I associate skiing with Hot Tub Time Machine, where John Cusack and company are transported back in time to the 1980s at a ski resort. There's the bright neon ski clothes, the big block cell phones, jerry curls, and a ton of communist-hating, preppy white kids.
After reading what Alexander Bergendahl, CEO and Dame Director of Poppermost Productions, wrote on PlayStation Blog, I am fairly certain SNOW is nothing like what I described. SNOW, which released in 2013 on PC, will be released as a console exclusive on the PlayStation 4.
The goal with SNOW is to build a free-to-play, open-world, winter sports experience that doesn't restrict the play, but lets them play however they want. So, players can choose to relax and roam around the mountain freely if they want. Want to compete in events? You can choose to do that, too. Show off your winter sports skills, challenge friends through online matchmaking, and check out the global leaderboards.
Sialia, the first open-world mountain, is 8-square kilometers and has over 20 unique areas that's been handcrafted for gameplay. There's cliffs, forests, villages, a quarry and a hydroelectric dam. And no matter what you're doing in-game, you're always rewarded with XP to progress through the ranks, unlock more content and keep gameplay fresh.
Player's can customize their character from head to toe, choose from hundreds of real-world items to outfit him/her — gloves, helmets, skis, boots, goggles — and the game has authentic equipment and brands.
Also, the game is fully physicalized. In other words, everything is as dynamic as possible. Alexander wrote, "While exploring, players can mold their world by adding jumps, rails and other features, completely changing the feel of the mountain to reflect their unique style."
Right now, they are just showing off skiing, but there will be other winter sports as well, including snowboarding.
SNOW will be coming soon to the PlayStation 4.
You can follow Features Editor Lance Liebl on Twitter @Lance_GZ. Or you can email him at LLiebl@GameZone.com.
