Ubisoft's latest venture is a snowboarding game, which is certainly a departure from their more action orientated Tom Clancy games or movie tie-ins. With a professional snowboarder's name to tag along, you know, like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Tiger Woods PGA Tour etc.

Shaun White, a real-life professional snowboarder, is the mascot that ties into this game, appropriately named, Shaun White Snowboarding. Does this snowboarding game exceed in delivering fast and frantic-fun down a speedy slope or is it rather an uphill grind?

Gameplay:

The game can take a while to get into, it's an admirable task undertaken, in that what's on offer is essentially a free-roam snowboarder with four rather huge snowy mountains to carve your board into, explore and take part in events. The sad thing though, is simply that Shaun White Snowboarding is a chore to play, the gameplay is about as exhilarating as watching 80's re-runs of Coronation Street. Certainly I can understand that people have varying opinions, but ultimately this is something I've tried time and time again to like, and it's just not working for me. I'm certainly accustomed to the likes of other extreme sports titles, such as Tony Hawk's skateboarding series, and in regards to snowboarding titles in particular, have fond memories of the incredibly over-the-top nature of EA's SSX series of the previous generation. The problem, or rather my problem with the game is simply that it's frustrating to play, and this is no doubt down to the gameplay itself, which doesn't really deliver the goods from what you'd expect from a snowboarding game, although in every other aspect SW Snowboarding does have some finer touches. The game puts you in the position of being an up and coming snowboarder, and you just so happen to bump in to Shaun White, and for completing various events, collecting items, you will further unlock new objectives to participate in from Shaun and his buddies.

Customisation, as with most games in a similar genre, is rather heavily featured, from purchasing new jackets, trousers, gloves etc. as well as of course, new snowboards, though these typically come with a hefty price tag. With games such as this, crashing and generally messing up is always something that should look painful and amusing, though in SW Snowboarding, it just looks clumsy and painless - even if falling from a cliff, rotating upside down and landing smack-dab on your skull, but not before launching yourself into a tree. Although the only real reason we'd like for bails to look more amusing, is well not only because it happens frequently, but simply because the game has a replay feature of which you can edit and upload your replays to the web, and making videos of hilarious bails might have proved somewhat more amusing, as well as of course, the intended tricks.

The game offers up four large mountains including Park City, Alaska, Europe and Japan. With such large snowy terrain to cover, you're able to kick off your board and roam around on-foot, and with transportation readily available you can locate a lift or helicopter and choose a destination on the map to be dropped off at. Whilst carving around the mountains, with not a great deal to do, can prove momentarily rather appropriate, one of the more amusing aspects is that you can pick up snow, and essentially have a snowball fight with the non-playable characters that are going about their own business, snowboarding or just taking in the views, as you kindly lob a ball of snow into their face. The same can also be done in multiplayer, which we'll touch on shortly.

The biggest gripe is both the controls and the open nature of the game. Control wise, moves are performed with the right stick, while you can use the left stick to spin yourself and board around whilst performing moves. Not only does this result in a lack of moves available to perform, but there's just a general lacking sensation of speed, and without that 'speed,' therein lays the problem of pulling off some amazing moves at a great height. Whilst boarding off a cliff and pulling off some moves is most certainly possible, it is lacking that sensation that speed provides, which most certainly should be present in a snowboarding title such as this.

Graphics:

The visuals are easily the strongest point about the game and it is the most eye-catching snowboarding game released thus far. It grabs and demands attention with its rather incredible draw-distance, of where you can clearly see more snowy-filled mountains and trees off in the background. You can even pull off your own quirky animations, so after launching a snowball into a buddies face you can taunt, for example randomly raise your arm up in a sign of joy at the push of the A button, the same also applies whilst on the board as well. In doing so you don't really score any Brownie points per say, but it's something that can go down well in a replay montage, or just something to get in the habit of doing whilst online, just to make everyone else envy your skills and ultimately... chuck a snowball in your face. What would have been appropriate is a bit more visual effects, something like motion blur may have worked well to inject that sense of speed this game so desperately could have done with.

Audio:

Shaun White Snowboarding offers an impressive library of tunes for a snowboarding game, all of which suit the nature of the game particularly well. It's easy to just board around doing tricks for no particular reason and simply having the music by your side is something that you can quite easily lose yourself in. The progression of the game seems somewhat more problematic, so roaming around, hitting people with snowballs and performing tricks at random is the order of the day, until you just so happen to stumble into a hidden item or an event to participate in.

Longevity:

The only 'slight' saving grace I found was when I decided to take it online, provided you have the friends with the game or don't mind playing with random players, then it's most certainly more entertaining than what's on offer in the actual single-player. You can essentially have up to 15 other players on the mountain with you, all doing their own thing, taking part in events, and able to invite each other to compete... and of course, enter snowball fights with each other. Playing online is where SW Snowboarding redeems itself somewhat.

Overall:

Shaun White Snowboarding ultimately is more of an uphill experience than it is racing down an icy slope. This is down to the game taking a more realistic and open approach, what may have worked better is accepting the fact that it's just a game, and games are meant to be fun to play. As with skateboarding and snowboarding games in particular, it's that sensation of being able to pull off the nigh on impossible at great speeds and height that ultimately delivers an adrenaline rush in gaming form, which is what Shaun White Snowboarding is most certainly lacking.