Steep PS4 2019 Review

introduction. It’s an expansive view. Snowcapped mountains stretch beyond sight, blending into the horizon. I sit on the peak of the Swiss Alps. The sun is eclipsed by rocky peaks, occasionally cascading both long shadows and bright light through airy pines. The dense snow crunches under my feet. I slow my breath. I’m geared up, ready to descend upon this rock and leave my imprint on the game with a gold medal run.

pros

• Free to Play for PS Plus Subscribers January, 2019
• Excellent Game Design
• Visually Captivating; Living Environments
• Updated Season Pass DLC
• Variety of Gameplay & Ride Options Changes the Experience
• Learning Curve has Depth & Replay Value

cons

• Too Arcade for Simulation Fans
• Lacks Rider Interaction in Shops, Lodges
• Lacks A Create-a-Rider Feature
• Complicated Community Challenge System, Tournaments, and U.I.

Average heart rate during peak moments of gameplay — 60–65 bpm.

summary. Steep is an immersive, winter sports experience. The visuals and sound design are the two standouts. The game features ambient music in its menus. When walking around the mountain side, gamers will experience howling winds, hear birds flocking and chirping, and the sound of your character’s heavy breath. Out on this mountain, players get to be whoever they want to be. There is a sense of freedom in this open, natural, snowy world.

“The game is becoming less important,” said Ubisoft CCO Serge Hascoet in an interview with Le Monde. “What interests me is to make worlds that are interesting to me, even as a tourist.”

The game succeeds on this point. Steep is a yogic, meditative experience in one moment, and a competitive esports title in the next.

Steep’s gameplay offers a variety of archetypes. Players can choose snowboarding and skiing, among other options. This keeps the gameplay fresh, offering unique nuances to one, single event. Skiing gameplay, our favorite choice in the game, is velvety smooth.

The world is living: players have the option to run against the world’s rank, if they so choose. Medaling up on a ranked event in the world is quite the feat, and will require dozens of runs. Players will keep coming back for more.

The design of the mountains and trails will keep gamers sharp, as there are always obstacles, peaks and valleys to traverse. Gamers will need to master the terrain for ways to efficiently attack the slopes. Each line is different; it’s impossible to emulate identical runs.

Ubisoft updates the content, and the game is currently in Season 4. DLC packs are also available to play the Road to the Olympics in Japan, and the 2019 X Games.

final. Steep is an experience we are feeling. The game offers freedom and movement that cannot be found in most other major sports titles. For this reason alone, it is highly recommended. At its best, Steep blends winter sports culture with the peacefulness of nature, digitizes it, and creates a competitive, creative environment. During peak moments of competitive gameplay, with our Spotify playlist going, our heart rates climbed. Steep is a winter world worth exploring.

gameplay. Developed and published by Ubisoft, Steep is a winter sports dream. Never taking itself too seriously, Steep delivers an immersive, refreshing [arcade] experience. Ubisoft’s team elegantly melts the snowy detail of its beautiful landscapes with exciting and smooth gameplay mechanics.

Borrowing the open mountain range theme from Ubisoft’s Ghost Recon Wildlands title, players can traverse the living, open world by foot, and scope out different drop points with binoculars. The game is currently in Season 4, updating tournaments and content where players can drop in.

Once players decide on a trail to attack, players can choose between skiing, wingsuits, snowboards, and paraglides.

snowboarding utilizes full body direction with the left stick, and the lower torso is guided with the right stick. This is excellent control design, as it allows for simple, pick-up-and-play controls. This mechanic simultaneously provides depth to master the speed, the various slopes, player momentum and angles of the snowboard while taking on challenging trails.

skiing, in a similar light, uses both control sticks. The raw sense of speed heading down the slopes will leave players holding their breath. Your gear ripples as you cut through air, and sound design is on-point at such a breakneck pace. Completing a successful run at these speeds requires stringing together technical maneuvers through and around obstacles on the terrain.

wingsuits. What a gameplay feature. Gamers can divebomb off a mountain side, and glide through augmented floating rings in the sky that force players to strategically think about angles, pace, and altitude. The learning curve did not feel too steep in the easier challenges. The hardest difficulty events will require a few hours of practice. For those gamers that have tried the Batman Arkham series, you’ll find similar feel to how Batman glides around Gotham, but at an exhilarating pace of play. Check out the gameplay video below for a peek.

paraglides. The weakest of the four choices, the speeds are not conducive to intense competition. This is more for a leisurely ride. We can’t help but be reminded of Pilot Wings 64 (Nintendo Sports’ 1996 title) with these game play options. Ubisoft did an excellent job of incorporating many archetypes to keep the game interesting and fresh.

level up. Steep features a rider profile, with five ride styles across the four genres of sports to mix and match styles. Each ride style can level up, specific to the sport. This creates lots of creativity in the way players attack the slopes to level up their game, earn points, gear, and unlock new competitions.

As the game is played, players can seamlessly pop into the main menu and switch from single-player rides to competitive, match-made competitions consisting in groups of four online gamers. Further, for time-trial runs, gamers can compete and rank up against the world’s best times. The game offers a variety of tournaments, some of which were locked for this review. DLC will often be required, but will not inhibit player’s ability to enjoy a number of competitions.

visuals. Ubisoft appears to be making the most of their open world game-play engine from the Ghost Recon Wildlands series. Ubisoft swapped out the mountain ranges in Latin America for snow-capped mountains in the Swiss Alps. If true, and this is purely conjecture here, this is not only an excellent use of assets by Ubisoft, but it’s also a creative pivot to the extreme sports genre.

The graphics and art direction have been layered on here. The game is truly beautiful. So beautiful in fact we found ourselves leaving the game on pause, with its chill menu music and snowy backdrop, while we stitched together review notes.

Player models are well done, proportioned, and animations look natural during transitions from one animation to the next. The animation-branching is excellent. Collision detection is mostly accurate, although it could use some fine-tuning when flying through various landscapes.

final. Steep is an experience we are feeling. The game offers freedom and movement that cannot be found in most other major sports titles. For this reason alone, it is highly recommended. At its best, Steep blends winter sports culture with the peacefulness of nature, digitizes it, and creates competitive, creative environment. During peak moments of competitive gameplay, with our Spotify playlist going, our heart rates climbed. Steep is a winter world worth exploring.