Dark Summit
Reviewed by KasketDarkfyre
In the tradition of video games that allow you to
play an extreme sport, and gives you goals in the
process, you'd immediately think of the Tony Hawk
games before you would really go too much further. In
Dark Summit, you're no longer stuck on the same stage
to perform the same goals, but rather you're in a
down hill shred fest to the finish in which you have
to complete goals to open up other parts of the
mountain! While Dark Summit isn't exactly the most
polished of sporting games, you'll find that the
amount of missions that you have to perform and the
locations as well as some of the strange story line
is well worth taking a look at.
However, once you've been through the game once,
you'll find that the trip down the massive Mt.
Garrett is nothing more that a test in your skills
and patience with repeating goals, and less than
stellar sound effects as well as a touchy, if not
hard to learn control interface. Those of you who are
looking for a break from SSX and SSX Tricky would do
well to take a look here, but all of those who are
true to the SSX style, may want to spend more time on
those slopes, and leave this one at the starting line.
-The Game Play-
The game play is similar to the SSX games in which
most of your points are based off of the tricks that
you perform and the combinations that you're able to
pull off. But, the twist in this game is that you're
not just limited to that format and you'll find that
the game offers you a different style of playing
through the introduction of goals and missions
throughout the mountain! These missions may range
from performing simple tricks, to chasing down
enemies, and even to multiple grinding combinations,
all of which will allow you to pick up extra Lift
Points in order to open up the next part of the mountain.
Sufficed to say, Mt. Garrett is a huge mountain that
has plenty of places and elements that make up a good
action/sports game hybrid. With over six different
parts to the mountain, you'll find that there is
plenty of challenging goals that will await you at
every turn. Probably the most difficult challenge
that you'll find is with the way that the game
handles throughout your quest to find bomb pieces
that will allow you to take out the military presence
on the mountain. Once you've acquired enough pieces,
and earned enough money throughout the game to open
up other equipment possibilities, you'll find that
your journey is made just a little easier and a
little more stylish with each passing acquisition!
Multiplayer options are also available to those who
are looking to play through the game with a friend,
but they are limited to simple events such as racing
and trick styling. Once you've played through those
few events, you'll find that the game really doesn't
offer that many draws for the gamer, and there really
isn't a need for the multiplayer other than to fill
up some disc space! Aside from all of these little
options, needless or not, you can play through the
game up to five times in order to complete the game
with all of the available characters after you've
defeated the game once. However, this little extra
really isn't necessary simply because the game
doesn't change the way that the goals are set out,
and you're not allowed to change out your characters
outfits and boards once you've reached that point.
All in all, the game play here is impressive enough
with the goal and mission system, but tends to fall
flat on the replaying value. When you've played
through the game once, you've found all of the game
play options that you're going to find, and there
really isn't much sense in playing it again unless
you have nothing else to play! Control is probably
one of the biggest downfalls that the game has to
offer, and that is because the use of the analog
sticks is nearly impossible to work with if you've
never played a game of this type.
The tricks are generally easy to pull off once you've
learned what all of the buttons do, but you'll find
that if you're just slightly too slow with the way
that you're releasing your jump button, you'll wipe
out quicker than you can blink! Different tricks and
how you perform them is easily explained through the
games multiple missions, but you'll find that even
once you have these down to a science, the fact that
you need to hold a button and then input a button
combination in order to perform a special trick
borders on ridiculous.
This challenge with the control is just something
that you can't really sink your teeth into, and if
you're looking to get the best equipment early on in
the game, you really need to have a good idea on how
to use the control interface and get yourself through
the game. Veterans to games such as SSX shouldn't
have too much of a problem learning all of the
inconsistencies with Dark Summit, but beginners and
rookies to these slopes will have nothing but a hard
time and in the end, a very frustrating ride!
-The Visuals-
Visually, the game suffers from a bit of grainy
textures and in some cases, apparent if not blatant
jagged edges. Although the mountain is extremely
large and you have several different areas, you'll
find yourself asking a single question: Where in the
hell did all of this litter come from? When you're
speeding down the mountain, you'll find that there is
so much stuff in your way, that it seems as though it
were put there to really give you an instance of
showing just how much garbage could be thrown into a
game for eye candy!
Throughout the stages, you'll find that there are
plenty of things to look at, but once you're two or
three hours into the game, you are honestly looking
at the same thing over and over depending on what
part of the mountain you're on. Add this in with the
very few cut scenes, and you'll find that the game
doesn't seem to hold that visual appeal that other
Game Cube games do. When compared to the other
version of the game, this one seems to suffer the
most from rushing rather than actual time spent.
-The Audio-
Audio wise, the game features a pretty dark and moody
soundtrack that has some pretty impressive beats
thrown in for good measure. This isn't to say that
the music is the best I've ever heard, but there are
times that the music seems so light in comparison to
other portions of the sound, that it seems as though
the mute button were hit, or the volume were turned
down! The sound effects on the other hand aren't all
that well put together, and you'll find that the
strange echoing voices you hear throughout the game
coming from other characters attempt to put an echo
effect as you would hear on a mountain side, but seem
to come out just slightly muted and garbled to the
point of not being able to understand what it is they
are saying. Boiling all of this down, you may find
that the audio, much like the visual, is just about
average if anything at all!
-The Verdict-
Dark Summit is a rather interesting game that suffers
in all of the categories and comes out as just an
average game to put in your Game Cube. While not the
most innovative, the introduction of different
missions and goals is a refreshing, although brief,
break from the SSX games of simply racing down the
mountain! With hard to learn control, sub-par visuals
and audio that just doesn't seem to match in a Game
Cube game, you'll be hard pressed to find any true
reason to pick this game up as a purchase. More of a
weekend rental for SSX fans, leave this one for the
experts and find something a little more user friendly.
Overall: 7 out of 10