Shaun White Snowboading

19 Nov 2008 at 13:15:01 by
Systems used to review this title: (360)

When you bring an extreme sports game to the table you have to remember the games that have come before it, games that have defined the genre.  More often than not the bar is set high, by games like SSX or Skate, leaving new pretenders to the crown with a difficult job of making a mark in the genre.

This, of course, is always a challenge, and to get a game that works you either have to choose a sport that is easy to work with, one that has already been successful, or one that no one has ever done before.  So instead of opting for a new IP, like Extreme Ironing, Ubisoft decided to take on the mammoth task of recreating an old skool classic in the shape of a snowboarding game.  Enlisting Olympian and X-Games legend Shaun White, it set about creating the ultimate snowboarding experience. Unfortunately, it came up with a game which suffers from an identity crisis.

However, this isn’t evident at first glance. On the surface, things look good for Shaun White’s. The visuals are suitably next-gen, sporting some nice effects, and carving your way down the mountain feels simple and reasonably intuitive.  The left stick is for direction, while the right stick moves your board.  The left trigger acts as a trick modifier, perfoming grabs etc as required. The system is easy to grasp but  doesn’t feel quite as responsive or in-depth as EA’s other extreme efforts, such as Skate. And sometimes the simplicity is eclipsed by frustration, especially when you’re navigating half-pipes with a shonky camera system at work. 

Navigating your way around the game’s four mountains isn’t issue-free either. The radar offers no sense of depth and you’re constantly trying to find your way around locations that are forever changing.  The open world element really doesn’t help here either because you have no idea whether you need to be above or below your current location. The map is infinitely better, but the fact that you’d have to pause the game to view it out is frustrating.

Your map also fails to tell you which areas are at risk from avalanches.  Being exposed to the elements in this way reminds you that you are actually on a mountain where Gaia can and will throw her full force at you, and you’d better be ready to dodge her rage.  This is where the Assassins’ Creed engine really comes into play offering up some stunning visuals.

Whether you’re outrunning Gaia or slowly meandering down the mountain you’ll notice events scattered across the four mountains (Europe, Alaska, Japan and Park City) which you can take part in.  Of course these come in the usual forms of racing, time-attack missions, stunts and trick-based missions, as well as finding coins for Shaun and a Death Race which combines racing with snowball throwing skills. And they are mostly fun,  except for the coin collection (which we’ll discuss later). Getting around the mountain is either something you’ll enjoy doing or you’ll absolutely hate.  Either take a ski-lift, a helicopter or just warp to the last location you saved.  If you opt for the ski-lift you get to see the whole ride up and can even hop-off whenever you want, which is great if something, such as a coin, has caught your eye.

The missions, as with most games, drive the narrative forward and unlock rewards and skills such as better equipment which help with your overall stats and abilities.  Now this is a major factor in the game, and one which we think will be keen to your enjoyment.  The better your equipment, the better you are on the board.   On this point it’s important to note that just because the worlds are all unlocked and ready to be explored from the get go, it does not mean that you’ll be able to get where you want to from the start.  An open world is only open if you have the skills, equipment and eye to make it to where it is you want to be.  So if you want to carve up better on ice, or get faster on powder, or even do bigger tricks, you need to kit yourself out appropriately.  You will not be able to progress without frustration if you ignore this.

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