Amped 3 Review

By Tom Bramwell Published 15 December, 2005

All hands to the PUMPED!

Version tested: Xbox 360

Ten-hundred hours. Having fallen 100 feet in a pink bunny suit, and ridden the back of a giant hot dog, I'm now collecting kitty heads.

Eleven fifty-seven. 200 people are stoked.

Fourteen twenty-three. A roasted pig's head on an extendable metal arm with a Brooklyn accent is telling me to go out and kill myself in order to publicise a brand of perfume. Apparently doing so will be "ill".

Fifteen hundred. I've been framed by Jdawg, but Wienerboy still believes in me.

Sixteen thirty-one. A comet is crashing toward the earth, but in bitingly satirical fashion we break off the story to see photographs of some celebrity woman falling off her snowboard.

Bit of a departure then.

Amped 3's presentation is basically a diabolical fusion of Music Television and hallucinogenic interpretations of surfer culture. Think of how Tony Hawk's Underground suddenly decided it wanted to be Jackass, and multiply that by stop-motion cut-scene skits with plastic toys, "Hotties of Amped 3" load-screen graphics, self-referential Strong Bad-inspired "cut-scenes are rubbish" interludes and six other mountains of superfluity, and then set it to a soundtrack of 300 mostly boring indie songs. It's as though the developers were working late one night, idly picking through mp3.com's indie channel during a fag break, when a lorry load of toxic waste smashed into the building, fusing them, the game and the website with a life-size cardboard cut-out of Johnny Knoxville.

It thinks it's all very funny, but it comes off more like the loud, wacky kid at school who's secretly crying inside. I laughed at one thing in the entire game - "Erreren O'crock!" - and that's only because subconsciously I'm a xenophobic cretin after being over-exposed to the French on Canvas Holidays.

'Amped 3' Screenshot customise

You can customise your character all you like. There's also a 'Bling' screen.

It's a sign that Amped 3 has shifted the series' approach somewhat, and as you can probably gather, I don't think it does the thing many favours.

Amped's traditionally been a challenging snowboarder, stubbornly refusing to make concessions to the approachability of its main rival, SSX. Until now anyway. In Amped 3, you can do all manner of complicated stuff as soon as you pick up the pad (at least once the game's walked you through it the first time); you can grind rails and other edges automatically and float unconvincingly between them without having to worry much about adjusting your trajectory or footing, while Tony Hawk-style manuals (known as "butters") and slalom-style "carving" allow you to link trick combos with ease. Whenever you land a trick, you also have a couple of seconds to link it to something else before the game banks the points.

Jump off a bank of snow or a ramp and tricks come naturally - the left analogue stick lets you flip, rotate or spin diagonally, and combinations of the face buttons perform grabs. By carefully holding the analogue stick only halfway you can perform "style" tricks which are shown off in slow-motion, although you'll have to budget enough landing space to accommodate your slower rotational speed. It's very easy to remain upright though, the game never seems to worry when you do the same things over and over, and handy multipliers mean that once you've found a decent collection of jump and rail-able objects in a row you're onto a six-figure winner.

The action is split between lots of small tasks spread over the various unlockable faces of each of the game's seven mountains. These are technically optional, but they generally form the core of the game as you use them to build up the "respect" points that fund access to story missions, which open up new areas.

Tasks usually involve navigating through hoops while performing tricks, matching another rider's points-total, doing big tricks at specific points, or briefly making use of a sled or other means of conveyance like a snowmobile or, in the case of the perfume marketing exercise, a hang glider.

You choose what you want to do on the main mountain screen, which offers an overview of each run that lets you zoom in and switch between individual tasks, and then select a "drop point" higher up the mountain and navigate to an objective marker from there to take part. Load times for this - and any resets - are negligible, and you can also roam around the mountain, which is divided into separate routes that just about thread together, randomly seeking out tasks for yourself if you prefer.

'Amped 3' Screenshot draw

The draw distance is certainly impressive, particularly on steeper slopes.

