ic-games Review - SSX Out of Bounds - Reviews, Previews and Interviews for PC, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii

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SSX Out of Bounds

Information
Reviewer: James Collins
Developer: Exient
Publisher: E.A Big
Reviewed: N-Gage
Genre: Extreme Sports
UK Release: 20th Jan 2005
Article Date: 25th Feb 2005
Difficulty: Medium
Retail Price: £39.99
Price Comparison:
0

Score Breakdown

Experience:
Game Play:
Graphics:
Sound:
Overall Score: 74%

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Pros

Addictive

Cons

Soundtrack

Occasional glitches

Screenshots

3 of 13

There are only really two decent snowboarding games available in our opinion. The Xbox was treated to the brilliant Amped 2, and of course there is the mega popular SSX series from EA which received praise from pundits everywhere. EA have obviously spotted a gap in the N-Gage market and decided to take one of their most prized franchises and squeezed it onto the handheld. The only real question is, exactly how much did they have to chop?

As with the previous SSX titles you can choose from one of ten different characters to play as, indeed the success of SSX in the past has been on the different personalities between the available characters. Most of this is lost in the N-Gage version, the low quality graphics make identifying one snowboarder from the next very difficult. Indeed since the N-Gage version doesn’t even feature any real voice acting you’ll be hard pushed to find character in any of them.

However when you actually start playing you soon realise this is the type of game that is ideal for the N-Gage platform. The game makes good use of the keypad and everything is simple to control and button placement is very easy to remember. Sure you won’t get to see the stunts in all their console glory but you do get the drift of what’s going on. Jumps are executed with the 7 key leaving all the remaining number buttons for grabs, bar the number 5 key which is used to perform a boost move which can give you the edge when racing for the finish line. Not only does performing tricks earn you further use of the boost key but it also fills up the prosperity bar. When this bar is filled you have the chance to perform an ‘uber’ trick which will really embarrass any contenders to your lead. Although very tricky to perform, you can also knock down your opponents to really rub their face in the snow. Usually though we found using the boost key mixed with some impressive stunts was an easier route to success.

SSX: Out of Bounds does come armed with a pretty large soundtrack (for the N-Gage at least). Just about all tastes have been accounted for; you have your usual choice of rock, rap and dance tracks to listen to as you take to the slopes. Sadly though the quality is mediocre at best, if only the developers had been a little more selective and only taken the best tracks they probably would have found more room to increase the overall quality of the rest. The music is far from poor, and you can make out the lyrics, but they certainly could have done with having their sound quality raised. You can create your own custom playlist when you have identified your favorites which will save you from having to listen to the ones that irk. The end shot is though that the whole game sounds tinny coming out of the N-Gage's mono speaker. The environment effects sound a little better and the rush of speeding down the slopes is portrayed adequately enough.

When you have unlocked everything and the single player portion has run its course you can still take on a friend head to head, courtesy of the blue tooth connectivity. If you decide to connect to the N-Gage Arena you’ll also have access to ghost riders to compete against offline and other downloads such as brand new outfits and boards. Sadly the rest of the N-Gage Arena for this title was barren and we only hope more work is done to bring extra life to the title. Online multiplayer would have been a massive hit (grabbing a friend to play via Bluetooth isn’t always an option).

"SSX: Out of Bounds is another decent title to hit the N-Gage".

SSX: Out of Bounds is another decent title to hit the N-Gage and these titles are at last beginning to stack up. The developers have finally seemed to have settled on what truly suits the platform. The good news for us is that future releases are just going to get better and better. SSX: Out of Bounds isn’t brilliant, but it has more than enough charm to suit even the most disconcerting N-Gage owner.

PEGI Rating

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