Steep

Nothing in Steep is ever quite perfect, but what’s here can potentially be a real joy and the potential for a sequel, with these issues ironed out, is absolutely mouthwatering.

Ubisoft deserves a round of applause for addressing the industry’s severe lack of snow sport games with something bold and ambitious. Steep might suffer from play value issues, but there’s nothing comparable. For the more than 10 million skiers and snowboarders around the world, this is a moment of liberation that should go recognized.

The core snowboarding and skiing events are enjoyable enough to easily forgive mediocre elements, like the slow and sleepy paragliding mode, that feel like needless gimmicks. I just wish the latter weren’t mandatory.

It offers an enjoyable trip to the snowing mountains with 4 different extreme sports to explore and challenges along the way. You can push your limits and become king of the mountain or just enjoy the ride through beautiful landscapes and majestic scenery. It’s not only for the fans, everyone could give it a go.

Only a few hours into Ubisofts Winter Wonderland and I had already made up my mind: Steep is the Surprise-Hit of the year. But in the hours to follow, my evaluation changed a little bit. Steep is still a really good game, but I wouldn’t want to call it a hit anymore. The concept of the online-mode doesn’t work as intended by the developers and after about 15 hours or so, any real challenge, thus any kind of motivation, vanishes all together from the game. The game’s world is just far too huge for harboring only that little amount of content. A fact that is indeed very unfortunate, because up to a certain point, I was immensely entertained by Steep. I definitely long for a sequel though. This time maybe something summer-themed like skateboarding, BMX and wing suits.

Steep definitely has its flaws and downsides, but I enjoyed most of the time I spent with it. I still find myself picking up the controller to enjoy the view and get a little competitive frustration out.

Steep is a very good game for adrenaline junkies and pow addicts in every way. For gamers, the answer is less clear as a good gameplay and a vast open world don't compensate the lack of a clear goal to achieve.

Steep has managed to exceed my expectations, and now, after a long break, we finally have a triple-A game where you can shred down an Alpine mountain on a snowboard and fly using a wingsuit.

There are so many shortcomings in Steep’s design and gameplay, you can’t help but think it’s still a project, not a full game. The ideas are there, they’re good, they could have been developed into something groundbreaking; problem is – they weren’t. [Issue#216, p.44]

Technically impressive open world in the Alps, but the winter sports simulation lacks long time motivation and diversity.

It's fun to visit the mountains in Steep from time to time and enjoy a pleasant ride down the slope or one of the more exciting challenges. It's important not to Overstay the game's welcome, since Steep can quickly become rather boring and monotonous.

It doesn’t top the best snowboarding game ever made (Amped 3), but it does provide plenty of reasons to continue traveling the Alps. Should the trick system and technical issues be resolved in a sure to occur patch, Steep will become a must play. In its current state, however, it’s best to approach with caution.

Steep’s freedom is exhilarating and it looks stunning, but clunky, imprecise controls tarnish the experience.

Steep is the best winter sports game on PC, which unfortunately does not mean that it comes without any bugs. However, under the layer of bugs a pretty good experience is hidden. [Issue #270]