
	Platform Playstation 3 Genre Extreme Sports Publisher Electronic Arts Developer EA Canada ESRB E (Everyone) Released February 28, 2012

- Awesome sense of speed - Trick system is not overly complicated - Rewind feature is a Godsend. - Robust Multiplayer

- Some freezing/crashing issues - Single Player Campaign story is not very interesting. - Lack of simultaneous multiplayer is puzzling

Review: SSX (360) Review: Saints Row: The Third (PS3) Review: NHL 12 (PS3)
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SSX

Score: 8.0 / 10

It’s hard to believe it’s been more than 10 years since SSX was first released on the Playstation 2 and Xbox. Several SSX titles were released on the last generation of consoles, but the PS3 and Xbox 360 have yet to see any new games in the series until now. SSX as it’s called is a reboot of the series, but don’t let the word “reboot” fool you though. SSX stays true to its roots by providing an arcade like experience that is all about feeling a great sense of speed and adrenaline carving down mountain peaks scattered throughout the globe.

The trick system is the heart of SSX. Regardless of what event your playing, your character has a boost meter which gets filled up by carrying out tricks. Tricks can

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be carried out using the right analog stick or face buttons. I’ve always been intimidated by extreme sports titles as I’ve frequently found the trick systems difficult to master, but SSX makes it easy and that is a breath of fresh air.

There are a total of seven global environments you can snowboard in. Within each environment, there

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are several peaks, each of which typically has three types of events: Races, Trick and Survive It Challenges. Survive It Challenges see you race down a mountain with the sole purpose of making it to the bottom without dying. Each Survive It Challenge is different as the hazards you’ll encounter can include fallen trees, avalanches, freezing temperatures and oxygen deprived environments. Some of these challenges require specialized equipment including paragliding suits, oxygen tanks and thermal suits to keep your character from freezing to death. Equipment can be purchased using SSX Credits which are obtained by doing well in various events.

When you’re playing SSX, you’re going to feel such an awesome sense of speed that you rarely feel in a lot of other titles. You’ll be jumping off massive cliffs at lightning speeds, paragliding over unforgiving drops and grinding on man made and natural features in the environment. There was never a time where I felt bored by SSX. The events are so varied and each one feels like a new experience each time.

SSX is a very forgiving game. You can rewind time if your character takes a wrong turn, wipes out, falls over an edge or if you simply wish to redo a trick. In modes such as Survive It, there are limits to how much you can use this feature, but it’s one of the best features in SSX. Without the rewind feature you would probably be ripping your hair out during the Survive It Challenges. I’m thankful because I don’t have much hair to rip out.

SSX features a career mode with an actual story, but the story is neither engaging nor interesting. It’s a snowboarding game, I don’t really need a reason to be going down the world’s tallest peaks, I’m simply here to have fun and get an awesome sense of speed.

The career mode is fun, but the real meat of SSX is its robust multiplayer offerings. In Explore Mode all locales and events are unlocked and you compete in different events with the sole purpose of beating your friends scores and times.

Aside from the Explore Mode are Global Events. The Global Events are special events on a particular mode and course that lasts for a set period of time. Up for grabs is SSX Credits Prize money, Global Events are open to the whole online community and depending on how you perform you are placed in different brackets. The better you perform, the better the bracket you’re placed in. The way the rewards are handled in Explore Mode is truly innovative as the endgame is not simply achieving the highest possible score on the leaderboards. One puzzling omission is the inability to play with friends simultaneously on the same console or online.

I did run into some freezing/crashing issues during the loading screens of the game. The most frequent crashes would occur when I would boot up the game only to have the “Connecting to ridernet” screen freeze.

SSX is a great reboot of the series. While the game has some shortcomings, it does provide an amazing adrenaline rush and sense of speed you rarely experience in other titles. Hopefully this is not the last SSX title we see on the PS3.

- Siddharth Masand
(May 4, 2012)