Dark Summit Impressions

THQ and Radical Entertainment recently hosted a press event in Vancouver to demo their forthcoming mission-based snowboarding title Dark Summit. We were there to take everything in firsthand. Dark Summit, essentially, is a story-driven snowboarding game that shares a superficial similarity to other titles in the category. What sets is apart, though, is its narrative focus and its free-flowing objective placement. Mt. Garrick, as the story goes, was once a hotspot for skiers and boarders alike, allowing access to its gracious slopes to all those willing. Mt. Garrick's head ranger, Chief O'Leary, has recently gone Gestapo, however, and has begun cracking down on the park's resident boarders. But being an unruly bunch, the boarders are striking back, determined to take back the slopes and run the mad ranger and his men out of town. What the boarders don't know, though, is that O'Leary and his gang are up to things darker than they could imagine.

As the sassy boarder Naya, it's up to you to take to the slopes of Mt. Garrick and ride in a manner that not only nets you mad style points but also lets you access the now-gloomy ski resort's more remote areas. Essentially, the game is laid out in a manner similar to many platform adventures: You'll initially have access to a single play area, though your boundaries steadily expand as you fulfill various objectives throughout the gameworld. Fulfilling said objectives nets you reputation points, increasing numbers of which are required to access new areas on Mt. Garrick. You acquire objectives by riding through preset zones, and all the areas we've seen have numerous such zones scattered throughout them. As such, you'll definitely find yourself returning to previously opened areas to tackle objectives previously outside of your ability. Given the free-flowing nature of the objective placement, though, it seems relatively easy to zip through the game's environments, racking up multiple completions in single runs, provided you've got the skills.

The missions implemented into the build we saw were pretty diverse. They ranged from the fairly simple (perform six 720s before you reach a preset marker) to the downright outlandish (travel to a certain peak and activate an avalanche inducer). The latter mission was particularly exciting: You had to blaze a path to the peak where the avalanche gun rested and activate it by riding into it. Once activated, the gun summoned forth cascading waves of snow and powder, which if you weren't fast enough, would consume you in their iciness. Failure results in a cutscene depicting a rescue dog digging you out from under the snow.

As per the dictates of the genre, you can expect that a heavy emphasis will be placed on trick-based gameplay, despite the game's prominent narrative. Facilitating this is a control scheme based on Tony Hawk's Pro Skater--on the PS2 controller, the X button controls jumps, while the circle is reserved for grab tricks and the triangle for grinds. The layout is identical on the Xbox controller, with all the functions mapped to the corresponding face buttons. In-air rotations, meanwhile, are mapped to both the analog sticks, D-pads, and shoulder buttons. Using the tried-and-true scheme has guaranteed a certain level of accessibility to the gameplay, guaranteeing that most any player will have a suitable point of reference. Aside from granting you personal satisfaction, though, performing tricks nets you equipment points, which let you upgrade Naya's gear. Doing so will both change her cosmetic appearance and raise her stats, which are divided into four categories: jumping, rotation, landing, and speed. A sufficiently powered-up Naya will be able to access spots in the game's areas that were previously unreachable.

Even at the code's alpha stage, the controls are tight and pleasantly responsive. Zipping through trees happens with just the amount of fluidity you'd demand (very useful when evading evil pursuing skiers, which seems to be a common theme), and the responses are spot on. All animations accompanying the tricks are pleasantly forceful and well-defined, providing a nice, tangible bang after each successful execution.

From a visual standpoint, Dark Summit seems very much a work-in-progress. All of the in-game models seem relatively complete, and they're all nicely sculpted and proportioned. Their animations, as mentioned before, seem to be very much in place, and their effects are very satisfying. What's very encouraging, though, is that the game seems to move at a very brisk pace, even as this early stage--frame rates in the high 50s weren't uncommon in the Xbox version, with the PS2's lagging only slightly behind, at points. The game's lighting element, though--which will ultimately play a large role in guiding you through its environments--was only marginally implemented in the current build; many areas had the lit portions mapped out only in diagram, leaving only our imaginations to fill the void. The game's visual tone seems to dwell on the stark and shadowy, per our impressions, and we can only imagine what the element of dynamic lighting will add to the end product.

There's much more to say about Dark Summit, but we'll save it for the full preview that will come soon. For now, check out the media our hosts were gracious enough to provide. The game is slated to ship this winter for the PS2, with an Xbox release scheduled for shortly after the system's launch this coming fall. We'll have more for you soon.