Remember when ‘fun factor’ was a major component of a video game’s review score? Whatever happened to that? Playing a game like SSX — a fun, adrenaline-fueled sensory overload of an experience — makes me wonder.
‘Fun factor’ clearly isn’t as big of a factor anymore, because if it was, people would be raving about SSX to this day. But instead, its been long forgotten as the holiday season’s hype train makes its way to the station.
So, on this day, lets let production values, framerate and big budget polish escape us and review a game for reasons more pure, more akin to our reasons for taking part in this medium in the first place — fun.
And SSX has it in spades.
Longtime fans of the SSX series won’t find the above statement as much of a revelation as newcomers. Before its lengthy five year hiatus, SSX was the extreme sports franchise that raised the bar in fun during the last generation. The original game was the first killer app/system seller for the PlayStation 2, and as the series grew more expansive (in terms of quality, content and console support), so did its esteemed reputation.
But, as a new crop of high-powered consoles arrived, the extreme sports genre waned, leaving SSX — and the countless games like it — taking a nasty spill; bailing and tumbling helplessly down a slippery slope to the wayside as gamers grew tired of gnarly tricks, big air and kickass combos, leaving no place for extreme sports in this trend-heavy industry.
But now, still grounded in its roots and soaring with vibrancy, SSX makes its return to defy reality with its existence and own the planet with its excellence.
Style and substance forms the foundation of SSX in ways that retain the thrills experienced in past iterations, while adding new components that bring the resuscitated series up to speed with current-gen standards.
The biggest of which is RiderNet, an online feature with social networking appeal that keeps players connected to what their friends and the game’s top players are up to at all times. It brings an intuitive twist to competitive multiplayer by allowing you to compete with ghost runs from your “frenemies” without the need for a live competition, which is still an option thanks to post-release DLC.
The brilliance of RiderNet is that it takes a simple trope of any racing game and makes it an accurate simulation of an actual online battle without the pain of coordinating the time to meet up with your friends for a game.
In some form or fashion, you’re always taking part in the SSX community, whether it’s topping a high score, global events or placing/collecting a Geotag — collectible orbs that players place in hard-to-reach areas of a track that either give you points for nabbing them or for placing your own and building points until someone collects it. Again, it’s a case of taking something simple and making it unique.
Something that’s always been unique about the SSX series has been the over-the-top gameplay, and fans will be relieved to know that SSX’s five year absence doesn’t show on the reboot one bit. Not only has the gameplay stayed intact, but a few key enhancements make it arguably better than its ever been.
EA Sports ditched the old control scheme in past installments in favor of a more organic analog configuration. Holding the right analog stick in a certain direction will coincide with which side of the board you’ll grab, which eliminates the complexity found in the former button-heavy configuration. The left trigger serves as the trick modifier, and holding down both triggers (in conjunction with the right analog stick) will initiate your signature move.
Presentation is another huge part of the gameplay, with sound effects, thumping music and awesome on-screen effects congratulating your snowboarding finesse with rewarding gratification.
Performing slick tricks while grinding a rail will cause the music to scratch in sync with your moves. Get big air and the music will fade away, leaving quiet gusts of whistling air to accentuate the moment before erupting back into place as you make your timely landing.
And once you touch down on snowy ground, a shockwave booms through the track and Run-DMC busts through your speakers in gritty “WUB WUB” fashion, signaling that Tricky Mode is unleashed, blurring your screen from the sense of speed and bands of bright colors trailing from your character’s body as you go for another bout of bigger air and bigger tricks.
I haven’t seen a visuals and sound this in tune with a gameplay experience since the days of Rez and Amplitude.
The graphics in SSX has flash and flair down pat, but balances that signature charm with breathtaking beauty. It isn’t a visual powerhouse, but SSX’s graduation to current-gen consoles will illicit a few ‘wow moments’ as you’re running amok in your aerial playground.
Snow effects really pull you in to the scene, as do the gorgeous mountainous backdrops in the distance, as you soar high enough to see the sun peek out. SSX isn’t just about glowy colors and crazy effects — it’s the subtleties underneath, too.
SSX’s revamped campaign takes players on a tour of ‘Deadly Descents’ — nine treacherous tracks loosely based on real life locations that each highlight different dangers. Trees, slippery ice, avalanches and others turn Mother Nature into a boss battle as you progress through each locale of the globe.
These events abandon race times and point totals in favor of sheer survival, giving players three rewinds and level-specific survival gear to make it through each death trap. It’s a great idea meant to diversify the game a little, but it temporarily turns SSX into a game of frustration instead of a game of fun. Thankfully, these events come few and far between.
The opening moments of the campaign clue you into the conflict right away — Griff, the founder of SSX, has gone rogue and seeks to kick dirt (or in this case, snow) on his former crew by upstaging them through tackling Earth’s most dangerous snowboarding locations first… and better.
Zoe, one of SSX’s standout characters, takes it upon herself to rally the SSX team once again to reclaim bragging rights and show Griff that he doesn’t deserve the spotlight that he seeks for himself.
Not the deepest premise in the world by any stretch, but the plot of the campaign justifies some of the campaign’s features nicely. Players must accumulate EXP and spend credits (gained through completing events) to level up characters and purchase new boards, suits and equipment to contend with Griff’s high scores, morphing the otherwise basic “earn a medal” progression into “beat this guy.”
And for newcomers to the SSX series, stylized cutscenes provide quaint backstories of the sport and the returning characters that players unlock to face Griff, explaining their history and their purpose within the hybrid sport. Little touches like this won’t leave you scratching your head over the who, what, where when and why of SSX.
And that’s the thing. EA Sports spent a commendable amount of time organizing the chaos — giving the game a plot, explaining the origins, having a super sleek interface and always guiding you somewhere without slapping a cuff your wrist. One thing always leads to another. Everything is streamlined for your benefit. Everything has a point. Everything makes sense.
It’s that mastery of self-awareness that makes SSX something more than its ever been — complete. Complete and fun.
There’s that word again — the word that eludes so many games of today, the word that used to be enough to keep games alive and kicking long after their releases. Sadly, that isn’t the case for SSX, as gamers continue to migrate to the next big online thing or the next big budget ‘AAA’ title on the horizon, leaving RiderNet criminally desolate.
But, the next time you’re looking towards the horizon, remember that you could have been there; because in SSX, the horizon is ground level.