SNOW Beta – Impressions (PS4)

Developed: Poppermost Productions

Published: Poppermost Productions and Sony Computer Interactive

Platforms: PC, PS4 (Tested Copy)

Over the years, there have been some fantastic winter sports games. Coolboarders 2, 1080, and SSX are just a few that offered high-speed stunts and unique takes on exciting sports. The best part was all three offered vastly different experiences. Digital snowboarding is just fantastic, but sadly this new generation of consoles has been lacking in the winter sports genre, at least, until now.

Swedish developer Poppermost Productions is looking to add some snow-based joy to PC and PS4 with their new release, SNOW. This free-to-play, open world experience has been in Alpha on PC for almost two years, and now SNOW is available on PS4 in Beta form. Poppermost has promised that SNOW is “the most authentic winter sports game to date,” and it offers detailed environments with unique features. Unfortunately, a $19.99 entry fee and myriad technical issues make SNOW little more than an interesting idea that falls far short in execution.

Set on multiple mountains around the world, SNOW tasks you with exploring, riding, and conquering all manner of events. Whether alone or online, you can either pick a specific event from the main menu or simply go into Free Ride and switch between activities like Big Air, FreeStyle, and Descent. You can complete these tasks on skis, snowboards, or snowmobiles depending on what works best for your playstyle. SNOW is designed to work well with and excel in all three methods and areas. And at times, SNOW does just that. There is a great feeling that comes with landing a perfect jump on skis as the sun sets in the background, especially when you pull off the perfect double backflip and still maintain your breakneck pace.

Visit the mountains of the world!

Unfortunately, SNOW’s promise is completely derailed by a litany of issues. To be blunt, this game is a technical mess. From the second you start riding down the mountain, the board (or skis) start clipping through the environment. Other times, you seemingly float above the surface like Michael J. Fox in Back To The Future II.

If you do manage to make it to a jump without mysteriously crashing and rag dolling, you quickly discover that the trick controls on the snowboards only work half of the time. You are technically supposed to hit R1 and the right thumbstick to pull off grabs, but this doesn’t happen with any regularity. In fact, jumps result in terrible crashes more often than they do successful tricks. Thankfully, Poppermost accounts for those issues by implementing a Forza-esque rewind system: If you completely mess up a trick, which happens every few seconds, you can simply hit “X” and rewind as much as needed.While convenient, SNOW actually forces you to use the rewind function. You aren’t allowed to crash and keep going in this game. You have to either rewind or restart. 

Just like Forza…?

When rewinding doesn’t work, you can always restart the entire event, that is if the servers will stay connected. The SNOW Beta has pretty terrible server issues that prevent multiple events from functioning. All too often, I would attempt to load an event only to sit at the countdown screen for 10 or more minutes while the servers attempted to connect. I eventually had to quit and restart the events multiple times before they would connect. Of course, the servers were only half of the problem. The other half was dealing with your action star loading in the wrong spot or simply facing the wrong direction. If you tried to turn him around or adjust the view, you were left staring through the world. Not a great look for SNOW.

Um….

Sadly, these are only a few examples of the technical issues in the SNOW Beta. The game also crashed to the PS4 dashboard before corrupting my saved data. Once I started a new game and went through the tutorial (again), I attempted a second run only to have my rider flip in the opposite direction and get stuck in place while snow flew out behind my snowboard. Technically, the game thought this snowboarder with the creepy demon eyes was still in the middle of a sick run, leaving me unable to hit any buttons or affect his movement at all. Eventually, I failed the event after sitting for three minutes without scoring any points.

The demon eyes and flying snow look like I’m still moving. I’m not.

Look, it’s possible that Poppermost will fix all of the technical issues before SNOW hits “full” release, but right now that game is a broken mess. The server issues and horrific glitches are like some mafioso that take the fun out back and shoot it. On the plus side, at least the blowup doll spectators will get a free show. 

What in the world is going on with that crowd?

It’s also a little strange that a “free-to-play” game costs $19.99. How does that work? SNOW does remain true to the free-to-play formula in that you can pay real money to unlock fancy clothes and snowmobiles. Sure, you can level up, earn credits, and buy the outfits using in-game currency, or you could spend $4.99 for a credit pack.

To be perfectly honest, I was very intrigued after reading the description of SNOW. Winter sports are a blast, and the new consoles provide the ability to create beautiful environments and fast-paced action. It’s just a damn shame that SNOW fails to capitalize on every opportunity.

I recommend avoiding this game at all costs, at least until the PS4 version is less of a dumpster fire.