Review: SSX 3

DeVore

Ever have one of those weekends where you arent sure what you are going to do... and then something decides it for you?

Walked into my local video store and theres SSX 3 for rent. 10 quid later its mine for the week.

Now, I love all things snowboarding and I utterly adored SSX Tricky so you have to take that into account when I say SSX 3 is utterly brilliant.

I've been playing it solid for the past 24 hours and I'm about 2/3rds of the way through it. Believe me if you think that makes it easy, its not. I've played Tricky for the past year solid and I've got it pretty nailed... and when I say 24 hours solid, I pretty much mean it. This game is not easy.

So, whats the scoop?

One of the things I was worried about was the lack of the word "Tricky" in the title... were they going to go back to pure racing with this one?
Well they havent you'll be glad to hear. The ridiculously unrealistic but fun ubers are still here and the controls are identical, ubers are pulled the same way as before which is nice, means you're skills will transfer.

You can still race or freeride or freestyle as you please and there are 2,3,5 and even 10x multipliers but they are rarer then before.

All the old tracks are gone. Completely gone. No more Tokyo Megaplex (take it Amp!) but no more Garabaldi .
What you get instead if a mammoth mountain with 3 peaks (you start on the lowest and progress up the peaks).
Each peak has 6-9 runs on it and each can be run as freeride, freestyle or race... some are more suited to one then the others.

You dont unlock boards or pick up skill points anymore... you earn money and spend it in a central Ski Lodge. You buy skill points with as much money as you have saved... trouble is, each skill point is more expensive then the last....
You can still buy boards but curiously they make no difference to the handling ... only the occasional style multiplier...

On that note, the level of customisation of the rider is gone beyond the beyonds now... we've taken to calling it "going shopping" because its silly how many tops, gloves, shades, hairdos etc you can buy for your character.
(Our female rider is wearing a tank top, a pair of combats, a paintball mask 'n' goggles, a pair of fingerless gloves and an old WW2 gas mask).

The runs are MUCH more complex then before. Think: Untracked meets Aloha Ice Jam.... big mountain side with natural and unnatural hits. The only problem (and its one of two small criticisms) is that we've lost count here how many times someone has headed to what *looked* like a nice big jump only to be reset and told "OFF LIMITS"... the track markings are unclear if they are even present. Its a niggle, not a game-breaker but you'll see what I mean!

The whole feel of this is faster, less safe, more intense then Tricky. The music at first left me a bit cold as it didnt seem to be as fitting as the music in Tricky but now I've come round to it and I really like it.

This is Tricky pilled off its tits, and yer gonna love it!

DeV.

kensutz

Yeah this is a class game for anyone who had a slight interest in the SSX games released previously.

DeVore

Things that are different:

1. You need 9 ubers to become super-uber...

2. Ubers dont give you as much points as before.

3. You can progress your rider without getting medals by freeriding and getting cash that way. Its very slow though.

4. The handling is a lot more realistic especially in deep snow. The crashes bring back bad memories.

5. You can uber while grinding a rail now.

6. They dont have mulitplier "crystals" any more, they have very small silver and gold yokes. I preferred the crystals....

7. a LOT more stuff falls on your head and generally sh|t blows up and falls down a good deal more.

8. You get challenged by the king of the mountain and you have to beat him to proceed. That race is all the way from the top of the peak in question, through ALL the courses to the bottom and usually takes about 15 minutes so its a bit of a marathon...

9. Lots of the official comps and races take the form of heats semis and finals and you have to place in the top three in each to proceeed and medal. Not as easy as it sounds...

10. You select what you want to do by riding there rather then selecting it from a menu as before. You can build up your adrenaline bar on the way, and it stays when you start the race/competition!!

DeV.

amp

I'm better than you.

ondafly

like I posted already - got it Friday on the Xbox.

Now 2 days later of pretty solid playing, I'm loving it, my left thumb ain't ! Got to peak 2 fairly easily. The missus wanted to watch something on TV, so no problem - let me finish this little freestyle race. 15 minutes later I get to the end ! stunned a track could go on for so long - no more feelings of wishing the track was longer - Garabaldi et al in Tricky. Looking forward to racing all the way down from peak 3 to the bottom.

something I might add about the xbox version not having online capability - SSX Tricky for me previously, was a 1-player-see-how- high-a-score-you-can-get , -let-your-mate-go-next, style game. if you get me. Rarely did we play a 2 player game, as we always found the split screen to be too small a space for the boarding, but also a distraction. So in other words, its no great loss to the xbox version.

SSX3 is SSX Tricky crossed with GTA Vice City

Gummy Panda

DeVore,

I thought you were going to buy an xbox and this??

Makaveli

Well after reading this I think I will get it. The fact that it's all new tracks and from the sounds of it almost a completely different game makes me want it.
New tracks means no Mesa Blanca and no Aloha Ice Jam (yay!) but no Garibaldi and no Mercury City Meltdown (boo!).
Also, I hear Marty is gone? Or has he been replaced by Mac? Did many of the Tricky characters return?

ondafly

didn't see marty or a few others in the character selection. But did notice that Eddie was racing against me in one race - so maybe they are unlockables

super_furry

Hmmm, it does sound good but, with with Amped 2 out next week and 1080 Snowboarding on the horizon, I think I might hold off buying it just yet.

DeVore

Theres tons of new characters but a lot of the old characters have been dropped including Marty.

Psymon is still about and the little japanese girl and a few other regulars. I'd say its about 50:50 new:old

While all the tracks are new, there is one through the city which could very well have been ripped off from Mercury City as some bits of it are identical and it plays very much like it.

DeV.