1080 Avalanche

"Snoboarding at its Finest"

Everyone says that SSX 3 is the greatest snowboarding game ever. Some of the critics must have been a little high when making that decision because 1080 is better than SSX in almost every way. The graphics are a hell of a lot better. The music selection is better. And the gameplay is awesome. It seems that every game that doesn't have online play these days is bashed by critics. What 1080 lacks in online it makes up in fun. That is what matters in these games anyways. If you can't have fun what's the point of even playing the game?

STORY:1
Sports games have less of a story than any other type of game out there. It is actually a good thing that there is no story. The game might not been as good if NST tried to change this game from its predecessor any more than they did change it. Lets just hope it stays that way if there is another sequel.

GRAPHICS:9
These actually seem like a downgrade from the new Wave Race. Those graphics were brilliant, but these slowdown a lot more and the characters don't look as good. Oh well. The weather effects have been greatly enhanced. I don't see how because the weather effects in Wave Race are arguably the best ever. The character models do look good, but they could have been a little better. Clothes flowing in the wind and speed lines help create an insane sense of speed. The environments look amazing. All of the snow looks great. The ice looks even better though. In a lot of these games ice is usually just looks like a shiny surface on the ground. But in this you can actually see under the ice. It adds so much more realism. This game really does shame SSX in the visual department.

SOUND:9
There is an awesome assortment of music. There are about twenty to thirty tracks comprised of rock music and techno. There are a bunch of great licensed bands like Seether and Finger Eleven. All of the music is very good. There is even a music video to watch in the options menu as well. The voice overs could have been a little better. They are good, but they definitely have room for improvement. The sound effects are done good. Overall, there really isn't that much to complain about. The voice overs just need a little work. That's it though.

GAMEPLAY:9
This is by far, the most enjoyable snowboarding game you can get. Amped doesn't have many fun elements to it because it is a sim and SSX lacks a good sense of speed to compete with 1080 Avalanche. 1080 has everything those games have and more except for online, but that is no big deal. There is LAN to make up for that. 1080 has most typical modes to a snowboarding game. It would have been nice to innovate a little, but the modes that is has are awesome. The trick system is great. It actually takes skill. You don't just press a bunch of buttons in a mode like trick attack to win. You actually have to swirl the thumstick to sort of slow down time to get more tricks done. You also actually have to press the next button for a trick at a certain time to pull of a combo. The only complaint I have about this game is that there just aren't enough courses and modes to keep you busy. Sure there are some great levels when you outrun avalanches, but the game needs more of them and more modes to go along with them too.

CONTROLS:10
A lot of critics hate the controls because if you land a trick off balance you have to swirl the thumstick in a certain direction to gain balance. I like that. It gives you a chance to make up for a mistake. The actual button layout is done well too. The controls are very simplified so you can easily just pick up and play the game. There are a lot of tricks. There aren't as many as in say SSX, but there definitely isn't a shortage. I love the controls. There aren't any flaws at all.

OVERALL:9
This game vs. SSX 3:
visuals winner:1080
audio winner:1080
gameplay winner:tie
control winner:1080

This is definitely the best snowboarding game of 2003 and should be looked at as how to make and extreme sports game. If only the game innovated more and had more courses and game modes it could have got a ten. I hope that is improved on in the next game. But we will have to wait for that.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/18/04