Developer: EA Canada
Publisher: EA Sports
Release Date (US): February 28, 2012
Platforms: Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Genre: Sports
It's been a while since SSX was on the scene. Will this be a triumphant return or an unwelcome revival?
The story is topical to the current times. What happens is that Griff has ditched Team SSX and thus the team has no money. Griff and Team SSX are in a battle to conquer the 9 Deadly Descents around Earth first. To earn the funding that Team SSX needs, they live stream the runs and earn funding from the fans. So begins the race!
The Gameplay is classic SSX. The game introduces a new control scheme that moves all tricks to the Right Stick instead of the buttons, which works fine, and you can also change to the Classic controls if you so choose. SSX feels like it did back in Tricky and 3, so the gameplay will feel familiar to you if you played either. There are 3 event types, Race It is getting down the run before everyone else, Trick It is getting the most Trick Points using the Combo system to earn the maximum, and the Survive It events which tasks you with trying to survive until the bottom of the run. The Turbo and Tricky system is like SSX 3, you have the initial meter which gives you the basic tricks and finite turbo. Once the Turbo is filled once, you are Tricky, which gives you unlimited Turbo and makes your tricks more stylish. Once you fill up Tricky, you become Super Tricky, which ups your tricks even more. Tricky and Super Tricky are finite and will run out after a while and need to be built up again. The new addition here is Gear. You can equip different gear to help you survive the runs. Armor allow you to take a bearing, Wingsuits allow flight over a short length, Ice Picks allow easier turning on Ice, Headlamps allow sight in darkness, Pulse Goggles allow sight in whiteout, Solar Panels keep you from freezing, and Oxygen Tanks give you air in Thin Air conditions. Using the gear effectively is key to surviving and getting better times and scores. You can also Rewind the action to give yourself a second chance, but you lose Trick Points and the clock continues to run, so use them sparingly. There are 3 different modes of play, World Tour takes you through the story of conquering the 9 Deadly Descents and gets you familiar with all the characters as well. Explore mode opens up all the runs and allows you to take on any run on a Trick It, Race It, or Survive It to earn Gold Medals. Global Events allow you to participate in Online Events to earn Credits. Explore Mode and Global Events are the multiplayer components. In Explore Mode, you can collect and leave Geotags on the runs, you can collect other Geotags for Experience and Credits and leave your own. If your Geotags avoid being picked up, you get the full Credits reward. If other people on your Friends List has SSX, you can compete against their ghosts and upload your own ghosts for them to compete against. You get credits if you beat your friends' ghosts and if your ghosts can remain undefeated. The Global Events are online events that you can participate in or set up yourself. Events can be on any run in any event. The event can be open up to the whole world to compete or for just your friends as well. There are 5 tiers, and depending on how well you do, you get placed in a tier, the higher the tier you are in when the event ends, the higher share of the credits pot you receive. You can run it as many times as you like, it takes your best run, but you have to pay credits for each drop. The lack of any direct multiplayer is a let down, but not a deal breaker. The gameplay feels tight and as good as the series has ever been.
The music is pretty cool, and you can use your own songs during the game if you so choose.
Bottom Line: SSX is a triumphant return to the series, it is as fun as ever. Solid single player and the online features can keep you playing for a while. I say It's worth a Buy.
No comments:
Post a Comment