Mike Sharkey, News Editor: We both had the opportunity to go hands-on with EA's rebooted snowboarding franchise, SSX, at E3. What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the new SSX?
Eric Neigher, Contributing Editor: I would say the first thing that came to mind when I saw the game, and when I played it, was "damn, this seems fun!" And it really does. They've brought back the old school, Tony-Hawk-ish trick mode and the traditional racing mode, but have also added this ridiculously physics-based avalanche building system for the Survival mode -- where you try to outrun avalanches on giant mountains. And the science goes beyond that; they also apparently used satellite images ("from NASA!" according to the developers) to model all sorts of mountain ranges throughout the world, and SSX allows you to choose and ride semi-realistic versions of those mountains, including famous ones like Mt. Everest. They also showed Kilimanjaro and Mt. McKinley, I believe. All of it looked great, from what I could tell -- and they did little things well, too, like superimposing the height and speed you're going directly on the snow of the level itself, making sure you never have to take your eyes off the main window.
Mike Sharkey: SSX is just plain fun. When this franchise is at its best, just about anyone can sit down with it and have a 1080-pulling blast. And though we only had a short time with the game, it appears to be shaping up very nicely, indeed. I found it interesting that the devs would bring back the over-the-top trick mode while also focusing on creating true-to-life "from NASA!" courses. Did the simulation-meets-arcade-game mix seem a little off to you?
Eric Neigher: Yeah, I think you and I both snickered at the "from NASA!" line, but whaddyagonna do, these guys gotta drink the Kool-Aid, right? What it really amounts to is a nifty way of constructing levels, like how they showed us the big crater on the inside of Kilimanjaro that you can race through. Obviously, no one in NASA is recommending snowboarding into the heart of a caldera, but it's fun to pretend they supplied the level design! And I think that "just this side of believable" is what sets "sports" games like SSX and its class (say Tony Hawk and Split/Second, etc.) apart from more traditional sports-sim titles. One thing I'll say is that the characters lacked that SSX personality, although to be fair, the game we played was pre-alpha (which the SSX design team was careful to plaster all over every demo station), and they promised a lot more fleshing out would be done soon. If I had any qualms, it would be that the game seemed almost too easy -- we never really fell or wiped out or ate it. On the other hand, we could not frickin' grind to save our lives. Why is grinding so hard, Mike?
Mike Sharkey: One of life's great mysteries, my friend. It's true though: Grinding was one trick that, no matter how hard we tried, we just couldn't manage to pull off in the demo. Not sure if it was the particular map, our lack of skill (no frickin' way), or where the game is at in its pre-alpha design, but it was odd that we couldn't execute one of trick mode's most trademark maneuvers. One thing we did pull off, though, was one of the game's new ripple-effect awards, where the snow warps out around you in waves when you land a major combo. Looks like this will become a nice new feature -- particularly in race mode, where the waves of snow knock down your opponents. It's a clever reward/weapon system. Other than that though, the gameplay all feels very familiar, with what seemed to be very few new features. Do you think it's a good thing that this basically plays just like the old SSX games?
Eric Neigher: Well, that's a fair point, although the devs stressed over and over that more features are to be included. On the other hand, I think it can be a good thing that it's a familiar feel, especially since this is the first SSX in a long time, and represents an example of a genre that's sort of fallen by the wayside with the death of Tony Hawk (the game series, not the guy -- I'm pretty sure he's still alive). I think, ultimately, the true test is that we enjoyed the game, so, old or new school, it's fun, and that's what matters.
