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The Plot: I first became familiar with "Arctic Thunder" at an arcade. It's a fairly simple game, but it's fast-paced and intense enough that it carries itself well for a while before the handful of boards starts to become dull. The player can select from several different racers to snowmobile through some pretty interesting landscapes (a blizzard in Washington, DC; a lost Himalayan city, etc). Throughout, players can use various weapons (including punching other players if they get close enough) to knock out your competition. Unfortunately, the game does lose a fairly major element in the transition between the arcade and the PS2. The arcade version had a giant snowmobile-like chair that the player sat on, as well as a fairly strong fan that blows towards the player. The combination of the strongly vibrating chair and the fan certainly did add a bit of immersion to the experience. On a positive note, the creators have obviously realized that they needed to flesh out the gaming experience for the home to create a bit more replay value. The original six levels from the arcade version remain here, but additional elements (another six levels, more power for different aspects of the characters, more characters and more bikes) can be unlocked when a player racks up enough points during gameplay. A couple of additional weapons - some useful, some not, also return here. As I mentioned before, there are a few things about "Arctic Thunder" that make it a bit more fun than the usual racing game - the power-ups are fun and fairly easy to get and the game itself moves rapidly. The game certainly isn't a slow slide through boards - it's fast-paced and requires quick thinking to keep from getting knocked off your vehicle. However, some of the same flaws that the arcade version suffers from are carried over once again here. It's essentially impossible (as far as I can see) to tell whether or not the players lurking behind you have fired a weapon, making it an extremely difficult situation - if they miss, it's because the player moved a certain way unknowingly. In addition, you can tell what weapons that you currently have, but the indicator is small and a bit difficult to see quickly without taking your focus off the game. The stunts that a player can do at certain points throughout the game don't require any sort of skill aside from lining up your vehicle with the ramps - the player does the same stunt any which way, it seems. However, doing a stunt does give the player the chance to get a few extra power-ups. An additional touch for the home version should have been better crashes. In a game as quick as "Arctic Thunder" sometimes is, there's opportunity for some spectacular break-ups if you run into something too fast. Unfortunately, there really isn't anything like that here - the crashes are very simplistic. Although I appreciate that the creators tried to flesh out "Arctic Thunder" with some additional boards and other options, the boards are still pretty straightforward (a few additional short-cuts can be found here and there) and will eventually become repetitive. I enjoy playing the game in the arcade, but I only visit that maybe once or twice a month - I'd probably get bored of it if I played it any more often than that. After playing the PS2 version a few times through, even with extended features, I still found that the home version - the loss of the big seat, the better control of the arcade game and last, but not least, the cheap fan blowing air in my face - didn't work for me as well as I'd hoped. I rented the PS2 version and I'm glad I only rented it - although I had some fun playing it a couple times through again, "Arctic Thunder" starts to get too familiar after playing it a few times through. Rating: 6.9/10 The DVD Graphics: The graphics of "Arctic Thunder" will not likely impress any hardcore (or even casual, for that matter) PS2 fans. The arcade version was not particularly detailed or graphically rich, either - a bunch of characters on snowmobiles flying through various levels. There are some minor animated touches throughout some of the levels, but again, they are all fairly straightforward and not really detailed in any way. The racing does move quickly and occasionally, when a lot was happening on-screen, the gameplay was somewhat choppy. Rating: 6.5/10 Sound: "Arctic Thunder" doesn't fare much better in the audio department (although it isn't a strong feature in the arcade version, either). The background music is pleasant enough, although I think it'll probably get on the nerves of some after a while. The sound effects (power-up noises) are crisply rendered, but not really noteworthy in any way. A few little bits of dialogue between characters during the race also are carried over here - they're nothing special, but they're not irritating, either. Rating: 6.5/10 Gameplay: Gameplay for "Arctic Thunder", like the game itself, is fairly straightforward and easy to master. It's one of those games where most players will be able to pick up the controller and, without reading the instructions, be able to easily play the game after a few tries. All of the characters supposedly have different capabilities but, like the arcade game, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of difference - all seem equally able to steer around sharp turns and do other essential tasks. The PS2 version includes the ability to do practice runs through the boards (racing solo - no competitors), but I doubt many will need any practice for the game and it's no fun racing by yourself. Rating: 8/10 Rating Issues: The only thing that I'm really surprised about for this PS2 edition is that it recieved a "T" rating. There's nothing even remotely violent about the action in the game - although there's some punching and weapons use, it's really a lightweight game. Final Thoughts: There are still some things that I do like about "Arctic Thunder", but the PS2 version does lose a lot of the experience that the arcade offers - even with some additions, this is one of those games that may be fun now and then, but isn't a game that can be played too often without it starting to become dull. The graphics and sound are not impressive, either. If you've gone through many of the similar games, you may want to pick try this as a rental, but I wouldn't recommend more than that. |