Steep Road to the Olympics

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Introduction

In the ever-evolving world of extreme sports games, few titles manage to capture the essence of thrill, freedom, and danger as effectively as Ubisoft’s “Steep.” Launched in 2016, “Steep” brought players into the heart of the Alps and Alaska, allowing them to ski, snowboard, paraglide, and wingsuit through sprawling open-world environments. Building on this foundation, Ubisoft released “Steep: Road to the Olympics” in December 2017, an expansion that ties the game into the grandeur and global spectacle of the Winter Olympics.

“Steep: Road to the Olympics” is more than just an expansion; it’s a celebration of winter sports and the athletes who dedicate their lives to these high-stakes competitions. With new events, enhanced gameplay mechanics, and a narrative-driven career mode, the game aims to provide both casual players and sports enthusiasts with a taste of what it feels like to train for and compete in the Winter Olympic Games. This review will explore the various aspects of “Steep: Road to the Olympics,” including its gameplay, graphics, sound design, and overall impact on the sports genre.

Gameplay Mechanics

One of the standout features of “Steep: Road to the Olympics” is its focus on diverse gameplay mechanics, catering to a wide range of winter sports disciplines. The game builds upon the core mechanics introduced in “Steep,” while introducing new Olympic events that bring a fresh and competitive edge to the experience.

1. Winter Sports Disciplines: The expansion introduces a variety of Olympic events, including downhill skiing, slopestyle snowboarding, halfpipe, giant slalom, big air, and more. Each event is meticulously designed to reflect the real-world challenges and techniques required by these sports. The controls are intuitive yet challenging, allowing players to perform intricate tricks and maneuvers with practice. Whether you’re carving down a steep mountain slope or catching massive air off a halfpipe, the game delivers a satisfying balance between realism and accessibility.
2. Open-World Exploration: Like the base game, “Steep: Road to the Olympics” retains the open-world exploration aspect, allowing players to roam freely across expansive, beautifully rendered environments. The addition of new locations, including South Korea and Japan, provides fresh terrain to explore. These regions offer a mix of wide-open powder fields, dense forests, and treacherous cliff sides, each presenting its own set of challenges. The freedom to switch between sports on the fly and discover hidden routes or perfect lines adds depth to the exploration experience.
3. Olympic Games Career Mode: One of the most significant additions in “Steep: Road to the Olympics” is the Olympic Games Career mode. This narrative-driven mode takes players through the journey of an aspiring athlete training for and competing in the Winter Olympics. The career mode is structured to provide a sense of progression, with players starting in smaller, less challenging events and gradually working their way up to the pinnacle of winter sports – the Olympic Games. The mode is interspersed with documentary-style interviews with real Olympic athletes, adding authenticity and providing insight into the dedication required to compete at such a high level.
4. Challenge and Mastery: The game offers a robust challenge and mastery system that encourages players to perfect their skills in each discipline. Each event and course has a set of objectives and medals to earn, motivating players to refine their techniques and improve their scores. The difficulty curve is well-balanced, with initial events serving as an introduction to the mechanics, while later challenges require precise control and timing. The inclusion of leaderboards and online competitions adds a competitive element, allowing players to compare their performances with others worldwide.
5. Multiplayer and Community Integration: “Steep: Road to the Olympics” continues the base game’s focus on community-driven content. Players can compete in online tournaments, participate in challenges created by other players, and even create their own courses. The multiplayer aspect is seamlessly integrated, with other players’ ghosts appearing in the world, allowing for a sense of shared experience without the need for direct interaction. The game’s social features, such as sharing replays and competing for leaderboard positions, foster a sense of community among players.

Graphics and Visuals

Visually, “Steep: Road to the Olympics” is nothing short of stunning. Ubisoft’s proprietary Anvil engine shines in rendering the game’s vast, snowy landscapes with breathtaking realism. The attention to detail in the environments is impressive, from the powdery snow that deforms under the player’s weight to the way light reflects off the ice. The game’s weather and time-of-day systems add another layer of immersion, with dynamic changes that can dramatically alter the mood and challenge of a run.

