Vancouver 2010

January 29, 2010 - There’s a reason why Vancouver 2010 isn’t really that good. In fact there are several, but one main point really irks me.

Any game that takes the Olympics, either summer or winter, and turns them into a videogame should really stick to one simple premise.

This premise, that all of these games are basically Track and Field, but brought up to date. What this means and the reason that Vancouver 2010 fails to really hook gamers in, is that there’s no tapping of buttons followed by an action.

For example, the long jump would be; tappy-tap, tappy-tap-tap, tappy-tap and then hold another button for the angle to jump. This is a simple game mechanic and one that the world over, knows.

In fact even Mums, Dads and Grandparents usually know how to play Track and Field. Vancouver 2010 doesn’t exploit this worldy known fact and instead opts for awkward and complex controls throughout the games and changes them frequently from event to event.

Skiing and snowboarding seem to be the easiest to learn, much like a racing game, the right trigger adds speed and the left cuts into the snow, allowing you to brake.

However then we come to the Bobsleigh, which asks you to lean with the thumbsticks after lots of tappy-tapping to get you off of the starting line, switch over to the Luge event, however, and find that the leaning is done with the triggers instead. I’m sure this system could have been made easier, simpler for more casual gamers to pick up.

And if the controls don’t put off your friends and family then the AI will. The game doesn’t even have difficulty options, meaning that if you score a respectable score of, say, 101 points on the ski jump, then this will place you in forth position and the leader will flourish with around 160 points.

It’s not because you’re not very good, it’s because they’re miles better, making it inaccessible for more casual gamers to have fun. Even on the racing events, you will find the AI mindlessly bumping into you causing you to fall, which puts you straight in last place with no hope of winning.

And if that doesn’t put you off, then the choice of events may well achieve that. We of course have Skiing, Snowboarding, Bobsliegh, Luge, and Skeleton but where is figure skating? Where is curling? These are very popular events in the winter Olympics and their absence is a little disheartening. You can however enjoy the challenge mode if you feel that the main games are lacking.

The challenge mode is a simple affair, taking each sport and setting a fun challenge for you to strive for, it may be get up to 70KPH in a Bobsleigh, or avoid the snowmen on the course in Super-G Skiing.

These are genuinely fun as it mixes up the games and takes away the awful AI that plagues some of the events. In fact it’s bizarre that for a game based on real life competition, that the least competitive aspect is the most enjoyable.

So much could have been done to ensure that this would be an enjoyable, all round product and it’s a shame that Vancouver 2010 falls so short of the mark.

I can’t even mention the online as the servers were empty at the time I wanted to play and perhaps this speaks volume enough.

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