As well as building up respect this way and unlocking new areas of the mountain - and subsequently whole new mountains - you can also try and build up huge combos for fun, which helps fill up a meter at the top of the screen. Once it's full, you're given a limited amount of time to show off in front of all the boarders and spectators who sit, stand and slowly arc their way around the mountain until you've impressed a set number of them. The number of NPCs dotted around is quite impressive and gives the mountain a sense of life, and although the effect of actually clipping through them is a bit jarring it does at least mean they're less of a hazard than they might have been. Some of the positioning's a bit suspect though - I ran into one chap standing in the canopy of a snowy tree. He looked bored.

One of the game's best ideas is a new "Builder" mode, which allows you to modify the layout of your mountain by adding items to grind and jump from. You can do this very easily by selecting Builder from the pause menu - and you'll definitely be glad of it when you're faced with a tricky task or unable to keep a combo going between two separate routes that you've otherwise mastered.

I also appreciated the way that the character development was shielded from me, so I didn't have to worry about distributing experience points to certain attributes myself - my boarder simply got better the more he plied his trade on a range of tasks.

But while there's a lot that sounds good on paper, and an enormous amount of content to work through (some of it nicely engineered, too), there are also a great many problems, and the atrocious presentation is symbolic of them - the cut-scenes are actually so nonsensical at times that you lose track of the plot, and the game has to tell you in plain text once they're over what your objectives are. For all its approachability, the core snowboarding is much less enjoyable and multi-faceted than it is SSX, and much less rewarding than it was in Amped 1 and 2. You get the impression that the game doesn't really want you to face the right way half the time, with analogue steering that either doesn't turn far enough or oversteers, and a camera that likes looking at the ground when you land instead of giving you an idea where to misdirect yourself next. Even so, stringing huge combos together, particularly on the faster, more complex routes, is much too easy, and style tricks are far too rewarding given their ease of use. On one occasion, I was trying to navigate down to a task at the bottom of a rail and jump-packed slalom by cutting the corners, and such was the set-up I couldn't actually avoid banking an enormous score in doing so.

'Amped 3' Screenshot tree

One tree fits all.

The decision to rely largely upon small tasks doesn't help much. The mountain navigation screen is cluttered and unnecessary, and you're continually resetting to drop points to go off and find the next task rather than building up any momentum. Tasks themselves are often over very quickly, and the ones involving things other than boards are usually less than slick - at least on the early mountains, you can actually complete sledding missions by falling off and just directing your ragdoll tumble through the requisite hoops. You get the most enjoyment out of just boarding around trying to impress people, but this is infrequent next to all the mini-tasks, and the "get a high score" missions are relatively rare too.

The game also makes poor use of the 360's best features - its graphical capability and online elements. Technically the draw distance is impressive and the resolution on the character models - particularly in cut-scenes - equally so, but it all looks so bland. There's so little personality to the mountains, all of the characters are stereotypes, and the animation is often a bit glitchy and unnatural. Meanwhile the only online feature is the ability to upload scores for tasks, and since tasks are so throwaway and hard to definitively navigate back to on the complex map, I can't imagine myself going back to them regularly. Multiplayer is limited to offline co-op sledding.

Amped 3 certainly isn't awful, and will keep you entertained for a long time if you can get past the hideous presentation and get used to its stop-starty nature, but the most recent SSX was enormous too, and treated the sorts of tasks that Amped considers its core as a second string to its traditional racing and tricking. It felt more developed. While this turns out to be quite approachable after a slow start, it lacks the cohesion of EA's efforts - which feel like they're running out of ideas anyway - and the range and challenge of previous Amped games. And for all its girth, I felt stifled by the structure - at least when it wasn't burying me in an avalanche of forced cool. If Jackass was a religion, this could be its bible, but it's not, which makes it much harder to defend Amped 3's lack of focus and all the little contradictions.

6 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (63) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • krudster #1 6 years ago

    Don't know about everyone else, but I'm personally PSYCHED.

  • Furbs #2 6 years ago

    First person to say "oh another crap game on the 360" or words to that effect is sad. Starting now.

    Bah Bill, you were close! ;)
    Edited by 1 at 15/12/05 @ 15:05

  • Furbs #3 6 years ago

    FIFA is a game that starts off shit, but the more you play it the more you do start to warm to it. I could understand a 2. Certainly from 3-4 hours play I could anyway. But after you get to know its nuances it does get better. Maybe I got desensitised, I dunno.

