SSX On Tour

Intro
SSX has always treated us to truly great gameplay while always managing to bring a different feel each time out. SSX: OT is no different. Great gameplay, different vibe. So the tradition continues.

Story 6/10
This time around you have to create your own character to tear up the slopes with. While this feature is extremely bland and poorly implemented in my opinion, you mainly only see your characters back anyway while playing through the game. The goal is to make a name for yourself on the tour and eventually go from being a nobody to being the ultimate Black Diamond Rockstar. Wow. Not being able to use vets in this portion of the game was wholly disappointing.

Controls 8/10
While SSX has historically always been somewhat challenging to truly master in terms of tricks and combinations, OT has been dumbed down quite a bit. The UBER tricks are now gone and only Monster Tricks remain. Not only that, they have decided to use the right analog stick to pull off Monsters which makes it incredibly easy and therefore somehow unrewarding. Basic grabs and tweaks are unchanged and rail moves are also very similar to SSX3. Prewinding also remains as is.

Gameplay 10/10
As was mentioned in the intro, the gameplay is still killer as usual. The sense of speed has been improved dramatically and the mountain has so much more to offer now that before not to mention you can ski in addition to boarding as well. No more long dull flat spots with nothing to do, this is great! OT offers you the option of tackling the tour which consists of medal events and Shred Challenges. Medal Events are broken down into 1-on-1 races, multi-heat races, multi-event races and trick or air competitions. Shred Challenges are broken down into Outrun your opponent by # of meters, Pull of a # score trick, Rail slide the marked rails, escape the ski patrol, etc. etc. These are all very fun but mostly insanely easy events. (At least until you get ranked near the top of the heap)There is also a Quick Play option which allows you to play as several of the old SSX veterans as you unlock them. No online mode but I couldn't really care less about that. Additionally you can upgrade and swap clothes and boards like in SSX3 but SSX3 somehow felt superior in this respect. Also, a huge disappointment for me was the lack of purchasing attribute points like in prior iterations of the game. The attributes/cheats this time around are kind of cheesy and seem more of an afterthought.

Graphics 9/10
The graphics overall are really nice and crisp. Character models are somewhat basic but the mountain in general, animations and sense of speed is really done well. The menu selection, although heavily critisized for being high schoolish, works with the theme in my view. Did I prefer SSX3's or Ticky's scheme? Hell yeah. Can I live with this new vibe? Sure. Night and day track's are also really nice overall.

Camera 8/10
Personally I think that the camera angles are implemented very well. Granted I was not too thrilled with the slow mo Monster Trick views but other that that I experienced no disappointment.

FMV's, MUSIC and SFX 8/10
The FMV's are so so. Nothing earth shattering but certainly not poor. The music is fitting to the punk rock theme that they forced on this game. Overall the music fits very nicely into the background without ever feeling forced or overpowering but the blurring effects during a monster trick should be a feature that could be toggled on and off. I wasn't too thrilled with that feature. SFX are also very well done. Everything from the snow carving to the rail grinding is truly believable and fitting. The grunts and crashes also come off realistically. Overall there is no fault that I've found here whatsoever. The voice acting, although toned down dramatically from previous titles, is also decent.

Replay Value 6/10
Without online play available obviously the replay value is chopped down considerably for most gamers. Once you have made it through the tour once or twice it will become more and more mundane. Sure there are some unlockable characters but really there just isn't that much overall to keep you glued to this game for more than a month or so max. Then again, its a snowboarding game for crying out loud...not freaking Morrowwind so don't sweat it. The game is easy enough to have a buddy pick it up and play and the fact that you can free ride from numerous points on the mountain means you can very easily pop it in for a quick 10-15 minute jam anytime. All in all, not bad, not great.

Overall
For me, I've always thought the SSX games were totally worth it. I consider SSX: OT more of a side game than a whole new iteration. It offers quality gameplay, although dumbed down significantly, and remains as fun to play today as it was back in the days. If you are a long time SSX fan then yes, go and buy it. If you are relatively new to the series then I highly recommend you rent it at least. While not necessarily the best SSX game of all time, it is certainly worthy of carrying the title.