Steep Road to the Olympics

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Introduction

Extreme sports game features have shown a continuity of evolution since time immemorial. Ever since its creation, Ubisoft’s “Steep” has very vividly communicated a sense of thrill, freedom, and danger; not many titles manage that feat so perfectly. Emerging into the scene in the year 2016, “Steep” gave the players an experience of being in the middle of the hazardous terrains of the Alps and Alaska, where players ski, snowboard, paraglide, and wingsuit within immense open-world environments. Following the unraveling of the above-mentioned game, Ubisoft sought to hint at the magnificence of the approach in December 2017 when it released an extension called “Steep: Road to the Olympics,” thereby connecting the game to this world event held after every four years.

“Steep: Road to the Olympics” is far more than a mere expansion; it is a celebration of winter sports and the athletes who devote their lives to these high-pressure competitions. With new events and enhanced gameplay mechanics under a narrative-driven career mode, the game aims to give the casual player and sports enthusiast a taste of what it feels like to train for and compete at the Winter Olympic Games. This review will touch on various elements of “Steep: Road to the Olympics” through gameplay, graphics, sound design, and impact on the sports genre.

Gameplay Mechanics

Among the distinctive features of “Steep: Road to the Olympics” is its spirit of democratic gameplay mechanics made for several winter sports disciplines. On the one hand, the game retains and builds upon the core mechanics offered by the first game, while on the other, it introduces new Olympic events to give players that extra fun and competitive dimension.

Winter Sports Disciplines: The new Olympic events include downhill skiing, slopestyle snowboarding, halfpipe, giant slalom, big air, etc. Each event is designed to reflect the real-world challenges and techniques these sports require. The controls are simple but not easy, and the player will really need to perfect their technique to perform really complex tricks and maneuvers. The game gives players a good balance of realism and accessibility while carving down a mountain, flying high into the air off a halfpipe, or switch-tapping with massive speed.

Open-World Exploration: As in the base game, “Steep: Road to the Olympics” keeps the open-world exploration, thus freeing the players to explore the vast expanse of lovely and invitingly centered terrains. New locations, like South Korea and Japan, were added in this expansion pack; the players can delight in terrain new to them. These regions consist of wide-open powder fields, forests thick with trees, and some treacherous cliff sides—all of which come up with their own sets of challenges. The ability to switch from one action to another on the go means additional depth into the exploration experience of Steep.

The Olympic Games Career mode is one of the main highlights in Steep: Road to the Olympics. The story-based mode guides players along the path of an aspiring athlete who has been preparing for and competing in the Winter Olympics. The career mode is designed to provide a truly progressive feel, starting players off in the minor events that are less strenuous before leading them gradually up to the summit of winter sports: the Olympics. Documentary-style interviews with real Olympic athletes pepper the mode for authenticity and to provide valuable insight into the dedication required to compete at the highest level.
Challenge and Mastery: The game is equipped with a merciless challenge-and-mastery system that turns players into specialists in each discipline. Each event and course in the game comes set with objectives or medals to earn, thus motivating players to polish their tricks and improve their scores. The difficulty curve is well structured, with the early events introducing the mechanics and the later ones requiring control and timing from the players. The existence of leaderboards and online competitions make it all the more fun, as players can stack their performance against the rest of the world.
Multiplayer and Community Integration: Continuing the spirit of community-driven content from the base game, Steep: Road to the Olympics allows players to compete within online tournaments, tackle challenges made by other players, and even create individual courses. The multiplayer experience feels all-encompassing as ghosts of other players appear within the world, thus enabling a shared experience without needed direct interaction. Another social pillar of the game that fosters a sense of community is sharing replays and competing for leaderboard positions.

Graphics and Visuals

When it comes to graphics, “Steep: Road to-the-Olympics” frankly is an eyeful. Featuring, Ubisoft’s proprietary Anvil engine brings the magnificent realistic snow-saturation mush of the game into full view. From the powdered snow that buckles underneath the player’s feet to light glinted off ice to an exquisite punch of a real outdoor effort. Womb-to-tomb weather and time-of-day systems further immerse the player, with dynamic transitions potentially altering the whole character of a single run from blissful to psychotic.

