Conspiracy Entertainment has been known to try to exploit any deficiencies in a system's game lineup. With the release of Winter Sports, the company was obviously looking to play off the success of both Wii Sports and Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. All in all, it's not the worst effort in the world, but it certainly could have benefited from a bit more polish.

The game's nine-oh, who are we kidding-seven different events play similarly to Mario and Sonic, with gimmicky motion controls fueling the bulk of the gameplay. The events featured are Alpine Skiing, Ski Jumping, Speed Skating, Cross-Country Skiing, Bobsledding, Luge, Skeleton and Figure Skating, as well as cult favorite Curling. The Alpine and Cross-Country events both control like SSX Blur or similar skiing/snowboarding games, but without the tricks or jumps, and the only difference between the two is that the Cross-Country event is longer and less downhill. The forward motions make the events at least somewhat different, though. Luge, Bobsledding and Skeleton, on the other hand, are also remarkably similar, much like the events themselves. The nuances of the events, as well as the team nature of bobsledding, don't come across very well. Some of the motion controls work well, but others don't. Curling combines a bowling motion with all the excitement of moving a broom back and forth, and these motions need to be precise to work well, and they just don't. It seems like there just wasn't the right amount of work done in the game, because as soon as players venture away from the predictable and normal, things get glitchy.

The graphics in this title are lackluster. Winter Sports would look sub-par on a last-gen system, with muddled textures and strange, dull shading. The menus continue the title's ice cube motif and are at least somewhat intuitive for the casual gamer it is targeting.

Conspiracy certainly made an effort to sell this game on the rack with box art text, but it lied just too much to ignore. The claims of "stunning graphics and an exciting soundtrack" are by no means the case, and it also laughably "guarantees weeks of fun playing." The title's strengths are its pick-up-and-play nature and party capabilities, and production values and depth largely need to be ignored.

Winter Sports makes for a decent night with cold-loving casual gamers, but it's not worth a purchase even at its budget price. Pass this one up unless you really like curling.

Feb 28, 2008 | 0 comments
Graham Russell