SSX Blur (Wii) Review
Posted by Chris McCarver on 04.10.2007
EA's signature snow-sports franchise gets a motion-control facelift.
Publisher: EA Sports Big
Developer: EA Montreal
Platform: Wii (exclusive)
ESRB Rating: E
Release Date: Feb. 27, 2007
Review by CHRIS McCARVER
Electronic Arts' SSX snowboarding franchise has been a favorite and a guilty pleasure of mine since its inception. Once I'd learned there was a better snowboarding title for the ol' Pee-Ess-One than that demo of Coolboarders that came packed in with that two-generations-old bundle of electronic joy, each successive title became a frequent rental and even a buy as I graduated to a Playstation 2, then the Xbox, then the 360. Granted the over-the-top "extreeeeeeeeeeeme!!" character archetypes elicited a bit of an earache and And lemme tell ya, nothing makes me happy that my wife gave me the puppy-eyes when that guy at Gamestop said he had "just one more Wii" than the series' newest entry for Nintendo's next-gen fun-box, SSX Blur.
"Just need to land this last trick and... ow. Ow! CHARLIE HORSE!!"
Graphics
Visually, this title delivers on a lot of fronts. The mountainous environments feel like they're covered with actual snow rather than simply a frost-colored texture map. The character's actions affect the landscape with particle-effect snow showers and board-wakes carved into the powder. Even the characters themselves are affected by the snow, as they'll get covered in the stuff every time they land face-first into the winter wonderland. Speaking of the characters themselves, the characters are animated capably enough and are drawn in something of a cartoonier style than previously seen in the franchise.
Though, from a technical standpoint, the game's visuals are well above-average, the environments are a little bare-bones, especially considering where previous games in the series have taken us. No rough weather, no avalanches, and the obstacles are mostly just variations on the same series of rails and snow-ramps. For a game representing a series known for pushing the envelope of reality, SSX Blur feels almost a little too... well, real.
"So, um... anybody for Quizno's?"
Gameplay
In a setup very similar to SSX 3, the player selects from an assortment of characters both very familiar to fans of the franchise (Mac Fraser, Elise Riggs, Psymon Stark, to name a few) and completely new (French-Canadian Felix LeVesque and Inuit-Canadian Maya Nolet), for a circuit-based array of powder sports armed with either skis or a snowboard. The SSX tournament is arranged on a tri-peaked mountain that can be navigated in free-roam, with many hair-raising challenges that become increasingly more difficult as each peak is unlocked by winning events, ranging from standard race fare to full-on trick-based affairs, not to mention the various skill challenges. For some who've been die-hard SSX'ers, this may seem old-hat.
What kicks in the major upgrade from previous versions: the sheer fact that it's on the Wii. The all too familiar SSX control scheme is out the window in favor of a new interface utilizing the Wii-mote and Nunchuck, making blowing through the cold white stuff a lot more intuitive and ten times as much fun. Directional control can either be controlled by the Nunchuck's thumbstick or by tilting the remote left or right or both, and the focus of either method is customizable in the options menu. Tricks and jumps are performed by nunchuck and remote movement, and a fully stocked tutorial can get you up to speed on pulling off each manuever. The franchise's famous "uber-tricks" have also been overhauled; these signature moves are now enacted by holding a remote button down and drawing a design as indicated at the bottom of the screen.
Nice form. Too bad the judges docked him points for having his iPod on.
The negatives in terms of the game's playability are few, but somewhat notable. For starters, the new method for pulling off uber-tricks is a little on the difficult side. (Truth be told, the only actual time I succeeded at doing an uber-trick on this game was purely by accident.) In fact, the new control scheme on the whole is a little touchy, mainly since the motion-control interface is so sensitive that new players may find themselves starting a new trick while simply trying to stick a landing, which often results in getting a face full of snow. Fortunately, the do's and don’ts of the controls can be picked up with a little bit of practice, and recovering from bails is as easy as, I'm not kidding, shaking the remote side to side.
Sound
The SSX franchise is well known for "Radio Big," its in-game radio station as narrated by DJ Atomica (for good or ill, depending on your tolerance for drive-time radio personalities). This time, rather than EA's usual approach of cramming thirty licensed songs into the game, the developer has enlisted Dutch trance-master Junkie XL to mix the entire soundtrack with his original tunes. DJ Atomica has also returned, but if your tolerance for radio-jock chatter is on the low end, don't worry, he only appears during the free-ride portions of the game and at the beginning of each event.
The newest accessory for the discriminating skier: Saran Wrap.
The music tracks are also layered to fade out when you're catching some air or stop dead entirely in the event of bails, which adds a nice bit of depth to the gameplay experience. The sound effects are fairly spot-on and unobtrusive, though the over-the-top nature of the game's past has been dampened a little with the relatively sedate audio package. Also a sticking point audio-wise is the fact that the sound effects accompanying the game's boost meter (or "groove meter" as this iteration calls it) are gone, which means you'll have to tear your eyes off what you're doing to check your meter rather than catching it at the sound of an FX hit. The character voiceovers, a noted trademark of the previous games, are largely out of the picture as well. Naturally, if you never liked the voiceovers to begin with, then rejoice.
Lasting Appeal
Tackling the game's career mode to its conclusion won't take even the below-average player more than maybe half a day to burn through, but taking on the game's various challenges will eat up a timeframe far in excess of that. The game has quite a number of collectibles to collect on the event tracks and on the free-ride areas, taking the form of icons (which you can actually collect by chucking snowballs at them) that afford the player new uber-tricks for their personal playbooks. Also up for grabs are new boards and ski-sets to unlock through the clearance of tournament events. The game also has nice multiplayer options that don't feel like an obligation on the developers' part, but a game feature worth trying out. Multiplayer can be played in both a standard split-screen mode as well as a "hot seat" mode, wherein up to four players take turns running through an entire event, with the player with the best score after everyone's run being declared the victor.
Every time a snowboarder grinds a log, the forest cries. Just a little.
Fun Factor
Is this the most innovative game in the SSX series? Arguably. Is it the best? I unfortunately have to hold off on saying so. While the new control scheme is a welcome addition, getting it to do exactly what you want to do is something only more than a small bit of practice. And while the game's tracks are laid out beautifully and are sufficiently challenging and fun, some of the intensity and out-there quality exemplified by the previous titles in the franchise has been lost, so the game feels a lot more like a straight-up sim than a true successor to the SSX name. That isn't to say by any means this game is broken, but some improvement wouldn't be missed.
The 411
My biggest hope is that SSX Blur 2 is on the way and continues the level of innovation that this title brought to the table. With so many sports gaming franchises repeating themselves to the extent of eating their own tails, EA Sports took the bull by the horns and made ample use of the Wii's capabilities to really make SSX Blur not just another snowboard game with the same characters and only minor changes to the experience. While the game's controls take some time to truly learn and the level of difficulty can be a touch frustrating, the game is rife with innovation and enough fun to offset the game's flaws. Not perfect, but definitely outstanding.
Graphics
8.0
Snow effects are fully interactive, capably animated characters, tracks are well set up but a little ordinary
Gameplay
9.0
Motion controls add new depth but are a little overly sensitive, uber-trick function is a little tough to master
Sound
7.0
Junkie XL soundtrack is well-layered and enjoyable but more artists would have been nice, boost meter FX and character VO is noticeably missing
Lasting Appeal
8.5
Lots of collectibles and unlockable gear, level of challenge makes 100-percent a goal to work for, multiplayer options will prolong shelf life
Fun Factor
9.0
Quantum leap in gameplay innovation over the previous games, over-the-top antics characteristic of the franchise quieted a great deal