1. Environmental Design: The new locations introduced in the expansion, such as the mountains of South Korea and Japan, are beautifully crafted to capture the essence of their real-world counterparts. The terrain is varied, offering a mix of wide slopes, dense tree runs, and perilous drops. The South Korean mountains, with their steep, challenging courses, provide a contrast to the more tranquil, scenic landscapes of Japan. Each region feels distinct, and the level of detail in the environmental design enhances the feeling of immersion as players carve through the snow.
2. Character Models and Animations: The character models in “Steep: Road to the Olympics” are well-designed, with realistic animations that capture the fluidity and precision of winter sports. The movements of skiers and snowboarders are particularly well-rendered, with smooth transitions between different tricks and maneuvers. The game also includes a variety of customization options, allowing players to personalize their athletes with different outfits and gear. While the customization isn’t as deep as in some other sports games, it provides enough variety to make each player’s experience feel unique.
3. Cinematic Presentation: The game’s presentation is polished, with cinematic camera angles that enhance the sense of speed and danger. Whether you’re zooming down a slope in first-person view or watching a replay of your run from multiple angles, the game excels in delivering a visually engaging experience. The Olympic events, in particular, are presented with the grandeur and pageantry one would expect from the real-life games, complete with opening ceremonies, commentator voices, and crowd reactions.

Sound Design and Music

Sound design plays a crucial role in any sports game, and “Steep: Road to the Olympics” is no exception. The game’s audio elements are carefully crafted to immerse players in the experience, from the crunch of snow underfoot to the rush of wind as you speed down a slope. The sound effects are realistic and contribute to the overall sense of presence, making each run feel exhilarating.

1. Environmental Sounds: The ambient sounds in “Steep: Road to the Olympics” are subtle yet effective. The distant roar of an avalanche, the call of a bird in the mountains, or the muffled sound of your character’s breathing at high altitude all contribute to the game’s immersive quality. The sound of skis cutting through the snow or the click of a snowboard binding adds authenticity to the experience, making you feel truly connected to the environment.
2. Commentary and Voiceovers: The game features commentary during Olympic events, which helps to build excitement and adds a layer of realism. The commentators provide insights into the sport, offer tips, and react to your performance, making the experience feel more like a broadcasted Olympic event. Additionally, the career mode includes voiceovers from real Olympic athletes who share their experiences and motivations, lending the mode an authentic and inspirational tone.
3. Music: The game’s soundtrack is a mix of high-energy tracks and more atmospheric tunes that complement the on-screen action. The music selection is diverse, with tracks that range from indie rock to electronic beats, each chosen to match the mood of the gameplay. The music dynamically shifts depending on the situation, becoming more intense during high-speed runs or calming during quieter moments of exploration. While the soundtrack may not be as memorable as some other sports games, it serves its purpose in enhancing the overall atmosphere.

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 Verdict

“Steep: Road to the Olympics” is a comprehensive and exhilarating expansion that builds on the solid foundation of the original “Steep” game. With its stunning visuals, realistic physics, and wide variety of events, it offers an authentic and thrilling experience that captures the excitement and challenge of winter sports. The addition of the Olympic content provides a focused and goal-oriented experience that complements the open-world freedom of the base game.

The game’s strengths lie in its immersive environments, responsive controls, and the sheer joy of exploring and conquering some of the world’s most iconic mountains. Whether you’re carving down a steep slope, soaring through the air in a wingsuit, or competing for gold in the Olympic events, “Steep: Road to the Olympics” delivers a satisfying and often breathtaking experience.

However, the game is not without its challenges. The steep learning curve, occasional repetitiveness, and minor multiplayer issues may be drawbacks for some players. Additionally, those looking for a more narrative-driven experience might find the game’s storytelling elements a bit underwhelming.

Despite these minor flaws, “Steep: Road to the Olympics” remains a must-play for fans of winter sports and open-world games. It offers a unique and rewarding experience that is both challenging and accessible, with plenty of content to keep players engaged for the long term. Whether you’re a seasoned veteran of the slopes or a newcomer to the world of winter sports, this game has something to offer, making it a worthy addition to any gaming library.

In conclusion, “Steep: Road to the Olympics” successfully captures the spirit of the Winter Olympics, providing players with a platform to experience the thrill, challenges, and triumphs of competing in one of the world’s most prestigious sporting events. Its combination of realistic gameplay, stunning visuals, and a variety of modes ensures that it stands out as a premier winter sports title in the gaming world.