You can't help but feel a little overwhelmed at first. Even though there is only one mountain in the entire game, it's absolutely huge, consisting of three peaks each with multiple routes. You see yourself transported to the different points on the mountain by means of carriages, air-planes, or choppers. The sense of scope is truly amazing, not only in terms of the graphical presentation of the mountain but also in terms of the sheer amount of stuff to partake in. Upon selecting the main mode, Conquer the Mountain, you're confronted with a ridiculous number of play modes. Apart from championship races where you compete against five other boarders, there are head-to-head matches, time trials, and trick attack modes as well as dozens of small quick-challenges, which include jumping through rings, racing into moving targets, or collecting hidden money bundles that are scattered around. Whenever you complete a task, you're awarded with money which can be spent on new outfits and equipment or on improving your character's abilities. It's a system similar to the one found in another EA game, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003, and it works great, providing tons of replay value.

What also feel overwhelming in the beginning are the controls - or rather the challenge of mastering them. They're complex because

all control sticks and buttons are used, many of which must be activated simultaneously and even have multiple functions depending on the situation. Thus, whilst on the ground L and R act as punch buttons, allowing you to swiftly knock over an opponent, but in the air they let you do a grab. The trick system is made even more complicated by applying spin moves to these grabs, which is done

with the control pad, and by tweaking your board, which is done by pressing B. The number of trick combinations is almost endless.

What's more, you can take advantage of nearly every object in the levels. You can use fallen trees and benches to grind on or perform a handplant on the top of a billboard. Successfully completing tricks fills up your adrenaline meter, so you can gain speed-boosts or try out some amazing Über-Tricks. Requiring a lot of air time to pull off, these look truly extraordinary and increase your score immensely. There are even Super-Über-Tricks, which, unbelievably, look even more insane.

Visually, SSX 3 is more than respectable. The snow effects look very convincing and the draw distance is impressive - as is the attention to detail. Trees sway in the wind, airplanes fly over your head, and trains zoom by near the foot of the mountain. Special effects don't look completely believable. When rock boulders crash

down in front of you, they appear more like Lego bricks being dropped. Likewise, when huge trees fall victim to an avalanche, they tip over rather unrealistically, because they lack any real sense of weight. The corresponding sound effects in these situations do little to accentuate the sense of energy and power that would underlie such events in real life.

Most of the time, the sound effects - supported by both Dolby Pro Logic 2 and THX - are very appropriate. A radio station, hilariously called EA Radio Big, is heard in the background, playing a large variety of tracks from famous bands such as Finger Eleven, Fatboy Slim, Black Eyed Peas, and Red Hot Chilli Peppers. The music fits the action very well. Enter a gloomy cave and it will become muted to reflect the eerie mood. Pull off a spectacular jump, and the music volume increases for a few seconds as your points rack up.

Freedom has obviously been a key word for EA when developing SSX 3. The open courses with multiple routes as well as the sophisticated trick system reflect this philosophy. At times, though, you do feel restricted. It's not uncommon to locate what looks like a hidden route and then take it, happily believing that you've discovered some sort of shortcut, only to get the message "Off Limits" and then automatically be placed on the "correct" path again. In particular, this happens a lot when searching for hidden items, where exploring every nook and cranny is necessary. It's an irritating little flaw that limits the otherwise free-roaming nature of the game.

Still, SSX 3 is a fantastic game that improves on its predecessor in every way. Therefore, instead of comparing it to SSX Tricky, it's more relevant to see how it stacks up against its currently biggest rival: 1080 Avalanche. First of all, they are two quite different games, so deciding which one to buy largely boils down to

personal taste. 1080 focuses more on pure racing, and, consequently, it's faster and more immediately thrilling, especially for people craving a quick adrenaline boost. SSX 3, on the other hand, has more challenging controls, which make the whole trick system far superior. The levels are also designed with this aspect in mind. There are more ramps and rails in SSX 3. You get the impression that you're participating in a real, arranged competition with all the accompanying billboards, signposts, cheering crowds, and fireworks. This is opposed to 1080 where the environments feel more naturalistic, and there's a greater emphasis on just surviving the forces of nature that present themselves on a mountain. From a pure technical standpoint, they match each other well. Both are based on solid graphics engines and include outstanding soundtracks. Where EA's effort clearly excels, though, is in the lastability category. Even though the game only supports two-player simultaneous gameplay, there are so many modes and so much to do and see that it feels much bigger in scope. It's going to take months to unlock everything - something 1080 can't brag about. And mainly for this reason I think SSX 3 comes out on top. It's a very close race, though.

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