Salt Lake 2002
Score: 72% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Eidos Interactive Developer: ATD Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 - 4 (Multitap) Genre: Sports
Graphics & Sound: Now that the Winter Olympics are over and done with, we now have to fill the void left from the games in Utah with the next best thing: video games. However, I'm not quite sure if Salt Lake 2002 is capable of feeding your Olympic cravings. Graphically, things weren't too bad, but they weren't outstanding. Player models looked pretty realistic because the animations flowed well throughout each event. I wasn't fond of the facial graphics, as they looked widely stretched and out-of-place with the eyes and nose. Yet, since you're constantly looking at the back of the athletes, the facial graphics aren't that big of a deal. The other important visual component of SL2K2 is the background itself. The scenarios all kept the same basic theme of a snowy mountaintop, with pine trees down the hills. There really wasn't much to say about the crowd, since I barely saw them interact with the games. Salt Lake 2002 did have a pretty kick ass soundtrack, although there weren't as many songs as I was hoping for. I think I heard the same one like three times in the first four plays of the game, so the selection is minimal. The same goes for the commentators, who lacked the inspirational spirit of NBC's coverage. They were very short spoken, didn't get you totally pumped about the event, and were above all, uninteresting. Also, as opposed to before, you could definitely hear the crowd cheering you on. The biggest complaint I have about this category is that if you're going to be the official video game of the Olympics, wouldn't you think to have the "Olympic Theme" or something? This same crap happened for Sydney 2000, where it lacked the actual theme. If you're trying to mimic the real thing, GO ALL OUT!!!
Gameplay: I hate to start this section with a question, but don't you think when creating an Olympic video game, it would be a good thing to include as many events as possible? Apparently that wasn't the concern over at Eidos, because only six events made the final cut: Men's Snowboard Parallel Giant Slalom, Ladies' Alpine Skiing Slalom, Women's Freestyle Skiing Aerials, Men's Ski Jumping K120 Individual, Men's Two-Men Bobsleigh, and Men's Alpine Skiing Downhill. That's right, no Speed Skating, no Curling, no Skeleton, nothing. Now I can understand that hockey wasn't included, or the freestyle snowboarding event. Those are games that make it on their own, obviously. But I certainly don't think EA Sports will be creating Curling 2002 any time soon. So why not put in those fun new sports that people are going to remember from this year's Winter Games? As for the events that are included, they're pretty weak. I either found them extremely easy, or extremely stupid. I liked the events where you actually COULD control your player, like Snowboarding, Bobsleigh, and Ski Jumping. But after a while, I couldn't even muster enough energy to play the three other events because they were so bad. Both Downhill Skiing events lacked the control to stay between the flags, so I was either forced to stop and start over, or I was disqualified. The Freestyle Aerials were like something out of the old combination moves you had to perform on an old NES system. The harder the move, the more buttons you had to try and match up with. Truthfully, none of these events made me want to come back for more. Should you want to play on with these six games, you can do so with four different modes. With Freeform, you basically practice every event without the hassle of competition. The Classic mode is an arcade-style feature, where you take on the challenge of increasingly difficult conditions and time targets. In the Tournament mode, it's a four-round knockout competition, where you can win Salt Lake 2002 Tournament trophies. Of course, if you'd rather have a medal hanging around your neck, play in the Olympic mode, for the chance to win Gold, Silver, or Bronze.
Difficulty: Salt Lake 2002 contains five levels of difficulty: Beginner, Novice, Intermediate, Expert, and Legend. Like all other sports games, things get a little more difficult the harder the difficulty. But like I mentioned earlier, I thought a few of the events were unplayable to begin with, due to the lack of control. Nonetheless, I suggest starting out at Beginner, because some events may actually catch you off guard.
Game Mechanics: The good news is that unlike Sydney 2000, there wasn't a whole lot of button mashing to control the events. The only time that happens is when you are getting your bobsleigh up and running. Other than that, it's up to your analog controller to direct your Olympian to victory. However, the handling varies from event to event, as previously mentioned. During the snowboarding event, I felt very comfortable with the handling. Yet, I didn't have the same control during the Alpine Skiing Slalom, resulting in constant losses in the event. Another bad feature of Salt Lake 2002 was the constant loading after each event. With the amount of time I sat and waited between events, I could have gone out and learned how to actually compete in the sport. I haven't been much of a fan of the Olympics in recent years, but I found I couldn't turn away from this year's games. Sadly, the same cannot be said for Salt Lake 2002, which I had no problem hitting the power switch on. If you only cared about six events from the Winter Games, and ironically, these were it, SL2K2 will be right up your alley. But if you're an Olympic junkie, you'll hold off until something much better comes along.
-Red Dawg, GameVortex Communications AKA Alex Redmann
Rugby 2004 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2001