Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding (Xbox)

Amped is a Snowboarding game, now in its third incarnation. Now this is a good thing to know as poor games rarely get a sequel - this has had two later versions. But having been made curious, I was unwilling to pay the £40 for the newest version without checking that I liked the general gist of the game. So I found the original Amped in a second hand section of Game and thought I would give it a whirl. At only £5, what could I lose? THE STORYLINE: You are a snowboarder and you have to perform various tricks as you go down a snowy mountain. Your aim is to become the most famous snowboarder ever ... more

The snowboarding genre is kind of an old one now.. original extreme sport games like Coolboarders, 1080 really brough extreme sports to the table, bringing oportunaties for games like Tony Hawk and Dave Mirra. However the snowboarding genre really hit our hearts when games like SSX was released, inventing the enjoyment of fantasy snowboarding. Remember Games like Pro Boarder for the PS1 that was a great fresh attempt for the console generation. With such games like SSX franchises topping the PS2 console chart for the extreme sports genre, we can't help but expect more of the same insane air ... more

I reside a few kilometres from a mountain, every winter I descend the slopes on my board. But when there is no snow, I play on my Xbox Furiously tendency, simulations of snowboard recently became very new extensive with the superb SSX. I thus will speak to you about a play which I like much: Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding. However in spite of its undeniable qualities, the extreme series of Electronic Arts had not managed to satisfy all the amateurs of slips winter. Indeed certain purists regretted the aspect too much "fun fair", too arcade preached by the studios of EA. That they are reassured: ... more

I bought this game after playing on the offical demo. What a mistake! My own fault - I should've realise by the number of pre-owned copies on sale. The demo is good and quite addictive but only because you can only play for about 3 minutes before it stops. It leaves you wanting more more more. The full game is ok if you like down jumps, grabs etc but quickly dulls as there's nothing else to do. I'd played SSX Tricky to death on the PS2 and that was a big mistake! Where AMPED is far better graphically and in realism of stunts and boarding, SSX is far more playable and addictive. Don't ... more

While Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding is visually impressive and loaded with options, its technical merits are drastically undermined by its shoddy gameplay. In the days of yore, snowboarding games were a niche genre that was traditionally only filled after the skateboarding, BMX, motocross, and other extreme sports games had already been released. But with the rising popularity of extreme sports in North America, snowboarding games have become almost as important as 3D platformers and action games to a console's success. As proof of this shift in popularity, Xbox owners have the choice of no ... more