    Tiger Woods on the other hand is shite.

  • brainbird #4 6 years ago

    "One tree fits all"

    Good one!

  • jmctavish #5 6 years ago

    News Flash: Xbox 360 in shit game shock.

  • tengu #6 6 years ago

    You got a winner Furbs ;)

  • Furbs #7 6 years ago

    \o/

    Although in this case the dividing line between Winner and Loser is quite close :p

  • Teeth #8 6 years ago

    The IGN trailer for this was an affront to all intelligent life.

  • megastar #9 6 years ago

    I'm not goin to go so low as to say sumthing like "all 360 games are shite", or "the 360 looks like a joke", or "i would rather dismember myself with a rusty spoon than to spend hard earned money on such shite", but i will say this.

    i am quite relieved i cancelled my pre order.

  • Tiiti #10 6 years ago

    megastar - your loss is someone elses gain :)

  • kangarootoo #11 6 years ago

    GUTTED!! I was really hoping Amped 3 was going to carry the "snowboarding sim" torch alongside SSX (which isn't my bag really, but horses for courses). Now its gone all RAD (real snowboarding sooooo isn't like that, it all just people like you and me with a plank of wood on their feet) at the cost of good honest playability I feel rather more hollow toward the XB360.

    Come on Transworld, the gate is open for you to reclaim your throne (for the record, I thought Transworld Snowboarding was better than Amped 1, but then Amped 2 was then the best thing in snowboarding IMO).

  • Mirkan #12 6 years ago

    I loved Amped 2 tons and got this about three days ago. I'd have to say that this is probably the first score for the 360 games that I agree with. (Almost agree on PGR3 too, but I think that's better than an 8)

    If you've played 2, you'll just feel like this is the dumbed down "don't do that, you'll hurt yourself!" version of that, The story in this game aswell as the presentation is utterly great if you share its sense of humour which I do (gotta love the manga cutscenes with the "YOU STOLE MY HAIR!" and the crazy japanese/english voice over) and the whole.. do a bunch of stuff on the mountain apart from snowboarding thing is actually pretty nice. It makes it feel sort of like Ski or Die reborn in a sense.

    Sadly, attention is drawn away from the main snowboarding, and even if you choose to concentrate on besting your scores and whatnot, it's a clunky restricted version of Amped 2. If you can pick this up cheapish/with vouchers or trading in games you should definitely do so if you sort of like the Amped series and want to keep following it. It's just not bad enough to completely pass on.

  • Shyvah #13 6 years ago

    I enjoyed this. More so than the reviewer appeared to.
    Edited by 1 at 15/12/05 @ 15:39

  • kangarootoo #14 6 years ago

    "It's just not bad enough to completely pass on."

    OK then, all I need now is a 360 :)

  • Eldritch #15 6 years ago

    How about a topic article on launch titles in general? Seems like an interesting topic to me. Comparisons can be quite enlightening (and entertaining). (C:

    Example:

    Microsoft sells 62,135 Xbox 360 in two days in Japan.

    Let's have a look at other consoles' performance in Japan in their first one to three days:

    Dreamcast: 101,490
    WonderSwan: 102,655
    PlayStation2: 630,552
    Game Boy Advance: 611,504
    Gamecube: 133,719
    Xbox: 123,929.
    Nintendo DS: 441,485
    PSP: 166,074
    Game Boy Micro: 148,117

    Less than the Wonderswan in its time then.


  • megastar #16 6 years ago

    tiiti: I suppose your right mate, im sure theres somebody out there whos far more easily pleased and gullible than i am - whos thoroughly enjoying the system that was originally destined for myself. Not dissimilar to a dog being entertained by its own arse really. he he im just kidding - im sure its a fantastic piece of hardware - just a shame about the games.

  • Eighthours #17 6 years ago

    People seem to either love or hate the presentation. Several reviews I've seen praised it and slated the actual game. This reviewer seems to hate both. Very subjective, this whole cutscene lark.

  • darkmistx #18 6 years ago

    oh another crap game on the 360

  • fkh #19 6 years ago

    So, just to clarify:

    6/10 for adults, 3/5 for kids, 4.5/ 7.5 for teenagers?