Environmental Design: The new locations added into the expansion—the Korean and Japanese mountains—are presented in such detail and art to resemble their real-life counterparts. The geography of the area is diverse, with wide-open runs, treacherous trees, and gnarly cliffs. The South Korean mountains’ steep, challenging courses get a counterpoint from the relaxed charm of Japanese scenery. The regions each feel like their own, and with the fine detail of environmental design, the immersion is increased while players shred the snow.

Within Character Models and Animations: The characters in ‘Steep: Road to the Olympics’ are so beautifully created that they’ve animated themselves to be like ever in fluids and precise movement for their winter sport tricks. But that’s not the end of it-the movements of various acts performed by skiers or snowboarders come with smooth transitions and well-thought-out animations. Above all this, the game comprises lots of customization options that allow the player to style their own athlete differently using outfits or gear. While not as much of deeper customization as in other sports games, it has just the variety that makes every player’s experience unique.

Cinematic Presentation: This is where the game shines, with camera angles that create so much emphasis on the actual speed and danger that is there. Whether careening down a slope in first-person view or reliving a run from all angles, the game excels at offering a visually engaging experience. The Olympic events follow, as they are expected to mimic the pomp and circumstance of real-world games, from opening ceremonies, commentator voices, and crowds, to capturing the event.

Sound Design and Music

Sound is one of the integral parts of almost all sports games, and there isn’t an exception for “Steep: Road to the Olympics”. The audio elements are so well thought out that there is every little crunch of snow underfoot and the rush of wind while sailing down a slope. Sound effects are realistic and help augment one’s presence, thereby making every run exciting.

Ambient Sounds: Subdued but effective, the ambient sounds of Steep: Road to the Olympics.feel in a player’s presence. Distant sounds of avalanches, calls from birds somewhere in the mountains, or the somewhat muffled sounds of your character breathing in thin air intermingle, increasing the levels of immersion felt. The skiing sounds and clicking of the snowboard binding take it all up a notch in giving that authentic touch, as one truly feels at one with the environment.

Commentary and Voiceovers: Commentary is featured throughout the Olympic events to further heighten the excitement with moderate realism. The commentators dive into the specifics of the sport, offering a couple of tips, and give their reactions to your performance, mimicking the feel of a broadcast Olympic event. Real Olympic athletes in career mode voice their accounts and inspiration, thus making this mode real-sounding and inspirational.

Music: The game’s soundtrack comprises both high-energy pieces and atmospheric tunes concomitant with screen action. The music selection is very diversified; it shows a collection of varying styles from indie rock to endless electronic beat selections, depending on the mode chosen for play. The game’s music is reactive, changing based on the circumstances; pumping hard when rushing downhill and mellow when exploring the slower-paced areas. The soundtrack is not nearly as memorable when compared to some other sports games, but it certainly works in setting the mood.

While there is no requirement to play “Become a Legend” first, Steep: Road to the Olympics still recommends that players prioritize this game. It is mostly a 3-hour tutorial to familiarize both new and old players with the subjects’ format at the Olympic Games. Players play the role of an extremely sharp contestant in the free performance segment (Freestyle) and win the medals and enter the ranks of “master” athletes in the winter sports segment.

The bright spot in the Become a Legend game is the documentary videos that interview excellent athletes in real life. It can be said that they get to know more about their experiences and their worries once they start surfing are told in different styles but share a particular passion in their tones, perhaps the most interesting non-play-related moments in Steep.

However, it is quite a pity that the rest of the Become a Legend play item is under-invested. The permissiveness of each category’s score requirement can be omitted (since it’s also a tutorial game after all!), But they re-use levels that players could join in the section. The free open world is at a greater difficulty, making the repetition of both the racetrack and the competition area inevitable. The low level of challenge also makes the commentator’s slightly excessive compliments ridiculous. His excitement cannot help the writer feel like he has made a mark on the calendar. History, while the 1,100 score from the Big Air jump I just did was not impressive.

The amount of content for the Steep: Road to the Olympics is also worryingly modest. The game does not allow players to choose which skins players use when competing at mainstream events but must “stick” in a single uniform. Although the Japanese map in this expansion is on the same scale as the Alaska Denali, the total number of events (both the Olympics and Ubisoft’s free events) is too small compared to the $ 30 amount. Players have to pay to enjoy this expansion. That’s not to mention that, for some reason, the game throws high difficulty events straight into the closest starting area on the map.

