Stoked Review [360]

A couple of hours into Stoked and you may begin to question the ethics of the game. Throwing you straight down the mountain is fine, but this isn't a chirpy SSX styled funfest, oh no, it's designed to put you through your paces. You'll learn a few basics from a well-established pro and then be thrown out of a helicopter to fend for yourself. The aim of the game is to get famous and, as we all know, this isn't the easiest task in the world (unless you're a couple of talentless Irish twins who audition for X-Factor). To succeed in this world you'll need remarkably thick skin for the early stages, not only because your peers will mock you, but also to defend yourself from the ceaseless impact that occurs when face repeatedly meets snow.

The fact is you're going to bail a lot to begin with. After choosing your character's preset face and an assortment of clothes from a minimal selection, it's your job to begin earning ‘fame' points to help with the ultimate goal of getting noticed. These fame points are issued when specific challenges and objectives are completed, as each mountain becomes a playground for you to get inventive on. At first you may race to the bottom, trying any challenge that's easily found, but after a mixture of mild success and - most probably - huge failure, you'll realise you need to get a little bit creative. With only a ‘Grab Bible' on hand to help with tricks, it's up to you to get practicing in order to work out how to pull off an FS Boardslide and a Switch Backside 360, and how to link them all together like a professional would. If you didn't understand that last sentence, good. That's exactly where developer Zushi wants you to be, and that was how I felt as I began trotting across each mountain like an uncertain Yeti hiding from tourists. With a little bit of perseverance, though, the world of Stoked becomes a whole lot more appealing, especially as you start building reputation to get the big boys interested.

And that's what Stoked is all about. There are few frills, it's graphically average, and there are certainly no statistics to improve; it's just you, your board, and - once they are all unlocked - a set of five mountains to explore. They aren't the biggest, but there's more than enough room to improve your skills in locations including Alaska, Japan, and Chile, and all offer slightly different terrain. Interestingly, the game also has an integrated weather cycle that changes conditions on each mountain at different times of the day. When the white stuff falls heavily there'll be a thicker blanket of snow which is much safer if you're going to be throwing yourself off any huge jumps, as there's less black ice to contend with. Choose to glide down a mountain when the sun's out, and you may find yourself slipping on dangerous rock that was previously hidden - something that must be taken into account if you've ever been snowboarding or skiing for real. The weather cycle is a neat addition and provides players with the urgency to plan ahead, but it's impossible not to feel disheartened when you've started a challenge in the early morning, only for night to roll round while you're still faceplanting the same set of trees like a drunken chimp.