Shaun White Snowboarding : Xbox 360 Review

Posted December 21, 2008 by David Koenig.

Shaun White appears in his first game aptly named Shaun White Snowboarding. Players do not take the role of Shaun but play as a unique character created at the start of the game. The game spans four unique mountains: Park City, Europe, Japan, and Alaska. Each one has its own set of characteristics and the amount of terrain and diverse mountain gives players a lot to do.

From the very start Shaun White Snowboarding is an open world game. No restrictions are placed on you and every mountain is open from the start. Mountains are filled with various events and challenges. Controls have a small learning curve but overall work very well. Tricks are basic and are what you would expect, spins, flips, grabs etc. These are all performed using the analog sticks and work very well.

Jumps, both natural and artificial, scatter the mountain and provide plenty of thrills. Grinding is accomplished automatically as you jump onto a surface. Different snow surfaces have differing affects on movement. Power slows you down while ice reduces control but speeds you up.

The majority of the game however is based around coin collection. The story is based loosely over the idea that Shaun has hand picked you and throughout the game is teaching you new aspects of the game. After each set of coins a new ability is unlocked. All of these abilities are based around the “focus” ability. Some will allow you to break through barriers, while others will allow you to go faster or jump faster.

Each new set of of collection takes advantage of your newest ability and in some cases this creates finicky platforming as you fall off a ledge multiple times. Two problems exist: first I can’t say that I was excited about the prospect of collecting items in a snowboarding game, and when I was finished I downright loathed it. Second in many cases the new powers you receive in the progression of the story contradict any original feeling of realism.

Shaun White Snowboarding treads an awkward line between realistic core gameplay and absurd powers given later in the game. Unfortunately these design choices never provide a clear vision for the game.

Gameplay is hurt by various bugs and glitches. Many times I would find myself stuck in the environment or crashing for no obvious reason. In others I would crash but my character would never get back to his feet, in this case I would continue down the mountain on my side.

The game has difficulty with the illusion of speed, when you are moving at a good pace things work well, but it becomes clear quickly that these same effects are applied when you are moving at a much slower pace.

Exploration is encouraged by the ability to get off your board and travel back up or around the mountain. This is especially useful when you miss a coin (again). However in some cases the process of the stopping isn’t quite as simple as it may sound. Sometimes the game can’t quite decide if you really want to stop. Instead the character will continue to make short stops then continue to slide down the mountain for a number of seconds.

Overall the UI is handled well, the D-Pad serves a number of purposes from changing music to saving a location or entering multiplayer. All of it works well to keep the number of menus to a minimum, the map allows you to jump to any ski lift or helicopter drop off. My only major gripe is that coin locations only appear in a small minimap and not in the full fledged version. This can lead to frustration as you often cannot pinpoint a coin exactly without a few tries.

Ski lifts can also be used manually providing a first person perspective as you move up the mountain. You can also jump off at any point. It was a nice addition that adds to the overall immersion. Advertising does exist in the game but it is done in a tasteful way and does not impact gameplay.

Graphically the game provides interesting vistas and unique environments but never quite stands out overall. Avalanches are present and enhance the game in both visuals and gameplay. However it would appear that they are triggered by specific location and not by random occurrence.

The soundtrack of Shaun White Snowboarding is varied and sets the mood for the game well. Other sound effects and voice acting are basic but forgettable.

Multiplayer works quite well and is a full fledged feature. Games are open world and players can go about events both solo and together with others. Events are activated and at any point you can either accept or reject the challenge. The concept works well and allows multiple groups of people to do many things simultaneously.

Thankfully super powers are deactivated during events and really show how the game could have been in the single player experience. Snowboarding becomes the focus not coins. Events are the same as you will find in the single player and range from races to trick competitions. In same cases, you are all traversing the hill at once. In others one player at a time goes. In the open world some cases of lag were present but overall were minimal.

Weather effects are limited to small snow flakes. It would have been nice to have seen weather effect gameplay in a greater way, and it could have been implemented in a similar fashion to snow conditions on the ground.

Overall Shaun White Snowboarding was a mixed experience; problems exist. However I found myself having fun. If you have been looking forward to the game, or you just have an interest in the genre then you should give the game a look. A rental would probably be best though.