With Steep’s recent updates “loosening” the way G-Force and physics are loaded with a more stable feel, Steep: Road to the Olympics Japan map is also designed to make the most of it. New features by cramming lots of narrow canyons and thin treetops for the player grinding the skateboard. Even there is no shortage of winding trails and well-positioned snowy cliffs. The terrain may not “go down” continuously like the original maps. Still, it ensures the seamlessness between the roads and the density of alternating hills that players can “enter” while moving freely.

Steep: Road to the Olympics’ usual events are not much different from the original game content, but its “worth” point lies in the Olympic events with many interesting formats around single and double skateboarding. For single skaters, we have Parallel Giant Salom, which is a zigzag run through timed checkpoints. For double skaters, the Slalom events with roads full of dangerous corners will be a huge challenge for any racer with high patience as most Slalom races stretch on less than two minutes. Both modes also have mixed events like Halfpipe, a Freestyle event where the player scores high while performing acrobatics in a pipe of snow cut in half. Downhill, Cross, or Slopestyle blend timed / obstacle racing with enough variety and tough challenges enough to make even the pro gamer break a sweat.

For the writer personally, the most interesting event is also the one the easiest, it’s Big Air – a single jump, a single chance to perform a “fire,” three times. Make and pool scores of three turns to win a gold medal.

Despite the lack of lengthy Freestyle events like the original version, Steep: Road to the Olympics compensates for a decent length double skateboarding session. Especially with Downhill when the player slides down the slope at high speed, be dizzy, and must have enough speed to turn the cornering firmly. The game sections allow Freestyle players to be arranged with many objects to sharpen the plank and enough tools to support maximum points, although some paths may not be clear and easy to make the player go the wrong direction. The last thing that surprised me was that the new formats benefited quite a bit from the first-person point of view of the GoPro dashcam, especially with the occasional skateboarding timing races where players can easily. See the road and the corner more because no character model is blocking the 1/4 screen.

In short, Steep: Road to the Olympics brings a lot of new content (although not worth the $ 30 price tag) for Steep, and that’s enough for those who need more reason to spend time. Space into the game after the events of the original game. Suppose you were expecting this expansion to make the game less of the “lack of direction” of the original game.

You might be disappointed, because in general, Steep: Road to the Olympics still possesses the spirit of “self-experience, self-tinkering” and expands it with new modes and events, rather than changing the freely designed core of the game.

where can you get a Steep Road to the Olympics online

Steep Road To The Olympics (PS4): Buy it now

Steep: Road to the Olympics – Xbox One [Digital Code]: Buy it now

Steep Road to the Olympics [Online Game Code]: Buy it now

Steep – Road to the Olympics DLC | PS4 Download Code – UK Account: Buy it now

Final Judgement

“Steep: Road to the Olympics” is a polished, filled, and really very incredible extension of an already excellent game titled “Steep”. It’s not only beautiful, like most games at their highest creatively possible level, but it also attempts to be realistic in its physics and has so many different events in that it promises an experience that is most authentically enjoyable at the same time with all the challenges and excitement that winter sports have to offer. The icing on the cake is the addition of the Olympic content, which allows the neat, complementary, focal, and goal-oriented quality experience in relation to the otherwise open world of the base game.

A few things that stand out about this game are its realistic settings, superb control, and great fun doing it in the areas only the most lofty places in the world have to offer. You could be flying down a steep slope, soaring through the air with a wingsuit, or fighting for Olympic gold; what sounds better? Whatever the case may be, Steep: Road to the Olympics really knows how to satisfy and yet leave an exhilarating and often heart-thumping experience.

But if anything, this game remains very lacking in terms of making a player very good at it. The steep entry level, somewhat dullness, and a bit of multiplayer issue may be some reasons players could be put off. Even the handful who like to play a game for its narrative alone may not find the storytelling part in the game appealing.

That notwithstanding, “Steep: Road to the Olympics” is definitely one game that would want to be added to the bookshelf by winter sport enthusiasts and fans of open-world games. It is, in fact, an experience unique to every gaming experience since it proves to be difficult yet easy to master and packed full enough to keep players busy playing for their lifetimes. The game offers something for everyone, whether you are well-grounded in the ways of the slopes or just beginning your journey into the streets or snow.

Last of all, this game is as good as any that capture the spirit of winterising “Steep: Road to the Olympics”. It provides players with the very opportunity of feeling thrill, hardship, and glory of competition in one of the most prestigious sporting events in the world. Its realism in gameplay and visual design and the modes found in it serve as an outstanding title in winter sports gaming.