It’s been a long time in the making, but the time has almost come for EA Sports to grace us with another title in arguably the most successful snowboarding series out there. SSX is known for its addictive arcade-style gameplay, egotistical characters, sweet tricks, and of course a pumping soundtrack.
The game's demo is out now for you all to try. But as SSX moves towards a more realistic take on the action-packed sport, will fans of the series end up disappointed that some of the more ambitious gameplay elements have been taken away?
Well, did I mention you can jump out of helicopters and fly across mountains in a wingsuit?
SSX (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 [previewed])
Developer: EA Canada
Publisher: EA Sports
Release: February 28, 2012 (NA) / March 2, 2012 (EU)
As a modern reinvention of the SSX series, the focus is on survival in adrenaline-fueled events. The key is to make it through player-versus-the-elements gameplay.
Location is everything in SSX and the sense of realism is really apparent in these new places. By using topographical satellite data from NASA, EA Canada has been able to build a Google Earth-like map that displays the nine different mountain ranges that are available to explore. The aim was to recreate iconic locations like the Himalayas, Antarctica, and the Alps while still keeping a true SSX feel to the gameplay, so the game's mountains aren't exactly GPS-accurate.
So the mountains are semi-realistic, but how about the actual gameplay? Well, any snowboarder will know that there is certainly more than one way down a mountain. While previous SSX games allowed a certain degree of off-piste freedom, there was always an inevitable invisible wall standing in your way. Those pesky walls have been removed as much as possible, allowing unrestricted gameplay in which you decide where to ride. And if you see a branch or a makeshift kicker, you will more than likely be able to do some sick tricks off it. This feature gives a more diverse, open-world feel to the game, as the player is given a greater degree of freedom in deciding which path to take. Obviously the main way is down, but how you get there is up to you!
The new gritty style of gameplay comes into focus right from the start of the race. Instead of slowly pushing off from behind a gate, the majority of races in the new SSX begin with a jump out of a helicopter to arrive on the piste at speed. It's a fast-paced action event right from the very beginning. The “Tricky” meter is back, allowing you to build up your boost by pulling off a variety of different freestyle moves and tricks. When the meter is full, fans will be pleased to hear the fun new remix of the Run-D.M.C. song that has become such a big part of the series.
The all-new survival element is perhaps one of the most different additions, challenging the player to survive some seriously deadly descents. You will have to face terrifying avalanches, white-outs, darkness, freezing temperatures, and gravity, which requires the awesome wingsuit to help you glide from rock to rock as you choose your path down to safety. These modes add a new challenge to the game and also require fast, skilled action -- especially when dodging through trees and fallen branches, or choosing the best part of the mountain to ride down while under pressure.
The lovable team of riders is back again, as selected by fans of the series, and some new characters are thrown in there too. The ones that made the cut are Elise, Zoe, Kaori, Psymon, Mac, Moby, and the more recently announced Eddie. They’ve all been given a bit of a facelift and have moved away from some of their crazier outfit choices (basically, less nakedness) to more conventional snowboarding gear, which helps to add a more serious tone to the game. As you progress through the game, their gear can be tweaked and upgraded to better suit the conditions of some of the tougher mountain ranges.
Another interesting feature is RiderNet, inspired by the Autolog from the Need For Speed series. It runs alongside you during play and keeps track of your progress. You will be able to see your friends’ times, high scores, different drop positions throughout the race and much more. Having successfully worked in the NFS games, this will add another level of competition to the game, which kinda sucks for me as I was hoping to get some work done in March.
With new features added and nothing taken away from the fun and challenging experience that previous SSX titles have provided, this game looks all set to be a fantastic release full of individuality and experimentation. You really can choose your own path; you've just got to hope it's the right one!
Contest:
5:15 PM on 02.21.2012 | 
I think my nostalgia glasses ruined it for me.
I was expecting something akin to THPS 1 & 2 or Dave Mirra BMX, and instead it felt like I got BMX XXX.
I was planning on skipping it anyways.....you know, because of EA.
Kingdoms of Amalur was the final EA related game I would get.
Online passes? Nearly every publisher does it now (Sony, WB, etc.)
