Video Gamer is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Prices subject to change. Learn more
On your first run down the crisp morning piste of Feel Ski’s sun-drenched mountainsides, it’s easy to feel light-hearted optimism about the game. PlayStation Network, it seems, lets studios develop pure nuggets of gaming, without an obligation to garnish them with elaborate and unnecessary extras.
Typically, a skiing game, which dubiously falls into the ‘extreme-sports’ genre, would be filled with additional content. There’d be in-game sponsors, gnarly attitude and collectable extras, to the tune of two-dozen identikit corporate punk rock bands providing the soundtrack. Instead, Feel Ski is about nothing more than the core gameplay. Excluding the menus, you never touch a button, instead using Sixaxis control for your steering, pushing, jumping and tricks.
A couple of runs in, you start to grasp a feel of something that could be great, and your hopes begin to rise. You might even start to wonder if this tiny release from Smackdown developer Yuke’s could be the next essential multiplayer PSN hit. And then it hits you. When you realise the experience Feel Ski is trying to recreate, your perspective quickly begins to shift.
Suddenly everything feels familiar; the emphasis on staying level with the ground, the generous supply of boosts, and the look of the track that twists and turns before you. The influence of Excite Truck on Feel Ski is clear to anyone who has spent some time with Nintendo’s mesmerising off-road racer, and in comparison, this pocket money purchase pales whiter than pure snow.
While an incredibly well balanced gameplay model, and nuances of control still unrivalled on the Wii defined the sequel to Excitebike, Feel Ski makes a mockery of Sixaxis control. Even after hours of play, when you have tuned your slalom technique right down to perfect sweeping arcs that toss powder in the air behind you, it is still far too easy to jump, push and attempt tricks accidentally. In the air, the system to flip and twist feels almost random, taking any pleasure of skill from the game.
There are also only two courses in the entire download, and though there are occasional forks in the path and short cuts, the notion that each mountain counts as anything more than one track is ridiculous. Visually the courses are rather unimpressive and technically underwhelming considering their simplicity. In comparison to the near non-existent audio presence though, the graphical detail actually seems passable.
Of course the emphasis is on the online game, but with such a small amount of raceways in a release that belittles skill as rudely as Feel Ski, the multiplayer elements are largely a waste of time. Other than being a tool for convincing any game-hating friends you have that they are right, this dull, empty, insignificant download is about as potent as a lone snowflake on a hot summer’s day.