  • tannerd #20 6 years ago

    6/10 isn't a bad score. Not a very good one, but.... I rented this, and it was alright. Never got on with any of the snowboarding games before, although I do like TH. Thought the cutscenes were original, although not actually that useful - I had no idea what they were talking about, but they were entertaining enough. Style over content maybe. It did seem a bit easy though.

    FIFA on the other hand - it seems to have developed into a midfield slog, and there seems to be very little grace left in it. To be honest I'd prefer FIFA to go back to being a bit more of an arcadey feel. At least that was fun.

  • lordofdeadside #21 6 years ago

    great game! 9/10

  • Groovicron #22 6 years ago

    Some screenshots of the cutscenes might be nice for the people who haven't actually played the game as they seem fairly relevent to the review.

  • Furbs #23 6 years ago

    You're right tannerd, I think thats why FIFA seems really bad at first. You really need to use the first touch stick and the "send player on run" button (LT) and obviously tweak the tactics. Although here sadly it is a bit lacking.

    The main thing I like about FIFA is the controls are so straight forward. Dont get me wrong, I love PES, but there are so many moves you can do, I like how FIFA simplifies it so you feel you are really get the most out of the game.

  • Eighthours #24 6 years ago

    Eurogamer comments thread in tards invasion shock.

  • lennon #25 6 years ago

    :)

  • gaijin #26 6 years ago

    "real snowboarding sooooo isn't like that, it all just people like you and me with a plank of wood on their feet"

    now for some reason I always imagined kangaroos would tend towards skiing. Probably because they could just wax the bottom of their feet, whereas strapped to a board they'd have a real problem with a toe-side carve. Just goes to show that Nature doesn't have all the answers.... um... dood.

    /tugs at jeans in vain attempt to lower waistband for extra steez

  • gaijin #27 6 years ago

    ps: had high hopes of this. My last brush with boarding games was the so-so SSX tricky, which was satisfying enough and I hoped a less sim lke Amped might fit the bill...
    Mind you, the SSX experience was marred by my dad standing behind me muttering things like "oof, you'd have broken your back doing that you know" until I finally snapped and pointed out that as far as verisimilitude went, there was one of us in the room who actually snowboarded and might have an idea what was possible in reality, and it WASNT HIM.

  • Hicksy #28 6 years ago

    One to get when it's £20 in 6 months time then? :)

  • kangarootoo #29 6 years ago

    "now for some reason I always imagined kangaroos would tend towards skiing"

    I general I think they do, for the reasons you stated. But I am always worried that I will end up being the person on comedy postcards whose skis have gone either side of a tree. On a snowboard, at least the only major risk to my nuts is that they get eaten by a bear after a particularly coma inducing off piste tumble.

  • megastar #30 6 years ago

    this is random and has nowt to do with any of this, but why hasnt anybody ever done a quantum leap video game? the possibilites of a multi genre game are endless. you wouldnt need a tutorial or anything coz al and ziggy would tell you what to do every time you leap into sum1 else.

    sorry

  • LOLLERS #31 6 years ago

    I came up with an idea for a Lost/Quantum Leap crossover game the other day, it would have been brilliant. The idea was that they open the hatch and it leads to a different TV programme, like the A-team where Locke would have to cure Mr T of his fear of flying. It would have BLOWN YOUR MIND.

  • kangarootoo #32 6 years ago

    Good point, it would seem like a good franchise to pick up for a game.

    Anyway, people might get grumpy if you hijack this thread, but you move it onto the forum pages (link on the left, bottom of the list) you will probably get a good discussion going on the subject.

  • onyxbox #33 6 years ago

    your loss is someone elses gain :)

    hmm... sorry I don't see that. there's nothing to gain right now, or have I missed something since the 360's launch (non-)event.

    it just makes me smile when anyone tries to justify the 360 - it's a real disater of a launch. Stop anyone in GAME next to a demo pod and ask them what they think and it won't that enthusiastic ("the graphics are nicer, but not that much nicer than the XBox" etc.). They really need to get something out of the door that really shows what the hardware can do, something so good it changes public perception and they suddenly want one.

