Winter Sports 2012: Feel the Spirit (From Daily Echo)

Winter Sports 2012: Feel the Spirit

in Game Reviews By Ian Crump

Here in Hampshire we don't have the best weather in the world, but in terms of snowfall – it's extremely rare. We don't get the option to dig out the skis, dust off the ice skates, or fetch out the curling disc thingies very often. It's a good thing that the snow laden Winter Sports 2012: Feel the Spirit is here to help us out with that.

First things first – you're going to want to customise your character. Although nationality, hair and skin colour, and outfits can be changed, the options are limited. There are however extra customisation features which can be unlocked by playing through the game.

With four ski activities on the agenda, there's one that stands out above the rest – Ski Cross. Racing towards the finish line whilst gaining speed and hitting jumps is great fun, it almost feels like an old-school Coolboarders but without the tricks. Downhill is also gripping because of the speeds, although once you've played it for a minute or so, you've already seen all it has to offer. The other two are a little more disappointing, with the Slalom being too difficult and the Ski Jump being too simple.

Ice Speedway bamboozles me. Why do people actually do this? To me, it sounds like something from Richard Bachman's Running Man. It's enjoyable because of the use of slipstream, and the adrenaline it provides makes it perfectly playable.

Similar to the Ice Speedway, the Short Track Ice Skating makes good use of slipstream, whilst Curling is as intriguing as it is to watch on TV, and actually quite tactical too.

I have a great tolerance for the 3D used on the 3DS – it hasn't given me a headache yet. That said, Winter Sports 2012 did make me go gross eyed, and because I couldn't find a sweet spot using the slider, I found it easier just to switch the 3D off altogether, Multiplayer is laughable – there's no local or internet based play using Wi-Fi, instead players can take turns on the same machine to try and better each others scores. It's a little prehistoric in terms of its execution.

All-in-all, the features in Winter Sports 2012 are just like the snow we have here in Hampshire – sparse. In terms of options, we'd rather be up to our necks, but Winter Sports 2012 doesn't deliver on that front. What it does do however is provide a very thin layer of entertainment that's gloopy and melting in parts.

SCORE: 4 / 10