Like so many others, we were confused when we caught our first glimpse of Amped 3 at E3 2005. Of course, the brief bit shown back in May was a teaser in the truest sense--it offered only the briefest of glimpses of the game and focused more on a whacked-out art style that was interesting, if not confusing. It's been six months since that first look, and the picture of Amped 3's compelling take on snowboarding has finally become clear. We got a chance to check out the offices of Amped 3 developers Indie Built, talk to the folks behind the game, and get our greedy paws on the latest build just weeks before it's due to hit store shelves. What we saw was unlike any other snowboarding game on the market.

In a previous preview, we wrote a bit about the storyline of the game, but after seeing a good deal more of Amped 3, it's important to note how integral the story will be to the overall look and feel of the game. The story revolves around a cast of five board bums, of which your created player will be one. Each member of this tight-knit group of friends has their own personality that's brought to life to great effect, thanks to a humorous script and some fine voice acting from a mix of professional actors and Indie Built team members. There's Sebastian, the gentle giant who's all about finding zen up in the powder; J-Dawg, the cocky superstar with dreams of boarding greatness; the irrepressible Weinerboy, described by one Indie Built staffer as everyone's little brother (if everyone's little brother was named after an elongated foodstuff); and Hunter, the sexy and sassy "den mutha."

Interacting with each member of your circle of friends as you work your way through the storyline will give you an opportunity to get to know each of these characters and work on your boarding skills while you're at it. One early story mission has you learning how to hop on rails in an impromptu sausage link-themed snow park constructed by Weinerboy. Later, you'll hit the slopes with Sebastian as he gives you a tutorial full of pointers on things like jumps and landing tricks with style.

All the disparate art styles found in the E3 trailer--sock puppets and Hindu imagery, among other things--have a reason for inclusion in Amped 3. For the most part, each style is tied to each of the main characters in the game. As you work your way around the game's seven mountains and advance through the story missions found on each mountain, the story will unfold through cutscenes that are told in each character's signature style. Hunter's cutscenes, for example, are told in a cutting-edge anime style that suits her badass persona. The introduction of Weinerboy's snow park is told through stop-motion cutscenes involving cheesy 1950s action figures and ridiculous narration. Sebastian's aforementioned tutorial unfolds through the use of animated drawings that appear to come straight out of a seventh-grader's sketchbook--there are sword-wielding monsters, menacing six-armed Hindu gods, and dragons aplenty, all accompanied by Sebastian's breathy narration and glossary of wholly made-up words. Oh, and J-Dawg? Well, his white-boy rap cutscenes simply have to be seen to be believed.

Amped 3's art influences are all over the map.

But it's not just the characters that benefit from the Amped 3 team's dedication to making their game one of the most original-looking sports titles on the market. Mission introductions and other cut scenes also have a souped-up style that will keep you either guessing about what's coming next, or wondering what kind of substances the minds that came up with these things were on at the time. A point of trivia: Did you know that Utah was the scrapbooking capital of the world? We didn't either, until the Salt Lake City-based Indie Built team told us so. Whether or not that's actually true, it didn't stop the team from including an homage to this most wholesome of activities with the introduction of a character named Dandelion. Then there's a Russian quiz show comprised completely of hand puppets, a faux commercial for perfume known as "Mortality," nods to classic arcade and console games, pop-culture references galore, playful pokes at snowboarding culture, and much, much more.