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The Plot: With the "SSX" series looming large over the market, it's difficult for any other snowboarding series to gain a foothold in the marketplace. The first "Amped" was generally a well-recieved entry, as it chose to offer a more realistic take on the game than the bells-and-whistles of "SSX". The second "Amped", while largely similar, does offer some new improvements, including XBOX Live compatibility. The game offers several mountains with various events on each. While the first mountain is the only one open as the game starts, other slopes appear after specific goals are unlocked. There are several different events that players can go through; runs where your goal is to try and get a certain amount of trick and media points, runs that are races where different factors (tricks, combos, etc) are factored into your ranking, events where you try to do a certain kind of trick all the way down a slope to impress a sponsor and finally, short runs where you do one big, extended trick for a photographer. In terms of media points, these are points the player is awarded for doing a trick in front of one of the many photographers scattered around the slopes. This is an inspired feature, as it forces the player to try their best to do something special on-the-spot. The differences between this title and the SSX series are quite noticable. While the more arcade-ish "SSX" allows one to pull off spectacular tricks, "Amped" takes things down a few notches and also, isn't as forgiving when it comes to landing tricks - be a little bit off and you'll take a potentially lengthy tumble. However, land a trick with accuracy - "stomping it" - and you'll be rewarded. Personally, while I enjoy the more over-the-top "SSX", I also liked the challenge that "Amped 2" presented. What I didn't like, however, was that the sense of speed that the "SSX" series offers, where one feels as if they're just a fraction away from being totally out-of-control, isn't there. "Amped" feels somewhat slower and, as a result, lacks thrills a tad. "Amped 2" is also XBOX Live enabled, allowing players to go online to race against others and compare their stats. Still, while I prefer "SSX 3" a bit more, "Amped 2" is still a strong entry, as the realistic series continues to carve out a place for itself in the somewhat crowded genre. Rating: 8.5/10 The DVD Graphics: "Amped 2" does not boast anything groundbreaking in the graphics department, but the game's visuals are still certainly of excellent quality. The most noticable plus in the graphics catagory is the draw distance - players can see quite a distance in either direction, and also see forward clearly to see the scope/size of the mountain. There's nothing "popping in" as you're about to zip past it. The game's graphics have the crispness of a cold day on the mountain - trees, logs and other in-game objects are rendered clearly and with fine detail. This also goes for the characters, who are smoothly animated. Rating: 8.9/10 Sound: Players can either listen to music that they have burned onto the XBOX hard drive, or listen to some of the wealth of indie rock and other genres that are included in-game. Or, if players prefer, they can just listen to sound effects and the occasional voices by in-game characters. "Amped 2" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and, while not as aggressive a 5.1 as some games, this is still a very enjoyable presentation that has sound effects smoothly panning from the front to the back as players zip by the source of the sounds. Rating: 8.8/10 Rating Issues: "Amped 2" is rated "E" (Everyone). Final Thoughts: "Amped 2" doesn't have the thrills and spills of "SSX 3", but it is a fine entry in its own right, offering lots of options, enjoyable gameplay and, for those who have it, XBOX Live gameplay. Recommended. |