Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding

THE BAD:
Difficult Control Scheme. Sometimes too realistic.

SUMMARY:
Amped is defintley worth getting. As you reading this, you can get this game pre-owned for $17.99 like I did.(At least in the United States you can) To create a good snowboarding expierience, you must concentrate on one of two things. Either realism or insanity. Amazing game like the SSX series have absoloute insanity while Amped tries to strike a unique balance between the two but fails in doing so. This doesn't make it a bad game, just a really realistic one. Don't expect to be able to break-dancing on your board while your soaring magestically 500 feet in the air. No, the clostest you will get to this in Amped is doing a triple backflip or grinding a ski lift rail which is one of the rare unrealisitic moments of the game. The game is great in sound. The music isn't very good though there is plenty of it. However, the option of buring your own tracks through your XBOX harddrive keeps things fresh. As for the control's, this is what really mostly turns people off. If you play a lot of SSX or Tricky, you may take some time to get used to this game. Flips and turns are slow, each button is either a trick or modifier or mover. This all will take time, but ultimatley be very satisfying. And finally, this game has plenty of replay value as it offers a great Career mode where you strive to be on the top, Quick Start which is just a regular ride down a beautiful mountain and multiplayer. All in all, this game won't take up much of your budget and those willing to invest time to master the controls and who aren't too turned off by a calm realistic game will find many satisfying experiance in Amped. These features earn it a solid 4.0