Do Your Thing
Unlike the makeover that was SSX Tricky, SSX3 is a total rebuild of the game from top to bottom, resulting in a lot of new gameplay possibilities. The most obvious and dramatic of these is the unified mountain upon which the game takes place. When the game begins, you'll only have access to the first peak of the mountain, but will be able to unlock two more. By the game's end, you'll be able to slide all the way from the top of Peak 3 to the very foot of the mountain at Peak 1, and you'll want to explore every last bit of it. EA Big have included cash pickups scattered over the mountain, as well as "Big Challenges" that test your skills in a wide variety of stunts.
But it wouldn't be SSX without the contests, and SSX3 is loaded with them. Each peak has five different challenges, including two difference races, the familiar trick-fest called "Slopestyle", and two new Show-Offs. The first of these is called "Superpipe" and has you dumped into a halfpipe for maximum trickout; the latter is called "Big Air" and is exactly that, a course designed for big jumps. In addition, each peak will give you a rival, who will challenge you to another four tasks. With three peaks, this has twenty-seven different challenges. By contrast, SSX Tricky only had twelve.
More subtle changes have also been introduced. The first one of these you'll notice is the new tiered trick system, giving you access to no less than ten different uber-tricks, not even counting the many uber-grinds that you can now perform. This new system is a little unintuitive, but you'll get used to it fast. Tricks can now also be combo'd together Tony Hawk style, with a board press move more or less standing in for that series' "manual". These additions work well, adding a lot of strategy to the title.
Multiplayer likewise receives a full revamp. While not all of the challenges are available for multiplayer, more than enough are. Better yet, the game offers possibly the best handicap system ever devised for a video game. The "Bragging Rights" system allows a superior player to offer his opponent a wide array of specific advantages. If you can't beat the other guy even with this help, he definitely will have bragging rights!
Also, SSX3 has online functionality via the PS2 broadband adaptor. A definite plus.
Snow Patrol
So far, so good. So what went wrong? The first hint of this is in the graphics.
Technically, SSX3's graphics are stunning. The game is extraordinarily smooth and rounded, with none of the PS2's oft-lamented jagged edges. The lighting effects make the mountain look sensational. Sunlight kisses the snow and bounces around inside the ice-caves, while brightly hued rails add a sense of colour that might otherwise have gone missing amid all the white snow and black rocks.
And yet... this is the most conservatively designed SSX game yet. By situating the game on a single mountain, the game designers forced themselves to be visually coherent, and the overall effect is even (gasp) realistic. Each peak has a different visual hook, but you won't get to board down a towed-in iceberg in Hawaii in this game, nor race across a snow-covered wild west mine, nor hurtle through a pinball machine superdome.
The characters continue this trend. They're technically superb, and high in number. Every character from both SSX and Tricky makes it back for SSX3, if only as an unlockable skin.
But the main characters chosen for the title are all the most conventional of the series. Brodie is gone. Eddie is gone. Seeiah is gone. Marisol is gone. (Thank God.) Luther is gone. Of the Tricky set, only Psymon returns. Although on a good note, the annoying Marty is gone, and Mac returns to PAL land.
The new characters likewise fail to impress. Only one of them, a twelve year old boy named Grif, registers as interesting and unique. The other three, including a 'mountain man' named Nate and a waste known as Viggo are simply dull, while the Avril Lavigne clone Allegra is far less interesting than EA Big thinks she is. This latter character is on the cover and clearly meant to be the game's signature character, but Psymon or Kaori would be much better choices.
Thankfully, you're able to visually tweak the characters to high-heaven in the game. New clothes are only the beginning; in SSX3 you'll be able to give your characters faces' makeup, give them devil-horns or halos, or whack a paper bag on their head. The character design kit here is terrific, and anything which lets you turn Psymon into a Falling Down era Michael Douglas gets a big thumbs up from me.
Rockstar (Jason Nevins Remix)
The audio continues the trend set by the graphics. SSX3 boasts a huge number of licensed tracks, thirty-two in all, as well as seven in-house produced themes. Song choices are uniformly excellent — Just because EA Big had the poor taste to put Avril Lavigne in the game didn't mean they were heinous enough to put her on the soundtrack. The game has a fair blend of electronic beats and guitar rock; the former including tracks by Fatboy Slim and The Chemical Brothers, the latter featuring the likes of Jane's Addiction and Yellowcard.
But fans of the previous two games will immediately ask, "Hey? Where's Mixmaster Mike?" Well, he's gone, and with him is the definitive SSX sound. Previous SSX games featured a break-filled, beatbox soundtrack that was defiantly its own. The aural landscape was as much a part of SSX as the visuals. This time around, the soundtrack is more generic and could fit into any 'extreme sports' game. That being said, you can make your own playlist from the choices the game provides, which is a good thing, and music does still fade in and out depending on how well you do, just like before.
The celebrity voices are gone, but the replacements are pretty solid. Characters still bark out trash at each other with gusto, and for the most part it's good, though not up with the inspired trash of, say, Deathrow. The game's new announcer, DJ Atomika, is likewise excellent and a tremendous addition.
Don't Let The Man Get You Down
The hardest thing to put your finger down on, though, is the sense of personality that the previous games had. SSX3 still has it, certainly, but not to half the degree that Tricky did. Tricky's characters traded verbal barbs before and after races, and you really knew who your friends and enemies were. SSX3's don't, for the most part. Each character had an extensive biography and interview in Tricky, while in SSX3 they get a brief biography and Q&A.
You can likewise see it in the new characters offered. In as much detail as can be found, SSX3 offers a fresh, rebel "Betty" , a Colorado mountain man, a twelve year old prodigy, and a happy-go-lucky Swede. Tricky gave us a break dancin', afro-sportin' computer hacker. The new characters are downright plain. Apart from the kid, none of them have one ounce of personality or distinctiveness.
The setting likewise suffers. Is there any reason the mountain has to be this generic? It could be any large slope in the world. Couldn't it have been set in New Zealand, for example, and filled with Maori statues? While much of the loss was required to allow the unified mountain setting, aspects like this simply don't make sense.
Look, for most of you, this is the SSX title to get. The gameplay is deeper, longer, and more complex. The difficulty is the highest of any of the SSX titles, with everything after the first peak being a real challenge to achieve. You will have a greater and longer battle with this game than either of the previous two.
But for those of you who treat games not as a challenge to be beaten but a world to be experienced, and you know who you are, this game is ultimately less rewarding than SSX Tricky. It is still an excellent game, but the gonzo craziness and character of Tricky is gone, and you'll want it back.
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