But tricks are just much more fluid and easy to pull off now that while it's a bit too easy, it just feels more enjoyable being able to launch myself in the air and hop off my board and spin it around like a helicopter blade like some kind of maniac.
SSX has always been about high speed trick heavy completely impossible snowboarding... And thank GOD they kept that in tact in this reboot.
The police are going to come to my house and arrest me for "excessive game buying".
My dick is going to be red and raw from the copious amounts of buying that I will be doing with regards to this video game.
Please don't suck
Please don't suck
Please don't suck
The ridernet stuff is pretty cool. reminds me of the autolog, and that's not a bad thing.
The style of the game is pretty cool. The way the mountain waves out from you occasionally is kinda weird, but it's cool at the same time.
all in all, i wasn't sure if i wanted this game before, and now I do.
>When did videogames became such serious business instead of fun?
The moment companies like EA began to suck the fun out of video games to further their serious businesses.
I had a quick go at Eurogamer and I was dissapointed with the controls overall, but low and behold, EA have outdone themselves and added a Veteran control scheme, so if you are familiar with past games, then you can hop straight in. However, I urge you to take a little time to get to grips with the newer controls as they feel much more fluid. Ignore the face buttons, the full analogue control is where it is at. You can use the left stick for carving and flips (instead of D-pad of old) and the right stick for your grabs over the face buttons (you can use both on the fly) a lá EA Skate. It works ridiculously well and helps rack up the points quickly and helps to remove repeat tricks which you are heavily slated against as usual.
With this, freedom of control for your rider is so much sweeter, the carving is fast and furious, though a little too sensitive. The trick system, AKA man-gush system, is glorious; everything flips, spins and tweaks to near-perfection. Tricks can be cancelled a split second before you hit the ground, squeezing in a few points. Its all so fast. The only part of the control I didn't like was having to hold LT to snap to grindable objects that weren't rails (those where automatic)which often lead to my character clunking their head against a tree - though with practice that will get better.
Racing is arguably harder, gone are the sign posts that signal a cheeky shortcut, instead you have to ride the mountain yourself and discover the best routes possible (which usually means a lot of rails). It can be difficult to minimise your height and keep your speed; boost time has been reduced, and to maintain it you really need to keep a tricky/super tricky going which means you have to keep a combo. AI can pull ahead very fast in this instance, I've yet to get gold on the event race - partly due to the aforementioned sloppy carving, over steer is a huge issue - and you can loose speed very quickly.
The more I play the demo, the more I weep that I haven't managed to secure a review copy yet. They have brought back what made SSX fun, and then added so much, that by the end of play you'll have dirty bits of spaghetti for retinas instead of eyes.
Heady days & Coronas be with you all.
I may not know too much about this "EA boycott", but I do know that I love the SSX series and this title shouldn't be overlooked due to some "company drama".
For the love of videogames, let's play them & have fun! Oh, and nice preview btw!
http://www.destructoid.com/ea-talks-evolution-of-ssx-franchise-at-gamescom-209516.phtml
I played this a bunch at PAX. The game was beautiful and the mechanics and gameplay worked really well and it was really polished. It did what it intended to do really well.
That said, I was really disappointed. There were no fireworks! I don't recall if there was over the top commentary, but it if there was, it didn't stand out. The level on the pax demo was much like the untracked level from previous games - which is one of the most uninteresting, bland levels in the series - no buildings to crash through, no shortcuts through caves, no neon lights or city parks... just normal ski slope. The environment is downright realistic and tame compared to past SSX titles, while the tricks are still bonkers over-the-top crazy; which makes them seem out of place. Also, back in September, it seemed like they hadn't really developed any characters. I think I played as Max, but it was more like drone placeholder. It's like they had taken out everything that I really enjoyed from the series and what's left is the new SSX.
My assessment might be unfair since, I haven't played the newly released demo yet. I hope much of the above has changed in the time since it was on display at PAX. I really want the new SSX to be good (no matter how much of a problem I have with EA) and I want more of the experience that I have enjoyed from the series thus far. Unless they are able to deliver a user experience similar to their past titles, I'm gonna pass.