Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding (Xbox)

In the days of yore, snowboarding games were a niche genre that was traditionally only filled after the skateboarding, BMX, motocross, and other extreme sports games had already been released. But with the rising popularity of extreme sports in North America, snowboarding games have become almost as important as 3D platformers and action games to a console's success. As proof of this shift in popularity, Xbox owners have the choice of no less than three snowboarding games in the console's first two months of existence. Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding is Microsoft's take on the sport, and while it's an ambitious game filled with options real snowboarders will love, its fundamentally flawed gameplay drastically limits its appeal.

If you've ever known a real snowboarder with dreams of one day reaching the pro circuit, you'll find Amped to be the most accurate representation of the behind-the-scenes aspect of the sport yet. The career mode is where most will spend the majority of time playing the game, and it accurately mimics what it's like to try and bust onto the pro tour. You begin by selecting a rider, customizing him or her with licensed gear, and hitting the slopes. Real-world resorts such as Brighton and Stratton are split up into several runs each. For each run, you must achieve three high scores, obtain a set number of points by doing tricks off of hits marked with a camera, and out-trick a specific pro on whatever obstacles he or she chooses. Interspersed between these requirements are sponsor runs where you must impress a prospective sponsor by performing a specific type of trick that they're fond of. This aspect of the game in particular truly mirrors what it's like for the average weekend warrior to try and gain support from sponsors. If you impress the prospective sponsor or accomplish other goals in the career mode, new boards, clothes, goggles, boots, mountains, and more will be unlocked. In addition to the rather in-depth career mode, there's also a stripped-down multiplayer mode to play. There are several different multiplayer options to enjoy such as king of the hill, high score, and best trick. But with no split-screen multiplayer support, you have to take turns playing, which somewhat defeats the purpose of a multiplayer mode.

While the structure of the career mode in Amped is second to none where snowboarding games are concerned, the tragically flawed gameplay makes it relatively insignificant. Although you may customize the control scheme, the default setup has steering, spins, and flips mapped to the left analog stick, grabs controlled by the right analog stick, and grinds mapped to the B button. The scheme works well the majority of the time, but using the same analog stick to turn, flip, and spin can make things difficult. If you're looking to spin a trick, you have to wait until you leave a hit before beginning to spin, which decreases the number of rotations you can make per trick significantly. The sooner you begin spinning after launching into the air, the faster you will spin, but getting the timing down is extremely difficult, so many times you won't make the full rotation before landing and bailing. This problem holds true for flips as well, and many times you'll end up going off a jump at an awkward angle if you try to spin or flip too early. The lack of an ability to adjust your rider in midair only compounds the problem.

Another glaring issue is the inability to begin going downhill after falling. Many times you'll fall and it will take well over 10 seconds to get moving in the right direction again. It doesn't necessarily affect your score, as there are no time limits on the runs and you can return to the courses at any time by pressing the back button, but it's incredibly annoying nevertheless. The physics for the game could also use some tweaking. The edges of each board react completely unrealistically to your turns, and it's far too easy to lose speed when lining up for a jump. This problem becomes obvious when you're attempting to work a half-pipe and are unable to maintain speed or when you're trying to cut across the hill to boost off a jump. For a snowboarding game that provides a relatively laid-back experience, the inability to accurately carve defeats the design's purpose. But perhaps the biggest problem with Amped's gameplay is its difficulty. Because there is no time limit, you can simply jump on a pole with no speed and perform grind after grind until you've accumulated enough points to move on to the next course. Amped has all the prerequisite parts to make a great-playing snowboarding game, but their flawed execution results in a game that is frustrating at times and too easy at others.

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