Alpine Skiing 2005 – Review

Going on the piste is no cheap excursion these days, it’s a holiday option usually falling well beyond the monetary boundaries of all but the wealthiest mountain-sport enthusiast. Well, cancel your appointment with the bank manager, return the poles and bindings to your neighbor, and stop knitting those waterproof underpants, because Midas Interactive and 49Games can take you there on a budget.

“Hey there, hi there, ho there!” and welcome to Alpine Skiing 2005. The game’s commentators are certainly glad that you made the trip, but how about you? The opening title screen of Alpine Skiing 2005 speaks volumes for the content that it precedes; a simple yet stylish graphic of a professional skier in full flow, no glitzy rendered sequence, and no indulgent showcase of in-game graphics. Let us not forget this is a budget title. However, behind the initial static façade lies a game of considered depth, carefully managed evolution and, more importantly, instantly appealing gameplay.

From the outset, the immediate wealth of game modes and interaction options evokes a cocked eyebrow and a hasty receipt check…this is a budget game, right, the guy at the counter didn’t give me a full price title by mistake? Leave your low-price scepticism at the cable car station, friends, because what you see is not a case of sudden snow blindness.

Jump straight from the gate and take one of twelve skiers on a Quickstart tournament across various disciplines. Practice and hone your skills via any in-game location and any available discipline while altering weather conditions and experimenting with wax levels. Create your own skier and embark on a full career that charts your progress from the opening junior league, through the Euro league and on to the Professional league. Utilise prize money to hire a training coach and ski waxer, expand your repertoire of skills through allocated upgrade points as you face ever more difficult runs, splash out at the local stores for improved equipment that enhances performance. Take challenges, check your records, edit your saved characters, and alter the game specifications to your personal liking. Where’s that receipt, this must be a mistake!

Graphically, Alpine Skiing 2005 hurtles past so quickly that it’s initially hard to discern the actual aesthetic quality on show—but it’s certainly there. Once accustomed to the control scheme, which is easy to grasp yet satisfyingly tricky to master, players will soon risk glancing off into the distance to evaluate the game’s visuals. The run-specific details may be somewhat minimalist in nature, but then there’s only so much you can put on screen without causing distraction to the player; a sudden herd of mountain goats crossing your speedy descent would be intriguing but not necessarily required to bolster the experience. However, the sweepingly mountainous backgrounds, advertising boards, varied gate designs and foliage all lend a suitable level of authenticity to proceedings. Also, the game rarely suffers from draw or chop, and whips along at a thoroughly dependable frame rate. Plus, you’ll be so busy keeping within the confines of the gates on each course that you’ll rarely have time to ogle the scenery anyway.

Alpine Skiing 2005’s audio consists of subtle musical accompaniment during the title screens and secondary game sections, such as character creation and equipment store, etc. but it’s refreshing to note that the actual perilously quick ski runs are completely devoid of music. It’s just you, the whistles and bells from the off-camera crowds, the whipping pull of the wind, and the harsh carving of your skis. Of course, there’s a commentating duo on hand to dole out reactionary cries of belittlement and praise after each passed gate and, though almost comical in their delivery, they manage to offer up interesting nuggets of info regarding professional ski history without ever truly passing over into the realms of annoyance. Unfortunately, those gamers suffering with hearing impairments are not privy to the color commentary as the game offers no subtitle option—though sporting commentary rarely, if ever, enjoys such application.

Most importantly, Alpine Skiing 2005 plays well, and certainly well beyond expectations for a budget title. The genuine blend of accuracy and urgency are evident as your fight to fit between tightly placed gates during the game’s Slalom and Giant Slalom disciplines, and impressively frantic speed is never more apparent then when furiously navigating the gates of Downhill and Super G. Combine this with nimble physics, believable character movement, and tangible jump inertia, and there’s plenty of variety to keep you on your toes—or the edges of your skis—for quite some time.

With 48 separate ski runs spanning 12 of the world’s most famous skiing locations from Lillehammer, Lake Louise, and Val d’Isere, the sheer scope for longevity and immersion is admirable, and certainly boosted by well-implemented controls. The game’s multiplayer aspect is also considerable, opening itself to possible 12-way interaction, if you own a multi-tap and can gather that many friends together. This particular skiing incarnation is a female free zone, offering players a choice from a default selection of distinctly male competitors. You can, of course, attempt to conjure up a female skier during character creation, but unfortunately the facial templates within are not best suited to the female form…what with them all being male.

Once in a blue moon, the videogame world’s economy range offers up a gaming experience that breaks its own restrictive stigma. A game that plays beautifully and encapsulates all the atmospherics of its subject matter, a game that inspires secret smiles of glee because its retail purchasing price was more than half the standard outlay. Alpine Skiing 2005 doesn’t play like a budget title, it doesn’t look like a budget title, and it doesn’t feel like a budget title. Legend has it that if you crush coal with enough force you can reveal a diamond, well, Midas and 49Games had some serious compression tools at their disposal when laboring over Alpine Skiing 2005. This is an above average performance that inspires great satisfaction through its easy interaction, fluid controls, and genuine sense of speed.

Review by Stevie