Steep

Steep is the best snowboarding / skiing / extreme game you will find out there. Ubisoft managed to re-invent this gaming genre just like EA Black-Box did with the Skate franchise. Ubisoft understood that there is much more in these games than crazy combos and impossible tricks, and there is an audience who is looking for a more realistic experience.

There are some things to like about Steep, particularly its open world approach to snow sports, but it doesn't quite all gel well together. If you're looking for a snowboard stunt game, then you should pass on Steep because that's not the focus of the game. On the other hand, if you enjoy snow sports, then it's worth checking out. You'll have enough fun exploring the large amount of terrain contained in the game that you'll get your money's worth from it before it reaches the point where it begins to feel played out.

Steep is a triumph at merging gameplay and presentation to deliver players a sense of place in its beautiful open world. Controlling each sport feels simple yet laser precise, and the diversity in sports and challenges encouraged me to stay in the game even when challenges became too frustrating or uninteresting. Add to this a solid layer of social functionality, albeit shallow when playing with strangers, and you have a game that reaches the great heights it endeavors to recreate.

Steep is a very good game, especially for a genre that has gone by the wayside for a while. The paragliding may feel boring to most people, but the skiing, snowboarding and wingsuit diving are exciting and well implemented enough to make up for that inclusion. The emphasis on open-world traversal over conquering specific events makes this a game with a much more relaxed feel, but it still provides tons of exciting moments for those who are open to such a change from the action sports template. Even if the winter sports selection were much larger on the current console generation, Steep would still be worth checking out.

Steep is a great extreme sports simulator which should keep you engaged for hours. If you’re a fan of such titles—especially SSX—you’ll fall in love with this one. I just wish the love of snowboarding and these other sports would shine through with the addition of more voice overs and engagement with the player.

Steep provides reality and fresh air to the extreme sports genre. It will take your breath away with an enviable technical section and its details, light and sound effects. The most important thing is that Steep is a fun game which you will enjoy alone or with friends for a long time exploring the mountain. Despite some evident controlling fails or bugs, is the perfect game for this genre game lovers.

I enjoyed just about every minute I spent playing Steep. Grandiose, attractive environments serving as the backdrop to varied, intense challenges are enough on their own to make this wintry playground somewhere I was always delighted to go back to and spend more time in - a feeling I still have even after finishing the bulk of the content, though the lack of mechanical customization and progression makes it harder to find reasons to return.

Steep is a fun game that offers players some great ways to tackle extreme winter sports. With four different ways to play plus online multiplayer inclusion, if features relatively sturdy gaming mechanics and lots of modes to help immerse you into this realistic and enjoyable title. Sure some of the controls are a little clunky at times but overall, the gameplay, graphics and audio comes together well.

Steep is an admirable effort from Ubisoft Annecy, one that is chock full of decent ideas, but held back by others. This simulation extreme sports title lays down the foundations for what could turn out to be another staple in Ubisoft’s ever growing catalogue.

Steep is a beautiful package that unfortunately, once opened, gives you more hassle and trouble than you may imagine.

Steep is a game that's never really sure what it is, and its vagueness and lack of meaningful rewards causes it to suffer in any comparisons to the likes of SSX. But there's a quiet thrill to exploring the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc, and snowed-in Alpine villages. It's a strangely attractive approach for all its qualifications, and there's a constant sense that Ubisoft is channeling George Mallory's famous response when asked why he wanted to scramble up Mount Everest: "Because it's there."

The recreation of the mountains looks fantastic and it is a lot of fun to traverse them using the four different sport options, but unreliable input controls and many buggy moments are a steep hill to overcome to classify Steep as a great game.

Steep is a great game marred by odd design decisions that drag it down a few notches. With some tweaks and band-aids this could easily be one of the better games of 2016, but the nagging issues found here are enough to make me not want to play it for more than an hour or so at a time.

It could have been something special, and there’s tremendous potential for a sequel, but for now, Steep feels like a game of two halves. It tries to do too much and fails to capitalise on what it does best, and as such, makes for a tricky game to recommend.

Patchily enjoyable but the novelty of a return to the slopes soon wears off. [Feb 2017, p.78]

It’s an ambitious passion project that I wish I could love, but Steep's reach ultimately exceeds its grasp.