Steep

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Deef
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Steep

Post by Deef »

Anyone else get this?

It gets really mixed reviews but nothing above an 8. I'm actually quite loving it, just got to its max level (25), but it's quite hard to wrap up into any kind of concise impression. Critics out there are also all over the place. Some praise the customisation, but I can tell you now it's the least meaningful customisation you've seen in a long time. Some praise the wingsuit but personally I'm just not feeling it. It looks really pretty, but the graphics should be better. For everything the game does right, it does something else wrong, and it's just that the rights significantly outweigh the wrongs. For me anyway; that's likely to be quite an individual opinion. There are a lot of utterly sold comments out there, and just as many utterly not-sold.

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My problem is that for anything I'd talk about that's great, it leads into something related that's not great. There are 4 sports, but paragliding is as boring as crap and it is just time that didn't go into skiing or snowboarding. The snow trails are good... but so few particle effects/snow clouds? The game literally sold its soul on release day: full-priced, yet with in-app purchasing. It doesn't get much lamer than that. Paid expansion packs on day 1. The multiplayer is borderline not viable, but at the same time, that's its biggest hook. The powder trails look great, but such little difference in depth? The mountains look great and are done really well... but they are amazing at hiding how static they actually are. You can shift the sun at leisure, but night lighting works only in a few challenges, yet you can still cross the whole map in those challenges, so why can't we switch on the night any other way? And so on and so on...

But the snowboarding, which is what I do 99% of the time, is great. I haven't played enough snowboarding games to really find fault with Steep's controls, so all I see is a lot of mechanics done surprisingly, really well. At first I thought it was a bit slow; now I realise I was just in the slow areas. They got the sense of speed right. They got the ground right. They got the fear of hitting anything too-suddenly right. Tree runs in Steep work. When you board anywhere, you watch the ground, all of it. You curve left and right because you develop a sense of how to lean into every hill to keep your board on the snow. The way you learn to read and react to every bump, and appreciate really flat snow... that is actually really legit. It's like real life; you deal with every change in the terrain. Steep is actually very fun when you're just trying to stay on the ground.

And 10 more paragraphs like the one above. Multiplayer is simple but it's kind of exactly all you want to do... goof around with friends and set up lines and challenges. If you get into it, you easily spend half an hour just perfecting a run you invented, which you can save, share, and turn into one of several different challenge types, and all that is fun. The open-world aspect of the game works really well; you really do look for good lines, run them, save them, restarting, try another way, find another way that's even cooler, etc, it just never ends. You really do get to explore and just turn any part of all the mountains into any run you want. Learning parts like the back of your hand is actually fun.

I know this is a totally dull wall of text. It's hard to say the game is great because it kind of feels like it shouldn't be. But it is. But it has a huge dependence on future multiplayer games to validate its fun stuff.

So yeah I can't describe it well. If you're into skiing/snowboarding, definitely give it a look/2-hour Steam rental, etc. The first 2 hours don't do it that much justice either.
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Vince
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Re: Steep

Post by Vince »

I'm really interested but will wait for a sale to purchase. I want more SSX and I know this isn't it, but I'm still a definite buyer.
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Re: Steep

Post by Twiztid Elf »

I'd definitely be in for a top quality snowboarding game and I did enjoy the Steep beta. Not enough to pay full price though. Also, would I make/have the time to play this over the other amazing games (Overwatch) I have? I don't know.
I might pick it up next year on cheap.
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Re: Steep

Post by Kangawallaby »

I grabbed it really enjoying it, feels like a mix of Skate and Amped 1/2.

Paragliding I'm not a fan of but I'm really enjoying the exploration part of the game. Definitely a nice distraction game to have in the collection. I am enjoying it far more than I expected too.


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Deef
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Re: Steep

Post by Deef »

Ah yeah? What level?

I'm XenialJesse on uPlay, welcome to find me if you want. I'm drowning in free time lately (which is awesome)... just not today.

I made a 30 second checkpoint run which I think isn't irritating; it's basically a steep slope, trees intro, and perfecting a fast line. And a 3-minute tactical that is good, but I probably need to axe the end of it. I wanted to get it over that "long ride without falling" time for the XP.

I only just hit 25 yesterday, so there are still places I haven't seen, and more places I've seen once and have no idea where they are. Like, there are giant Ubisoft rabbits in there. Nfi where.
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Kangawallaby
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Re: Steep

Post by Kangawallaby »

I playing on PS4. Hit level 25 last week sometime. Think I've probably seen just over half of everything though. I have seen the Rabbids there is a Freestyle event in thick fog there.... a little creepy actually ;)


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pilonv1
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Re: Steep

Post by pilonv1 »

Beta was OK but like others I'd not pay full price for it. Felt a bit lifeless but full release could be better in that regard
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Deef
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Re: Steep

Post by Deef »

I hadn't even heard of it until a day before its release. I heard the beta wasn't multiplayer? But honestly, the multiplayer mode doesn't change that a huge amount. It's more the change effected by knowing other people will be there, than people actually being there. You see other players rarely, and only 1 or 2 at most, and they respond to invites close to never. It's not viable in the game itself honestly, so multiplayer relies on you finding contacts outside the game first. But having said that, it is enjoyable having others in your game. It's much like real snowboarding in that you just play around enjoying whatever you want.

There's a site where you can get it for $50. UK... something? I paid $66 on GMG. Not saying $50 makes it a steal, but a chunk better than Steam's price at least.
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