Review: Amped 3 (360)

Xbox 360 Whilst previewing the Xbox 360 launch line-up, the prognosis for Amped 3 was far from favourable: the series had deviated from its realistic lineage in favour of a more goofy and wacky style of presentation. Having now completed the latest instalment, Gamestyle is glad to report that our initial fears have been deliciously cast aside.

What Indie Built has achieved with the third iteration is remarkable - the presentation itself has to be seen to be believed, because nothing written here will encapsulate the sweetness of its design. The premise is that you adopt a nameless (but visually customisable) character in one of the hottest snowboarding crews in town. The names of your fellow colleagues evoke true snowboarding spirit: J-Dawg, Hunter, Sebastian, and of course, Weiner Boy. Your crew ditches you before heading out to Chile - you must now pull out the stops and reunite the group.

While there is nothing particularly new about the clichéd storyline, the delightful cut-scenes and outrageous twists help to overcome familiarity. Reminiscent of Namco's slightly-unhinged Katamari Damacy, Amped 3 is permanently out to lunch. The 'peep show' facility allows you to go back and view each unlocked sequence (shame there's no option to play them all), just to be sure you did in fact witness the preceding madness; standard cartoons and retro-game footage are positively tame in comparison to the plastic figurines and hand (or sock) puppets that pop up as you progress. Amped 3 certainly dials up the fun factor and concludes in fine style with a spectacular musical number.

A constant criticism which undermined Amped 2 was its tremendous difficulty spike - it really disheartened many. Things have been addressed and, with the exception of some rigorous tests to release Hunter (towards the end of the game), a competent player can grind, grab and twist their way through the story with some degree of aplomb. The real difficulty comes into play when you catch a whiff of gold fever and decide to covet every medal in the game.

The thankless task of building up your player's stats has been dropped: by completing events and receiving medals, points are awarded which in turn open up new challenges. Even when the main story has been dusted, you can simply return to the slopes and test yourself against the media events (or impress spectators by having fun).

A key component of the playability factor is the wide range of events that cover each mountain: these range from standard fare, such as media opportunities, to overcoming the high scores of pro boarders. Then you have events that involve trails of kitty litter - or 'trauma' boarding, a twisted offspring of Burnout's Crash mode - where your success is measured against the ensuing hospital bill. Snowmobiles, hang gliders and sledges also feature in such specialist events - the snowmobile in particular is helpful for reaching those difficult starting points (when gravity defeats your board).

The trick system is relatively simple and never constrains players with dialled-in combinations. More complex manoeuvres are unlocked as you progress - the only downside being that the in-game camera fails to give you a suitably panoramic viewpoint when elevated or within ravines. However, when failure does make an appearance, reload times are practically non-existent (unlike Project Gotham Racing 3).

Graphically, Amped 3 is solid but never quite attains the jaw-dropping status of other Xbox 360 launch games. Nevertheless, nothing will prepare you for standing on the crest of a mountain (looking down) and knowing you can reach the bottom without fear of interruption. The draw distance is exceptional, as is the framerate, animation and physics engine. Still, there is occasional pop-up and the lingering feeling that Amped 3 could have worked on the original Xbox.

The Amped series is known for its wide range of independent music tracks and this release proves no different, featuring more than 300 compositions drawn from an eclectic range of artists and record labels. Whilst you may be unfamiliar with the majority of these selections, the diversification is strong enough to prevent you from selecting your own tunes from the hard drive.

Outside of the story and single-player mode, there is little else on offer in Amped 3. The Park Builder mode is only for dedicated fans, and proves somewhat redundant without the accompanying progress in story mode (and the world-building system needs to be more intuitive). Fortunately, the existing mountains are all strong enough to quench your snowboarding thirst - and thus alleviate any need to build your own. Regardless, the development team would do well to look at Tony Hawk's template and the myriad options it provides.

It's also a shame that more couldn't have been done with the Xbox Live service (as indeed was the case with Amped 2). If your console is connected, you can view leaderboards and your standing after winning gold for a particular event. Admittedly, it does ignite the competitive drive as you try to improve your position (and wonder at how someone scored over a million points) - but the elation of a Top Five score is no substitute for online play.

The new direction taken by Amped 3 will not be to everyone's taste. Yet somehow this underdog has managed to dominate Gamestyle's available Xbox 360 playtime - leaving PGR3 trailing, PDZ quaking and Condemned hammered. And that pretty much sums up how good it actually is.

Rating: 8 / 10

Words by Jason Julier