I was as worried as any SSX fan when Electronic Arts unveiled the darker, grittier SSX: Deadly Descents late last year. I like my outlandish snowboarding video games to be, well, outlandish, silly, colorful.
https://lastchance.cc/first-look-at-the-new-ssx-5712303%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
During a recent preview of the game, due January 2012 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, I got a chance to see the new SSXâs cool technical tricks. Thereâs Mountain Man, the software that transformed NASA satellite data of the planet into in-game mountains and landscapes, the foundation on which SSX developers built the gameâs more exploratory courses. We were shown the many mountain peaks, all based on real-world locations, with SSXâs take on Google Earthâthe navigational interface that serves as its main menu.
EA promised us some 150 to 180 drop points around the globe, spots where the gameâs snowboarders can pop into a race via helicopter.
I also had an extensive preview of RiderNet, the SSX equivalent of Need For Speedâs excellent Autolog feature. RiderNet is the snowboarding gameâs socially networked multiplayer service. Through it, youâll have the opportunity to connect with and challenge friends. Youâll see your friendsâ and rivalsâ high scores. Youâll be able to challenge them, issue them challenges, and receive status updates on those challenges via in-game messages, through external social networks and via an iPhone app.
https://lastchance.cc/the-new-ssx-sort-of-has-100-000-player-multiplayer-5831348%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
SSX lets players tackle these challenges in single-player competitions, meaning youâll download âghostsâ of other playersâ runs. You can download and race against multiple versions of other playersâ attempts at a downhill race, with their spectral forms shown performing every turn, every trick as you try to best their attempts. A very, very long glowing trail will follow their ghosts as you race against them, allowing players to chart the paths of their rivals more accurately.
The new SSX will also, as sinful as it may sound, let players rewind and readjust their runs as they practice speeding down mountainsides. Think you could nail a jump better? Or would you rather go for a nearby shortcut? Just hit the rewind button and give it another shot. (Or donât, as you can also rewind just to rewatch an impressive trick.) Itâs not as blasphemous as it sounds, especially since rewinding a portion of your run puts you that much farther behind a rival, if youâre competing against their ghost.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mKEDs4Ry9g
All these concepts, new additions to SSX, were of interest to me (I fell in love with Autologâs challenges and rivalries), but it was the gameplay of the new arcadey racer that was most appealing. In short, it felt like a classic SSX game (or at least what I remember of the most recent entry I played, SSX 3). Its controls slowly grew on me, slowly feeling more and more familiar, as I raced down the side of an Alaskan mountain, grinding on oil pipelines that would have been designed by madmen.
It was a subtler SSX, more grounded in realism. There were no fireworks displays, no crowds delivering thunderous applause and no rainbow colored slopes. It was the mountain, me (playing Mac) and thousands of feet of slope to explore. Courses felt less restrictive, more improvisational. Everything felt good, if a touch looser than I remember my SSX. It was pre-alpha software and I experience some unfamiliarity with its physics and board controlâthe same that I always felt between SSX gamesâbut I was pleased.
So, yes, Iâm happy so far. RiderNet sounds engaging. The snowboarding feels good. It feels like SSX, just a little more grown up. And thatâs cool. Iâm a little more grown up too.
You can contact Michael McWhertor, the author of this post, at [email protected]. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and lurking around our #tips page.
