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View Full Version : Interesting article on Amped 2 vs. SSX3



WHess
11-03-2003, 09:15 PM
This may be old to some peeps, but I thought it made for an interesting read. What's your take?

http://www.digitalsports.com/module...cle&sid=200

Digital Sportspage's Paul Kelly has a big-time bone to pick with reviewers of two mega recent releases in the extreme sports genre, SSX 3 and Amped 2.

He's going to explode if he doesn't vent soon, so read his rant and save him from spontaneous combustion like one of the drummers from Spinal Tap.

Video game review sites and reviewers serve a great purpose for gamers worldwide, giving them an indication of what games are worth their hard-earned dollars.

But sometimes reviewers are idiots. Hell, I fall into that category at times, too. And the idiocy meter is spiking through the top of the gauge this week as I read reviews of two mega recent releases in the extreme sports genre: Electronic Arts' SSX 3, released last week for multiple consoles, and Microsoft's Amped 2, released this week for the Xbox.

Here's the rub: Nearly every review I've read of Amped 2 so far has compared it to SSX 3. SSX 3 has received more favorable reviews, and it is an excellent game, based on my rental.

But why the comparisons? Why? THEY'RE NOT THE SAME DAMN GAMES, PEOPLE.

About the only common denominators between SSX 3 and Amped 2 are snowboards and snow.

Amped 2 is a snowboarding sim, or as close to a sim as we're going to get in the extreme sports genre. The emphasis of the game is completing tricks.

SSX 3 is a racing game on snowboards, plain and simple. It's F-Zero GX or Wipeout on snow -- a colorful, futuristic, insanely fun racing game. Sure, EA Big has added more emphasis on tricks in some modes of SSX 3, but the title remains a racing game at heart.

Comparing Amped 2 and SSX 3 is a lot like comparing a racing sim like Gran Turismo to a car combat game like Twisted Metal. Yes, both involve vehicles. But both games are so different.

I'm not trying to defend Amped 2 here. I'm sure it will be a good game, one that I'm greatly anticipating, especially for Xbox Live play. And SSX 3 is a fine, addictive game, too.

But they're not the same game. Not even close.

It's just a shame that many reviewers are taking the lazy way out and lumping both games into a direct comparison. Yes, both games involve snowboards. Yes, both have been released within a week of each other. And yes, gamers inevitably are going to compare them.

But that's where reviewers should step in and separate the two. Yes, you can offer some comparisons of similar aspects of both games. But the games are not the same. They're not head-to-head competitors like Madden 2004 and ESPN NFL Football or NASCAR Heat 2002 and NASCAR Thunder 2002.

Doing a direct comparison of Amped 2 and SSX 3 is a disservice to both games, and gamers. It's also stupid and lazy writing.

A real snow job, if you ask me.

Cottrau
11-03-2003, 09:27 PM
i believe that the article does not load


I also believe that it's moot to compare the two, becuase like their predecessors, they aren't comparable. They are both great games.. but SSX is based on fantasy, and Amped is based more on the Tony Hawk-style reality gameplay.

If you like more off the wall snowboarding, get SSX....

me.. i like more real-type games.. so i'm getting Amped2.

That doesn't mean that SSX isn't a great game, it just means that i take my sports games seriously, and SSX is a floppy game.

Evil_Dr_Beefy
11-04-2003, 12:48 AM
They are both wonderful snowboarding games...i just like SSX 3 a little bit better....I'm not going to bash amped 2....it's a cool game as well.....:cheers:

WynnFire
11-04-2003, 01:48 AM
Originally posted by WHess
Amped 2 is a snowboarding sim, or as close to a sim as we're going to get in the extreme sports genre. The emphasis of the game is completing tricks.

SSX 3 is a racing game on snowboards, plain and simple. It's F-Zero GX or Wipeout on snow -- a colorful, futuristic, insanely fun racing game. Sure, EA Big has added more emphasis on tricks in some modes of SSX 3, but the title remains a racing game at heart.

Comparing Amped 2 and SSX 3 is a lot like comparing a racing sim like Gran Turismo to a car combat game like Twisted Metal. Yes, both involve vehicles. But both games are so different.

Ok, this is why I had both Amped and SSX Tricky. Friends could never understand why I had both games even though I pretty much told them the same thing that is mentioned above.

George89
11-04-2003, 10:16 AM
I am very sick of reviewers comparing every game to Halo, even if it is not a FPS! Like for Brute Force, the word Halo was in every review i read!