SSX 3

SSX 3 Description

Ah, lifestyle and snowboarding, what could be more in keeping with today's extreme sports-loving youth? Nothing, that's what, which explains the popularity of snowboarding games, at least to some extent. You can't smash your leg to pieces in SSX, which kind of takes the edge off things, but you can get a quite sore thumb, bad enough injuries for some, including most of us. SSX always came in for the criticism that "it's not as good as 1080" which is a little unfair and is arguably a Nintendo-fan biases point of view. The third in the series, SSX 3 delivers more of the high-speed snowboarding thrill of the earlier games, whilst upping the all-important snow-deformation standards that are so important to the genre's protagonists. The concept underpinning SSX 3 is the belief that you go anywhere and do anything. The buzzword is environmental seamlessnes and EA Canada has been paying close attention to the way this philosophy has powered game sales in recent times. SSX 3 is an awesome spectacle to behold, and is a massive jump in terms of technical achievement and gameplay over its predecessors. Set over a slew of peaks at the EA Resort, SSX 3 is a pure snowboarding game and, luckily, does not follow the doomed and frankly appalling THQ lead of adding a rather weak story to what is already a winning gaming set-up and sticks to the bones of what is needed: Getting better at manipulating the game engine and controls, in conjunction with using the environment ala Tony Hawk. Indeed, the gameplay is somewhat formulaic, in as much as you progress through the game by the magic of achieving a set of specified goals, which, when completed, unlock the next slope. Which, in our opinion, is all such a game needs. It is the incredible environments that set SSX 3 apart from other, weaker snowboarding games, and proves that EA is still capable of taking even a jaded gamer's breath away. Massive levels, packed with unspeakable natural disasters and hazards, make for easily the best snowboarding game, perhaps ever. It's just a shame that online functionality is restricted to PlayStation 2.

With almost two years of development by EA Canada, the team is adding technologies that bring to life rich natural graphics like snow that sparkles and blows in the wind and realistic character shadowing. A new game play experience allows users to seamlessly ride from one awesome area to the next--entering competitions, taking on Big Challenges, and discovering hidden collectibles. SSX 3 has blown out the trick component with unlimited combos and new over-the-top tricks.

In addition to the new boarding venues, Big Challenges rewards players for completing any of the more than 100 unique challenges as they explore the mountain's vast world. Grind billboards, board press logs, even hand plant the fence line.

SSX 3 will feature a broad range of music from such artists as the X-Ecutioners, Felix Da Housecat, Queens of the Stone Age, N.E.R.D., and many more