We update our preview with new screens. The game is almost here - can you feel it?
Many snowboarding games are coming out this year across a multitude of platforms. Out of all of those, Transworld really stands out with its mixture of killer graphics and professional snowboarders. The level of reality in this game is what really boosts it over the crowd.
Out of all the other snowboarding games coming out this season, TWS has the most realistic visuals out of all of them. Each of the snowboarders has real characteristics and real moves, unlike those found in SSX: Tricky. The boarders look better than those found in Amped, which also has realistic snowboarders, but the attention in TWS is amazing.
In any game, the amount of characters you have is a big plus. The Gran Tourismo series has used the fact that they have a massive number of cars since the first installment, and it has worked. TransWrold Snowboarding boasts 10 snowboarding pros, including Tina Basich, Barrett Christy, Andrew Crawford, Kevin Jones, Peter Line, Jussi Oksanen, Todd Richards, Wille Yli-Luoma, Daniel Frank and Nicola Thost. No other game has that many official riders, if any at all.
TWS is going almost too far with the amount of licensees they have. Not only is the game based off of a magazine license, but the clothing that the characters wear also are branded. Clothing and accessories include DC Shoes, Hurley Clothing, Nixon, Oakley, Quicksilver and Volcom and more. Again, this realism helps to immerse the player in the world of a pro boarder.
TWS also boasts many slopes and courses, which also helps the game out. There are 19 locations throughout the world including; Switzerland, Canada, Italy, and Japan. Each of the slopes look amazing, and have absolutely no draw in. Each level looked like it could have gone on forever, and that is how a game should be. That is going to be a huge selling point for TWS.
The many modes of play in TWS are what you would expect from a snowboarding game (including Free Ride, Free Style, Slope Style, Straight Jump, Pipe), except for the Career mode. In this mode you can go through the life of a Pro Boarder and get all the way to the championship. This is going to end up being many gamer's favorite way to play.
TransWorld Snowboarding looks to be one of the greatest snowboarding games on the console, but it hasn't been crowned king yet. The real test will be when gamers pop the DVD-9 into their Xbox and play it for themselves. It may not be an easy ride because of the overwhelming amount of Snowboarding titles coming out, but TWS may be the right amount of fun and realism to appeal to fans of the genre.
Adam Westenberger
Wants to win the championship with Todd Richards.
