Review: StokEd

By Mike Bantick
Monday, 26 October 2009 10:08

Entertainment

Well it is coming into the winter months in the northern hemisphere, so what better way to hunker down in doors than with a nice outdoorsy style game based around snowboarding?  Why risk a broken neck, when you can stay dry and warm in front of the TV whilst still experiencing some of the thrill of hurtling down a slippery ice-laden slope?

The good thing that a Tony Hawk or S.K.A.T.E game does is cater for newbies and skateboarding fans alike.  People that have never grabbed a deck and headed for the parking lot, can mix it with folks that have ‘ollied’ all their life.

StokEd
	Developer	Bongfish
	Publisher	QV Software
	Rating	PG
Xbox 360

And this is because the developers of these games realise they need to add an abundance of accessibility into their code.  Allowing veterans to get straight into the boarding action, but allow the newbs to practice not only the controller skills required to keep a virtual skater upright, but also get to grips with the terminology of the sport.

This accessibility is the major downfall of Stoked, oh! And you will be falling down a lot during your time with StokEd.  Developer Bongfish have presented a serious look at the sport of Snowboarding (and just as we here in the southern hemisphere are heading into our summer surfing season).

With a definitive Euro feel to it, players will head towards the slopes of 5 major resorts around the world, jump out of a helicopter and then free form down the mountain accepting trick challenges along the way.

Before you jump in the helicopter however, you can customise (to a limited extent) your rider, with new – usually branded – gear, check the weather report and then direct your chopper ride to numerous drop off points at the resort.

After a short – and very dryly delivered – tutorial it is off to the open mountain to try out some challenges. 

And ‘challenge’ is the key word here; the controls are logically laid out, very much like S.K.A.T.E from Electronic Arts, the left stick controls the riders’ body, right stick the board and trigger buttons mix in board grabs.  But unless you are steeped in the snowboarding culture and vernacular, the rudimentary tutorials will leave you bewildered when it comes to challenge time.

Each mountain’s location requires a certain number of challenges to be accepted and competed to unlock further progression, the ultimate aim being to become pro and be harassed by sponsors to wear their gear.

Challenges mostly consist of areas around the mountain where a series of tricks or jumps will let you defeat an ‘imaginary’ (because you don’t see THEM perform their trick series) opponent.  It will be a determined newbie who overcomes the steep mountain side as well as the steep learning curve and master a mountain.

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