Stoked - Xbox 360

Not since 1080 on the Nintendo 64 has the snowboarding genre had such a shining star. At 39.99 it makes it that much better. The game features 5 real life mountains from all across the globe in a completely open back country riding experience. The controls follow the "skate" dual analog control with its own interesting twist. Stoked introduces a new perspective on scoring granting points for Hucking (performing many moves at once) and Styling (performing moves very clean and precisely) on equal scales allowing for any riding style to score equally by executing that type of riding well. This keeps the game from getting Tony-Hawk Syndrome with 1,000,000 point combos. The controls, like skate, take time to adjust to and perform the moves properly but allows for more freedom of control once mastered. The game also features real time weather conditions on each mountain and is one of the games best features. Areas that were once rocky cliff faces are covered in fresh powder after snow storms. Going over a line several times packs down the snow and gives you more speed to hit rails and jumps. A good multiplayer experience rounds out the game with seamless hop-in, hop-out style play with friends. The physics are generally okay but do occasionally make you wonder "what just happened?" Flying down a mountain you will crash into a rock and get bounced off into a tree you barely touch that sends you flying into the ground. It can be frustrating but is mostly just laughable as the recovery time from falls is quick and the game sets you up well to follow the same route you were on. Mountain maps are awesome visual tools great for planning routes down the vast slopes below and the integration of the phone menue system is actually well done for once allowing for quick access to most needed items. The audio effects for snow and wind are incredibly accurate and crisp making the realism stick out amongst the Sean White and Amped. The soundtrack, although surprisingly diverse, is quite forgettable and sometimes even downright irritating for those less musically diverse. However, the game does make it easy to sort through music genres to build playlist and also allows for individual song management. Ofcourse if you take advantage of the xbox and its features then nothing is holding you back from playing your own music instead of the supplied playlists. While not perfect this game has value by the ton with enormous mountains with not boundaries. This game will be fidning its way into my xbox for a long time to come. The open mountain freeriding is one of the more relaxing game experiences out there. Although a learning curve is present for Stoked's control scheme (about 45 min) familiar players will feel set free to carve down the mountain however your heart desires.