    From what I can see, there are a load of people who have bought it because they just want the next thing, there's the parents that just want to get one for their teenage kids ('that'll do' type of thing) and the rest are selling 'em on eBay! :-D

    I was an early XBox, PS2, PSP, DS and GCN adopter, I've had a good blast over the years on all the systems but 360 leaves me cold at the moment.

    Anyway... got to go home now /rant over :-D



  • urban #34 6 years ago

    .....it looks terrible?

  • Carrybagma #35 6 years ago

    Here's an interesting comparison.
    I found out some stats from a nearby farmer's market the other day, which revealed the following enlightening sales info:

    360: 0
    XBOX: 0
    Rev: 0
    PS3: 0
    Amiga: 0
    Organic carrots (bunches): 53
    Udder grease: 9
    etc etc.

    A clear indication that all consoles are rubbish, and Micro$oft ar teh shtz. !:o)

  • beep #36 6 years ago

    With the way Eurogamer has been scoring 360 games, it would be more of a shock to see a game get a high score.

  • ImGameCube #37 6 years ago

    I've now played COD2, King Kong, PD0 and Need for Speed on the 360, and I have seen absolutely nothing that I would consider to be next generation.

  • morriss #38 6 years ago

    meh

    Eurogmaer's 6 is everyone's 8.

    Their 8 is your 9.

    -...and their 9 is my 10.

  • jmctavish #39 6 years ago

    Looks like it's DOWNHILL all the way for the 360, or maybe it's going to be an UPHILL struggle!

  • velocity_girl #40 6 years ago

    i dunno - what exactly were people expecting this game to be like??

    I loved the amped series.. and other than the slightly too forgiving gameplay (esp landings and buttering), occasional stuttering framerate. this game is great! yeh yeh the graphics could be better..whatever.. gameplay is right up there...

    if ya like snowboarding you will love this game - simple..

  • Talha #41 6 years ago

    This goes out to the whiners here: If you see the reviews of this game on other - particularly American - sites, you will find them very subdued and ho-hum, regardless of the presentation. 360 game or not, A SIX FROM EG IS HIGHER THAN YOU EXPECT when it is mostly getting 7-8 from other sites. And oh, I played it too and I for one think 6 is generous.

    For once, can we just consider a game as a game without the next gen chip on its shoulder? Go get SSX On Tour if you are dying for a snowboarder - otherwise stick to Amped 2 or SSX3.

  • Dizzy #42 6 years ago

    Comparing this to SSX? That's not even a snowboard game....

    >if ya like snowboarding you will love this game - simple..

    Exactly!!!

    And if you are a couch potato, buy SSX. Nuff said.
    Edited by 1 at 16/12/05 @ 06:56

  • Talha #43 6 years ago

    @Dizzy: OK, if SSX is not a snowboard game, what is it exactly? And, from your comment I reckon that there are other ways to play Amped3 than your console and your joypad - I'd like to know them.

    And anyways, me, reviewers the world over, and EG do not agree with you. :)

  • Dizzy #44 6 years ago

    >if SSX is not a snowboard game, what is it exactly?

    It is a racing game.

  • jlaakso #45 6 years ago

    Well, crap. This is the one game I was really looking forward to, loving Amped 2 to this day.

  • kangarootoo #46 6 years ago

    I'm inclined to retract my original "GUTTED!" statement and give this one a try for myself. If I turn off some of the RAD audio (assuming you can, the commentator in Amped 2 lasted about as long as it took me to find the right option menu page) I might well have fun with it (once I egt round to buying a 360, in about 3 months or something).

  • mustardkid #47 6 years ago

    >if SSX is not a snowboard game, what is it exactly?

    It is a racing game.

    i can't work out if this is disingenuous or ingenious it's certainly one of them though
    Edited by 1 at 16/12/05 @ 12:08

  • Talha #48 6 years ago

    OK Dizzy, whatever you say man. That however does not in any way change the fact that SSX On Tour is better OVERALL.

  • Dizzy #49 6 years ago

    Well since "disingenious" is not a word it must be the other.

    >That however does not in any way change the fact that SSX On Tour is better OVERALL.

