Way back when Steep was in beta form, I tried to enjoy the Ubisoft game, as it harkened back to enjoyable SSX times, but always found myself a little bit frustrated with the gameplay. What I found was a game that required a fair amount of patience and performance to enjoy, which wasn’t what I was expecting from it. Granted, the game was in beta, and things improved dramatically before it hit the shelves, but nonetheless the way it functioned seemed more like a chore than fun, regardless of how sizable and open it was for the gameplay.
Fast-forward a bit and, after processing how Steep works and functions, I have actually grown fond of the gameplay. The variety of events that are Red Bull fueled, and maybe a sprinkle of nostalgia for the upcoming Winter season, are actually quite entertaining and challenging, rather than boring and difficult. I have spent the better part of the last week trying to gain points by doing tricks and learning the ropes again in the game in hopes of succeeding. For the most part, and the more important part, the fun has overshadowed the succeeding, which is what you want from a game like this. I was surprised about the girth of game, as well as the endless amount of winter fun I could have with it. The gameplay is simple once you get used to the controls, where you’re asked to perform tricks using triggers and thumbsticks, but then let it all go to land perfectly. Once you get the rhythm of the game down, then you get to concentrate on the fun. It’s simple, easy and, as stated above, far more entertaining than I remember the beta being.
In addition, the bevy of different winter sports you can participate in inside the game, such as snowboarding, skiing and gliding, help to keep the frustration of some events to a minimum, while maximizing the variety of fun you can have with the game. That helps one, such as myself, lose themselves in the gameplay. It also helps that this is one of the more gorgeous games about winter sports to grace a console. Lots of depth to be had in the environments, while the lighting/shading and snow effects will keep you pining for snowy times in this snowy season. In short, Steep by itself is incredibly fun to play and visually get lost in.
Now, Steep has survived the test of time because of the above reasons, and has played nicely on the Xbox One X console we are currently reviewing it on, and a expansion add-on has been released called Steep: Road to the Olympics to stretch out its landscape. It’s an expansion that focuses on Olympic events and slowly integrates them into Steep’s gameplay, which fits nicely into the oncoming Olympic games. Color me amused, but actually taking what Steep was good at, which was emulating some fun snow action, and translating that to Olympic events seems like a natural transition for the original title. Sure, you might write it off as a cash-grab, but honestly speaking it’s quite fun, which makes it more than a game trying to ride the wave (snow) of the upcoming world entertainment.
Upon loading Steep, it provides you with the choices to go play the original Steep or dive into the Olympic expansion. Once you dive into the latter, and you choose your country and avatar to represent you and are given plenty of choices to choose from on what event you want to endure. For example, there are several new downhill events for skiing, which range from medium to hard, and trust me they are difficult. You get some intense downhill skiing that does its best to test your speed and control in the game. It’s quite entertaining and incredibly unforgiving, if you’re not used to playing it. How you score, though with downhill time is important, dictates how you progress. If you hit a good time in downhill, and go through several runs, then you get a medal to show for it. If you screw up in the event, which I often did, then you get to restart instantly by holding down the Y button. The game is built for you to get better, regardless of how unforgiving it may be, but nonetheless flexible to get you back onto the top of the mountain to try again.
Again, it’s difficult, yet it’s fun.
One of my favorite events in the expansion is the Slopestyle event, which features plenty of places to show off your snowboarding skills on rails or giant “need to jump off of them and do tricks” slopes. It’s a cornucopia of fun on a snowboard and is a great place to actually get used to the controls or tricks you might have to perform in other events in the game. Some of the other places in the game that thrive are the half-pipe, which I found incredibly difficult, but good once I got used to the speed and timing. The half-pipe is my favorite event of the actual Winter Olympics, so it was engaging to participate in it inside of a game. I do suck at it, though.
Favorites aside, let me just add that if you enjoyed the hell out of Steep the first go around, then this is a great addition to the package. You get a new mountain packed with events that, while not completely trying to emulate the actual Winter Olympic Games (not like other games in the past that are directly correlated to the Olympics), it does enough to combine the style of Steep with the execution and organization of the actual Winter Olympics. The addition of a campaign, called Become a Legend, which helps give some narrative to the expansion, provides more depth to the game and pushes more legitimacy to the entertainment value of the expansion. As EA found out this year with Madden, having a story-driven campaign to the process adds another layer of depth to the overall gameplay. This expansion provides such a layer and it makes this more than just another ‘add-on’. Honestly, if you’re going to charge $29.99 for additional content, then there has to be some depth to the product, which Become a Legend provides.
Long review short, Steep: Road to the Olympics is worth the money and provides you with some solid expansion to an already entertaining title.
