Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding

My only gripe is the game's depth (there's no sense of real acheivement probably to lack of competition mode). No proper multiplayer mode (what's the point of owning console if you can't play it with your mates in realtime?) Oh and the photographers really can get on your nerves!

Could be a perfect game with the addition of the above but still from a snowboarder's/gamer's point of view far far better than SSX Tricky.

Amped isn't the standard race down a hill pulling the occasional stunt kind of snowboarding game we're used to. The closest thing to it previously would have been 1080 Snowboarding on the N64, but the game is even more free form than that. Yes, there are set runs down hillsides, but they interlink with each other and give a great deal of freedom of movement to the player. Obviously, they're liberally sprinkled with bumps and ramps and rails and jumps for you to trick away on and the control system - once mastered - allows you to pull off outrageous stunts. It all feels quite realistic - you have to learn to land your stunts correctly to pick up points, you have to balance your board while jibbing or grinding rails (or whatever it's called), you have to learn to rotate fully when spinning or looping. The game doesn't do much automatically. But that's what makes it rewarding - when you pull off a great sequence of tricks and land a massive score, you know it's because you've done it, not the game.

Graphically, it's OK. There's no slowdown, the boarders move well, the lens flare is pretty, but it isn't Halo or JSRF. The soundtrack has loads of tunes on it but you'll probably find yourself using the "rip" option on your Xbox and compiling your own soundtrack after a short while.

I thought it was dull as dishwater the first couple of times I played it, but I love Amped now. It ain't a game for rental - buy it and perservere.

My only gripes with this game(and they're tiny ones really) are that having put time in to complete the "explore" levels, you find that it is a waste of time and you get no reward other than 1 step up in your grading - quite simply not worth it, a new board or something would be nice!!! Other than that, great though the photographers' waffle can be bloody annoying at times.

That said, this game is intensely addictive, all the more for being a bit tough. Once you get passed the "cant pull a trick for trying" point and get to trying serious stunts such as grinding the cable car cables, you'll be hard pressed to switch off.

Great gameplay, great graphics, great tunes, big big game and a novel format from the usual type of snowboard game.

5* game definately.