Stoked Xbox 360 Review

Stoked

Xbox 360 Review
Developer: Bongfish GmbH
Publisher: Destineer
Released: February 24, 2009

Snowboarding games have always been very enjoyable, from SSX to 1080 Snowboarding, and so on. The latest entry into the genre comes from publisher Destineer and is in the form of Stoked. Does this have what it takes to pull off a smooth ride?

The main competitor for Stoked is the latest Shaun White game from Ubisoft, and the game succeeds in putting up one heck of a ride down the mountain.

The game starts you out as an amateur snowboarder, learning the ins and outs of the sport, how to pull off tricks, get notices, etc.

You start out with nothing, and have to work in order to actually get into a point in your career where sponsors are knocking down your door, and fans are screaming your name.

You start off the game with some easier mountains you can run down, being taught along the way by nicely implemented tutorials and such along the way.

The strange thing about Stoked is that the more you play it, the better the game actually gets. The early mountains and challenges that you will face are tedious and repetitive, but once you progress into the pro ranks, things get much better!

The way in which the challenges are set up will require you to make several runs down the mountain, which can be both good and bad at the same time. After several runs, you may begin to grow tired of the area. Over time though, this could also been seen as a positive as you learn the ropes about what you are trying to tackle.

There are five mountains in total that will be available to you once they are all unlocked, and each has its own feel with some nice detail thrown in.

Visually, this is an average experience as the graphics are good in some spots, with some nice scenery and player animations, but lacking in other areas such as little details, textures, etc.

The same can be said about the audio as the soundtrack is lacking, while the sound effects get bland quickly.

Beyond the single-player experience, there are also multiplayer elements thrown in here as well. This starts off with Xbox Live functionality, allowing you to hop in and out of mountains with up to 8 layers going at once. There are several different game modes which make this a lot fo fun if you have a set of friends who really loves snowboarding.

The only issue though with all of this is that the gameplay is not really perfect. It seems that at times the game lacks an identity as it is a mix between a simulation experience, and an arcade experience.

There are many things in the environment that you will try to pull off tricks on, but the issue is that the way the engine works, it is just does not work all that well.

This is not to say that the game plays completely poorly, because it is a very enjoyable snowboarding experience, it just does not have the flow or polish that you would expect from a top-notch game in this genre.

Stoked is a very average snowboarding game in just about every single way. The visuals and audio get the job done, but will not really impress. The same can be said about the gameplay, as it is fun, but lacks the flow or polish of top-notch snowboard games of the past. If you are a snowboarding fan and are in need a new snowboarding game, this one is worth a rental.

Graphics: 7.5 Very average, lacks detail and texture-work.

Audio: 7.2 The soundtrack was disappointing, as were the sound effects.

Gameplay: 7.5 This is not a bad experience, but the game lacks an identity. Once you get the hang of it, there is fun to be had here.

Replay Value: 7.8 The online experience is very deep, single-player can get old pretty quick.

Final Score: 7.4

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