análisis de amped 2 (90/100)

The Microsoft Game Studios push to success continues. Top Spin and Crimson Skies has come out to acclaim from all of us in the media. More hot games are on the way. Microsoft has really stepped up to the plate this year and become a very respectable first party company. And now we have Amped 2, another game we can put into that category.

...... lets talk about how sweet Amped 2 looks. When compared to the original Amped, you can definately see the improvements Microsoft have made, from the mountains themselves to the riders. The backgrounds look as gorgeous as any snowboarding game I've seen, with lots of lush snow, trees, houses and lodges, and other objects strewn about. The mountain courses are linked together, and well built. You really have a wide open area to run, and you can go back and forth between actual runs. And it's smooth as silk. Very impressive. The animations of the riders is pretty sweet too, down to them actually twisting their bodies when they spin (as opposed to other games that just show your rider spinning like a wooden statue)

When we talk about the mountains themselves, Amped 2 goes global with the addition of new mountains including Laax, Switzerland, Mt. Buller in Australia, and heli-riding Harris Mountain in New Zealand. World-renowned terrain park designer, Chris “Gunny” Gunnarson, again lends his expertise exclusively to Amped 2 park design, improving trick placement, adding more trickable objects, and doubling the size of many jumps making it easier to land in transition. Fully rendered 3D environments bring the mountains alive. Clouds cast shadows that move over the hills and the runs teem with ambient life and sounds, including other riders, snow-cats, people riding the chairlifts, and working snow machines. And did I mention it's in HDTV?

300 music tracks!

Who's got bragging rights? Well, find out by challenging riders around the globe to see who's the best. Track stats and check regional and world-wide ladders to see rankings. Better yet, hook up with XSN Sports and set up or join a tournament or two, and show off your points to everyone else. Being the best means being in the spotlight; that's what it's all about. What's really cool with Amped 2 is that thanks to the power of Xbox Live, you're going to be able to download new mountains and runs to ride, as well as new snowboards and other gear. Along with all these courses, you can trade your best replays with your buds.

Bottom Line - The Microsoft roll continues!
I think the epitomy of my thoughts on Amped 2 came on this past Friday. Because I am Jewish, I celebrate the Sabbath on Friday evening. We have a small congregation that has begun to meet at each other's houses. Well, this Friday was my turn. And so as the kids came with their parents, they looked at my game collection with awe. After services I put Amped 2 in for them to keep them occupied while the "adults" talked. The adults actually started sitting down and watching the kids play this game. Two of those parents just bought Xboxes for their kids, and are getting Amped 2 when it comes out. Need I say more? I can only think of one game that is going to give Amped 2 serious competition, and that's EA's SSX 3 (which is on it's way to us for review as well). But on the Xbox, SSX will not be online. That leaves Amped 2 as the ONLY Xbox Live snowboarding game out there. That could be the difference. Excellent work once again by Microsoft Game Studios. With games like this, the Xbox should have a great holiday sales season this year!