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Amped is Tony Hawk Pro Skater, snowboarding style. In many respects the games are very similar, other than the setting of course. In Amped, you will create a snowboarder in “Career Mode” and work him down the runs to complete various level based objectives. You will improve your snowboarder by raising his stats (spin, jump, speed, balance, etc) after you are awarded stat points when completing certain level objectives. You will also be rewarded with free gear to pimp out your boarder so you won’t have to ride around in the chode gear you started with.

You’ll start your career as an amateur snowboarder, ranked at the bottom of the totem poll. You will slowly work your way up the rankings as you complete the runs. There are 11 resorts with 6 or 7 runs/levels at each resort. Each run will present you with some basic level goals. Level goals include achieving 3 different high scores, scoring “media points” (talked about in a second), plowing over talking snowmen and impressing sponsors. You will also get to board down the runs with a pro, matching/beating his tricks in order to be rewarded with a new trick at the end of the run. Media guys are scattered over the runs and will snap pictures of you as you pass them by. Media symbols mark the areas where the camera guys are so you know they’re coming up. Getting media point’s works just like normal points, except you only get them when you hit a trick at one of the marked locations on the slope. As you complete runs you build a portfolio and a scrapbook. Your portfolio keeps track of your achievements. Your scrapbook is a collection of cool little snippets from news papers, TV specials, letters or magazine excerpts that people have blurbed about your throughout your career.

The graphics and effects in Amped are amazing. You’ll leave a powder trail behind as you scream down the hill. You’ll see other snowboarders doing tricks, kicking up powder further down the runs. If you hit a tree, snow will fall off the frozen limbs just like if you had smacked it in real-life. The attention to detail was very well done. The levels are HUGE and the environments are realistic. Simply put: Amped is visually stunning and stimulating. The only thing quirky is the damn camera angle. It doesn’t stay where you set it. It often zooms in right behind your snowboarder, even if you set it to the back most view.

There are over 100 different songs with every major category of soundtrack available. You can also use your own soundtracks, like many other Xbox games. One feature I could have done without is the heckling you receive down the run. Media guys, other snowboarders and the invisible guy who watches you from inside the TV all have their opinions on how you’re doing. Of course when you do a badass trick, heckles turn into cheers and amazement. The talking Mexican snowmen get kind of annoying at times too… although if they didn’t, you’d never know one was around to go plow over it, as they tend to be hard to see.

Multiplayer mode isn’t typical of this kind of game. Instead of going split screen, you will take turns. High score, media points, best trick and King of the Hill are the different multiplayer modes. There are also a few other variables like “Trick or die in 10 seconds” and “Dash till you crash”.

The single downfall of Amped could possibly be the difficulty level of the game. When you compare it to similar games (and people always do) like SSX Tricky or even Tony Hawk Pro Skater, Amped is a much more difficult game. The controls are not nearly as forgiving. Landing tricks is harder. Even performing tricks is harder. Amped is probably not a good title for those who are easily frustrated. Then again, if you are a master of such games, you should find Amped a refreshing challenge from the norm.

All in all, in conclusion, in the end, or however the hell you wanna put it: Amped is a challenging game with some very pleasing aesthetic factors that make it stand out from the crowd. It’s definitely worth checking out.