Amped 2 - Review

Added November 17th, 2003 by Joel Kownacki

Introduction:

When I first heard that Amped would have a sequel, I was skeptical of Amped 2 being the same game as the first one with some minor changes and a face lift. I loved the original but didn't want the same game. Well after playing the heck out of it, it's clear that this is the best snowboarding game ever. I mean sure there have been some awesome boarding games in the past but none of them are as deep and well put together as this game is. From start to finish, I haven’t played an Xbox game, besides Halo, that has pulled me into its world as much as this game has.

Gameplay:

The gameplay, at first, looks and play’s just like the first installment, but after spending more time with it you realize how much more depth the developers added. Landing tricks is a little easier for one, which won’t frustrate as many people as the first one did. The grinding system is different and takes some time to get used to. Probably the biggest/coolest change in the game is the 'style' system. When you grind and/or do tricks you can release/hold the analog sticks/trigger buttons in a way that you will gain style points. This sounds complicated, and coming into the game it most definitely is. The more you play this game the easier it is to pull off style points. You get to a point where busting style points with every trick becomes second nature. The mountains are bigger, prettier, and are better laid out then the original. Also added is a 'butter' system which when used correctly, can be implemented to link tricks to make combos. Say you do a grind and you see that there is another rail right after the one you are grinding on. Once you dismount, you need to hit up and then down, or down then up. When you do this you will see a balance bar appear right next to your boarder. Keep balancing until you approach the second rail then jump and grind on that one. The better will give you more points and will link both tricks together. While landing a trick is easier, depending on how you land they will translate into the number of points you get for any given trick. If you land awkward or the wrong way a 'sketchy landing' will appear and you will be docked points accordingly. However, if you land it just right a 'stomped' message will appear giving you added points. A very nice touch indeed. Among the added game types is a Photoshoot Session where you must complete tricks without wiping out and score a set amount of points all the while going through a set number of rings on the screen. It's a lot harder than it sounds! There are also other gameplay tidbits hidden within the mountains such as gaps and tricks. These are not required to gain rank, but are an added bonus for the explorer type of player out there (the snowman feature is still there as well. There are events in between mountains you must complete to move on. Basically you ride against a set number of AI and you must outscore them accordingly in a set amount of time. You get three rides and in the end your top score is chosen for each category and you're ranked (this is exactly like the 'free ride' gameplay mode on Xbox live. Their is also a new added 'snow skate' option which gives you the ability to snow skate on certain runs on each mountain. Another cool tidbit; after completing certain sponsor runs or beating certain pros you unlock access to video interviews which is a nice touch but overall are pretty useless. You can design your boarder as you wish from picking hairstyles to your baggy pants or shorts. There are endless amounts of combinations. Also, the clothing and equipment is all from major snowboarding
brands. There are some collision detection problems which should have been fixed and can sometimes be extremely annoying. Overall a very well rounded game that should keep you playing for a long time.

Graphics:

The graphics at first glance looked very much like the first Amped. The first mountain that the tutorial was held on really wasn't all that impressive. However, I did notice that the rails and other objects on the slops looked much cleaner then the ones found in the previous game. Still, I wasn't blown away. Well, the graphics definitely improve as you progress into the game. Moving onto the later mountains I would just sit there for a second looking down, seeing how beautiful this game really is. There are night courses that make you wonder if you’re actually playing a game, or are looking at a real video. The draw distance is also very impressive. When you start your run from any location on the mountain, you can see all the way down the slope. The models are a huge improvement over the last Amped. They just look BETTER. 'Puffy' jackets reflect like you'd expect them to and nylon pants also have a glossy look to them. Clouds above you cast shadows below onto the snow. Their also seems to be an ambient lighting system (especially at night) over the humps and hills covered with powder, which is very well done. I have this game running on a Samsung 32inch HDTV. At 480p the games has wonderful colors and it’s extremely smooth. I then stepped into another room and hooked my Xbox into our 65inch Wide Screen HDTV. While the TV only supports 480i/p and 1080i the upconvertion still put in aw. One of the best looking games on Xbox.

Audio:

The music in the game is great. You get over 300 indie songs that come with the game. If you don't like a song that is playing, just hit the white button and it will continue to the next track. When a new song starts, the name of the band, song, and album will appear in the bottom left corner of your screen for a brief moment. This can be turned off in the option menu. The game supports custom soundtracks for those of us who have ripped songs onto our Xbox hard drives. A huge improvement over the first Amped is that the music plays from the time the Amped 2 menu comes up, until you turn off the game. It's nice that MS took the time to fix this from the last version so you won't miss out on any songs. The surround sound works well. You'll hear boarders and camera-men scream at you from behind after you run them over. All of the sounds in the game from slicing through snow to landing off of big jumps sound just like they would in real life. Nothing over and beyond in 5.1 but a solid performer none the less.

Controls:

Controls haven't changed mush from the setup in the first Amped. Here is what the buttons do in Amped 2:

Left Thumbstick- Break/Stop, Turn, Spin/Flip, Butter
Right Thumbstick- Grabs
Dpad- Free Look
Select- Reset Boarder
Start- Pause
A- Ollie/Jump, Accelerate
B- Jib/Railslide
Y- Lip Tricks
X- Snowskate (flip tricks)
L & R Triggers- Switch/Tweaks

Replay:

This is the best Xbox Live game I have played to date. Its not because you can play with up to 7 other boarder online with voice, its because it’s the first game I have seen that lives up to what Microsoft promised live would bring to the table. The experience of just riding down a hill with a couple of online buddies is unrivaled. This is also the first Xbox game I have played that incorporated Live aware. This means that whether you are playing by yourself in single playing or online with Xbox live, you will always be connected. I was playing on career mode trying to better my rank in the Amped 2 world and all of a sudden I get a game invite from a buddy of mine to play some free ride online with him. I hit accept and I was connected to him within seconds.

Summary:

If you were a fan of the first Amped, run down walk to your local game store and pick up a copy of Amped 2. If you like snowboarding games but never played the first one, still give this game a try. The developers over at Microsoft Game Studios should get a huge pat on the back for there hard work. They have been able to keep the roots of Amped, but also have added much more depth and immersive gameplay. They have been able to squeeze even more juice out of the Xbox then I though possible with a snowboarding game. From the improved graphics to the unique gameplay, this is one of the games that no Xbox owner should be without. I can recommend this game to anyone that has any interest in this respected genre.