SNØ: Ultimate Freeriding is a chill ski/snowboard/sit-ski riding game where you go down mountains either to accumulate or simply a chill relaxing ride depending the game mode you’ve selected. The game features a handful of modes for players to enjoy.
The controls are simple and smooth. You use the trigger to carve right or left, pressing B allows you to pull off tricks in mid-air, you can grind on rocks. When in mid-air, you can also glide to keep amassing points. You can change the camera from third to first person view, which is actually quite the trip.
The game has a few diversified game modes to keep players busy. The first is infinite run where you ride through a mountain until you crash or get bored. Then we have the self-explanatory Score Attack mode. There’s also Pole Hunt where you need to ride as long as possible before time runs out; basically a fancy way to say Time Attack.
And then Zen mode. Simply ride down the mountain without worrying about a timer or scores. Interestingly enough, while the game’s main selling point is procedurally generated mountains, when you crash and have the option to restart, you can choose to continue on the same mountain. While not a proper mode per se, there’s Peak of the Week. Everyone playing the game will ride down the same pre-designed mountain.
The game’s best feature is the fact that no two mountains are alike. They are procedurally generated meaning you’ll never ride down the same mountain twice. Every time you start, it’s a new snowy playground for you to explore. There’s also a mode that allows you to generate and save new mountains that you might want to replay.
The game looks great; it has a soothing and nostalgic appeal to it. The visuals are colorful and being able to ride through proceducally generated mountains offer a small environment variety. There’s also no music/score/soundtrack to this game. You’ll ride down the mountain in mostly silence aside from the sound of riding in the snow and sounds of nature.
Nothing really wrong here except the lack of depth. This isn’t like the SSX series where scoring and wins earns you new gear and equipment. While the game projects a relaxing gaming style, SNØ: Ultimate Freeriding is a challenging riding experience that’ll keep you on your toes. Also a nice zen-like, soothing score would’ve been a nice plus value.
SNØ: Ultimate Freeriding is a nice simplistic gaming experience; it feels like the perfect balance between a chill and challenging game. The procedurally generated mountains ensure that no two rides feel the same (unless you choose to restart with the same one). There’s an obvious lack of depth and game mode variety (Infinite Run and Zen mode are quite similar). I highly recommend this game given the void left by the SSX series; as long as you can get over the lack of depth.
Overall
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CX Score - 80%80%
Summary
Pros
- Easy to pick up and play
- Procedurally generated mountains
Cons
- Lack of depth