The announcement of SSX: Deadly Descents at last year’s Video Game Awards had fans giddy with delight. But will the franchise succeed in today’s generation?
While little has been revealed about the game, a recent interview with Game Informer magazine uncovered some interesting snippets of information. Most basic is the fact the game will contain over 70 different racing tracks, trick and upgrade system updates, multiple game modes. And despite the grittier, realistic graphic style the game now sports, it will still contain all the arcadey feel of yesteryear.
SSX will contain three distinct types of gameplay, represented in each of the different game modes.
- Deadly Descent – a new addition to the franchise, this mode is all about survival. Obstacles like “avalanches and rockslides, and falling stalactites” will task players with making it to the bottom alive.
- Speed Descent – racing down the hill in what Batty describes as “the core of SSX“.
- Tricky Descent – the trickiest mode of them all (pun intended), players will perform tricks for the higher score.
Compared to SSX 3‘s one lonely mountain, 70 different mountains will provide a huge variety in content across the game. From “Alaska, to Antarctica, to Sibera, The Clanaques Mountains, the Andes, [and] The Alps,” all of the different racetracks have been created from the real mountains and made to fit the crazy SSX universe. Most of these mountains will be available in free play though, as the story mode will mostly focus on the Nine Deadly Descents – the most visibly recognizable mountains in the world.
Upgrades will move beyond new aesthetic differences between versions to new equipment to create new mechanics. Using a pickaxe to do “wall vault moves [like] in Prince of Persia” is just one example of the overhaul of the gameplay. Physics has also been drastically improved, thanks to Fight Night Round 4‘s engine this time around. Tricks will be available to the player in all three dimensions, providing a more immersive experience than ever before.
All in all, the new SSX game seems to be exactly what the term “reboot” means: take an existing franchise but adapt it with current generation technology. There is still lots of work left to be done though, as the game isn’t due out until some time next year.
[Via]
