Amped 2: First Look Preview

'Amped' was one of our favorite titles when the Xbox launched, providing a snowboarding experience that was a worthy spiritual successor to '1080' on the N64. With wide open courses, impressive graphics and impressive soundtrack, 'Amped' was a great introduction to what the Xbox could do when tickled in the right places, and the sequel is looking to improve every single aspect, and throw in Live! support as well.<br><br>Where to start with the changes? <br><br>Well, most importantly, from a trick point of view, is the introduction of the now standard on the manual, called buttering here; you lean on the front or back of the board to cut through the snow like a hot knife through butter. Those of you familiar with the manual will know that this allows you to link tricks together to easily increase the length of your combos. <br><br>When it comes to combos, and tricks in general, there are two rather different approaches to tricks that are subtly weaved together in the game. In the 'Tony Hawk' series you can pull of tricks that feature a large number of moves, a tad unrealistic in terms of whether or not you can pull them off in real life. 'Amped 2', in an effort to become more accessible the mainstream, has adopted some aspects of this trick system, if you quickly press the trick buttons you can perform large numbers of grabs and board tricks from one jump. It may not look totally realistic, but it will get you a large combo score.<br><br>What do you if you are a snowboard purist who demands nothing less than the strictest realism?<br><br>Well, if you care for slower rotations with some lovely looking grabs, you can do this and get style points for your efforts. These extra style points act as a counter those heathens who will happily perform lots of tricks, caring not one jot if they are realistic or not. Because the difference in style is determined by how you perform tricks, not by selecting a style option before, you can mix and match trick techniques as you go down the mountainside. Performing lots of quick tricks on a half pipe say, then getting some massive air and performing a beautiful grab with a slow but oh-so graceful rotation.<br><br>Another subtle change to the trick system is that it is now much harder to bail when you land a trick badly, this may seem like making the game easier, but think of it as making it less frustrating and increasing the flow of the game. Landing tricks can be one of the most fiddly parts of a snowboarding title, it can be quite hard to judge the angle of the snow you're about to hit. To compensate for this, the developers of 'Amped 2' have increased the number of animations for landing, so that if you land badly your rider is likely to stick out their arms, keep themselves from tumbling, slow down, but still keep going. This will naturally punish your style points, and slow you down, but it should prove less frustrating than seeing your rider fall over, and if you're good enough this shouldn't affect you anyway!<br><br>One of the things we loved about 'Amped', and the last level of '1080', was the freedom they offered, you could start at the top of the mountain and work your way down various routes that offered different challenges. 'Amped 2' will take this to the next logical level, giving you pretty much an entire mountain for to snowboard down with numerous objects to trick off. There will naturally be new mountains including Laax in Switzerland, Mt. Buller in Australia, and Harris Mountain in New Zealand. These will be lovingly crafted and feature cool graphical effects including one of our personal favorites, cloud shadows! We like them, just don't ask alright... The snow effect will be better than ever and should offer the most realistic recreation of fine powder, hard packed snow, icy patches, and everything in between.<br><br>One major new addition to 'Amped 2' is support for Xbox Live! The support is rather comprehensive, supporting Microsoft's new XSN Sports service, which allows you to track your stats, comparing them to the regional and worldwide best, tracking them on your Xbox and PC if you so wish, you can also swap your best runs with your friends. There will of course be various different gameplay modes, from straight score attack, to King of the Mountain - think Graffiti, and Horse. <br><br>We hope that there will be a racing mode, and things like specific tournaments and competitions, but we'll just have to wait and see. One of the coolest features of playing on Live! is that when you fly up a mountain to start your run it will be possible to see the other players riding down the mountain, in real-time pulling off tricks, or bailing. Not a major gameplay addition for sure, but it will be damn sweet to see! With support for up to eight players, and the inevitable banter from the headset, this could be another compelling online title for Live!<br><br>The first title featured lots of independent music artists, over 150, 'Amped 2' ups the ante by including over 300 tracks from lots of different, relatively, unknown musicians. Expect a number of genres to be straddled, and the ability, as you would expect, to use your own custom soundtrack if you desire.