even thrown in a rewind mechanic lifted straight from The Sands of Time.  One of the most challenging parts of 1080 was lining up your board after every jump to make sure you landed perfectly - trying out tricks was a calculated risk and you knew every one could ruin your whole race.  In SSX as long as you let go of your trick with enough time to spare your board will automatically adjust and you'll be pretty much guaranteed a clean landing.  That's not a criticism of the game, just an observation.

Doing tricks is piss easy for a reason.  You're being encouraged to do crazy wild tricks because it's part of what makes the game fun - you try to fit in a trick at every possible chance because it builds up your boost meter which can be vital in a race.  Apart from your boost you have no real way of increasing speed other than hitting a steep bit of the mountain and if you're stuck on a relatively flat bit having lost your momentum you can end up going pretty slow.  Fill up your boost meter and you'll trigger a "Tricky" which gives you unlimited boost for a short time and access to even crazier tricks.  Fill up your meter again before the Tricky expires and you'll trigger a super Tricky which allows you to go even faster and pull off the craziest tricks in the game.

The campaign of the game is based around a series of "Deadly Descents" that tale you on a tour around some of the world's most famous mountain ranges.  You'd be forgiven for thinking you were riding the same mountain range the whole game though because none of them make a huge effort to distinguish themselves.  There are tons of runs in this game but I can't remember any of them standing out to me and making me desperate to return to them.  I was happy enough to leave them behind and get on to the next one.

The campaign is presented with a cheesy narrative that's acceptable enough to drive the story - Team SSX has to conquer the Deadly Descents before their arch rival Griff.  Fair enough.  Each mountain range is traversed by a different rider, someone supposedly an expert of the region.  Something that bugs me about this is to play as them you have to beat them first - so you travel to this region, beat the master and then Team SSX decides that instead of the rider who has just won a race they'll stick with the loser and you then play as them for the rest of the region.

Each range is finished off with a "Boss Level" which kits you out with a gimmicky tool that is only useful on that one run - a wingsuit, a headlamp for traversing the dark, pulse goggles so you can see the ground even when you're blinded by snow or an oxygen tank that you need to manage your use of to avoid blacking out.  These add a nice change of pace to the game and although some of the equipment can be fun I'm glad they didn't shoe horn them into every race.

I enjoyed SSX in short bursts when I fancied something light hearted, fun and without too much thinking involved.  There isn't too much challenge from the game until the last few races and by that point they were quite infuriating with blind drops around almost every corner and opponents that almost never falter.  Once you crack the "final race" and the credits start to roll, you're hit with the real final race, a grudge match with Griff.  It took me many attempts to finish the track, never mind win the race and it stopped being fun after a while.  But the feeling of achieving that perfect run and actually winning the race was brilliant, making it totally worth it.  I sat back smugly and waited for the oh so familiar achievement pop to happen and then... nothing.  No achievement unlocked - what the hell is up with that?

Oh well, minor gripes aside this is a fun game without being spectacular.  If a snowboarding game appeals to you then try it out and I think you'll enjoy it, but it's by no means a "must have" game like 1080 was back in the day!