    As a game yes... but it has nothing to do with boarding. I can understand boarders liking Amped.. it feels like boarding (except for the US of A attitude). So I guess it depends what the target audience is. Boarder-gamers, get Amped. Non-boarding-gamers get SSX
    Edited by 4 at 16/12/05 @ 10:19

  • Talha #50 6 years ago

    You mean SSX is Burnout for boarders, while Amped is something like Forza? ;-)

  • Dizzy #51 6 years ago

    "You mean SSX is Burnout for boarders, while Amped is something like Forza? ;-)"

    Hmmm.. yeah that comparison might work.

  • Talha #52 6 years ago

    As it is, both games (On Tour and this) come accross to me like something of a botched opportunity by their respective publishers. SSX might be better, but it just does not have the excitement of the previous ones.

  • Eighthours #53 6 years ago

    I've now played COD2, King Kong, PD0 and Need for Speed on the 360, and I have seen absolutely nothing that I would consider to be next generation.

    Well you must be right, Mr ImGameCube. One of those unbiased usernames, almost certainly. ;)

  • Darren #54 6 years ago

    I've got Amped 3 and I love it's whacky presentation and style as it makes it different from most other games. Also the fact that the game itself is far more accessible than the previous two instalments on the Xbox, being far less frustrating and much more enjoyable. It doesn't look like a next-gen game (although the clothing textures are exquisite close up), mainly due it's cartoony visuals but it's damn good fun to play and there's loads to do.

    I'd give it 7/10 personally.

  • captbirdseye #55 6 years ago

    hmmm little confused by what people mean by they need a next gen game. everything that ive seen so far for both ps3 and 360 have both been games that are not even close to being next gen mgs4 and warhawk look no better than most pc games at the mo. next gen doesnt necessarily mean better graphics the term next gen to me would be something like stalker a game that pushes everything and not just its presentation

  • jlaakso #56 6 years ago

    I'd expect next gen to at least mean graphics that blow me away. Nothing I've seen on the 360 has done that (haven't played PGR3, though).

    I recall Microsoft saying at some point that they'd require at least 1x anti-aliasing from all titles. That would be a good start.

  • illuminated_523 #57 6 years ago


    >Organic carrots (bunches): 53
    >Udder grease: 9

    That ios a lie an u gno i carrybagma.

    carROTS r 100% ov suck an teh uddar greaz ROCKS.

    an u knos it.

  • ImGameCube #58 6 years ago

    For me, being next gen means a step above what has previously been available in the shops.

    All I'm saying is *so far* I haven't played anything to make me go WOW! Or anything that has made me jealous that I can't afford a 360.

    And 8hrs, what makes you think I'm a Mr, sweetie?

    A x.

  • Mold #59 6 years ago

    Who cares?

    Don't bloody get one then.

    Ffs it's quite simple.

  • miiiguel #60 6 years ago

    I usually respect Eurogamer reviews, you know, kinda of a "pro-Europe enthusiast", but, this one was really sad to read. You know, for instance the soundtrack is a monument to the snow-borders, one can tell that was put really some care in the song choice, and this dude says so many non-clever setences about the music - shame... .
    I admit this is not a brilliant game, it's slight above average, I may say, but aesthetically is flawless.
    The intro - brilliant! - but not for old-timers, or un-cool dudes.
    Anyway, I may go back to GameSpot.com

  • jlaakso #61 6 years ago

    So I finally checked out the demo.
    What have they done to my Amped.

    /tries very hard to forget ever loading it up

  • RedSparrows #62 4 years ago

    Giant pop. Sorta.

    I never played Amped 1/2.

    I like serious games and 'fun' games. Amped 3 is so idiosyncratic in its style I couldn't help but enjoy it. It's certainly no more LOL DOWN WITH THE KIDS AMIRITE? than any other game, and compared to the unbelievably cynical aims of games like Army of Two, the utterly irreverant and stupid cut-scenes/style make it, well, alive and fun. Snowboarding wise it's also fun, if not perfect. But I like fun, and to be honest being able to literally fly off a cliff and perform the most obscene and absurd move in sporting history is actually, something I quite like doing.

    Meh, worth a £5 buy if you see it I reckon. Unless you hate arcadey games. er.

  • sirtacos #63 3 years ago

    I'm not sure if this is actually a good game, but I'm having a blast playing it, watching it and hearing it. Vastly underrated by the critics IMO.