Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding

"A snowboarding game that--gasp!--actually tries to simulate the snowboarding experience. And that's a good thing, as Ms. Martha would say."

"...if you were like me and was curious about the whole snowboarding 'thing', Amped is a great title to help you learn about the sport."

The game's snow might well be its most compelling feature. There are different depths, cool particle effects and realistic trails. Whooshing through a thick bank of powder leaves a realistically sparkling trail of granular snow. It all adds to the feeling of "being there."

"Playing Amped reminded us of a Rockstar game released a few years ago. Called Thrasher: Skate and Destroy, it was similar to the just-emerged Tony Hawks Pro Skater, but had a greater emphasis on realism (and a thumping soundtrack to boot)."

"While Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding is visually impressive and loaded with options, its technical merits are drastically undermined by its shoddy gameplay."