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A
huge storm or just a shower?
By Tom Fahey
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Freaky
Clown land!
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Sled Storm, the game of
great success and talent on the PSone, has now been amplified and
brought to the PS2.
EA Big have made yet another extreme sports game and, although
it now shares many of its new aspect with games like SSX, Sled Storm
on the PS2 still has many of its own virtues.
It's beginning to get quite hard to determine the differences between
the latest EA Big games. I guess since they had so much success
with SSX that they thought they'd make all their games like that.
Well, a little, no, a lot of SSX has rubbed off on Sled Storm making
it quite the different game to its predecessor.
In effect, Sled Storm is no longer the unique snow sled racing
game it once was. Sure it still holds some of the old characters,
and new sleds can still improve your racing. But the levels are
now either a big colourful ice burg, or a theme park in the snow.
Sound familiar??
Another major influence that can be seen is that new individual
parts can no longer be purchased. Only new sleds with better performance
can be won, by finishing in first place on specific tracks.
So, the money aspect in the original SS has been given the boot,
and has been replaced with the newer and more contemptible SSX ways.
Also, the fact that each level has "objectives" makes
for yet another change from the original. For example: finish in
1st place to progress, earn 40,000 points to unlock the course captain
(new character)... etc. The Tony Hawk influence is not so subtly
inserted.
Not knocking Tony Hawk, but after how good the first Sled Storm
was, it's hard to imagine that EA had to use a combination of other
game styles to make a decent follow up. One could easily assume
that it is another sequel to SSX, only with snow sleds.
But it's not all bad. The game play is just about the same - the
sleds still handle just about as good as a rodeo bull, so nothing
there has changed. And you can still pull of some of the original
insane tricks, as well as some new ones.
If you thought the back flip looked cool, just wait till you see
the swan dive, or the heart attack, and don't forget the suicide
back flip, and what about the...
But it seems that your points no longer tally up and turn into
money, as there is no money, instead you get what's called a "Storm
Boost". Yet another SSX rip off, but this one is kinda cool,
though.
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Somebody
modified this one...
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Basically if you land a trick, you get some boost on the Storm
Meter. The better the trick, the more "boost" you get.
And, when you press the desired button, the boost meter uses up
its contents and shoots you down the track like a rocket.
The graphics sure have improved in comparison to the PSone version,
but it's plain unfair to compare something which is four times weaker
to the PS2. But, I must say, the graphics in Sled Storm haven't
lived up to PS2 expectations. They do get rather sloppy if you look
closely.
The level designs are the main draw back, however. I believe that
the developers tried to make them really colourful and really, really
big, but without finishing it off very well. Rough edges hear and
there, see through polygons - just little things that you would
think would be left behind with the PSone.
The sound effects are no less than you would expect, with rough
grunting engines for the "tough" sleds, and a healthy
sounding pur with the racing sleds. The music fits nicely for the
game, offering a good variety of rock, tecno, and generally quick-beat
musak.
Oh, and the characters talk as well. When they fall off, land a
trick, or bump someone, they all give different responses and one
of the guys is a real hothead. When his sled doesn't start after
a nasty tumble, his remark is subtle: "Start you piece of CRAP!!"
Well, here's the final verdict: The original Sled Storm was a very
good simulator of snow sled racing, which had many good and also
unique features. If the sequel was based on the original, it could
have been a lot better, but so much of the PS2's Sled Storm is seen
in other EA Big games.
But, all things considered, it is a fun arcade style, reality warping
racing game. I would recommend it to the fans of SSX and perhaps
Tony Hawk's, but if you're looking for something really new in a
game, you won't find it here.
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