We Ski – WII – Review

In the spring of 2006, Nintendo Wii’s motion
capabilities felt endless. In the following months, it seemed like their
innovation was just beginning. But since that time, we haven’t seen much from
third-party developers. A classic here, a fun title there, but nothing that
stood out as much as Trauma Center and Tony Hawk did at launch.

We Ski, a new racing/stunt game from Namco
Bandai, quickly reminds us of the dream that video games can be better – and
so much more immersive – when optimized with motion controls. It is a game
with mechanics that go above and beyond its competitors, including the
entertaining (but not entirely innovative) SSX series. Unfortunately, there is
a price for its innovation, one that has nothing to do with your wallet.

Grab a Fan

A really powerful fan that simulates real
winds, and pick up a bag of artificial snow. I’ve got We Ski and can’t wait to
complete the skiing experience.

If you’re looking for a game that can be played
while lazily lying on the couch, this isn’t it. To ski, you’ll hold both the
remote and nunchuk (front edge pointed forward, but they do not have to be
pointed toward the screen) and turn by tilting them in unison. Movements are
subtle and well done – this is the first time a console game has been able to
pull off this kind of physical effect. You can pull forward and increase your
speed by swinging the remotes downward (toward yourself, but not too
vigorously as the game points out). Most of the tricks are motion-based as
well, which I’ll get to shortly.

Want to reach the maximum speed? Hold both
controllers in the normal skiing position and tilt them so that the tops
(button/thumbstick area) are facing inward or outward. The character on
screen, who may come from your Mii collection or be homegrown within the game,
mimics your actions by holding him or herself in the speed-increasing
position.

Stumbles and total wipeouts are also recovered
via player motions. By swinging both controllers downward, just as you would
to increase speed, athletes can prevent stumbles from turning into falls. If
you still wipeout, swing the controllers up and down (alternately). Other than
stunt performance, this is one of the few times you won’t be moving the
controllers in unison.

Stunts are executed by swinging, tilting, and
thumbstick pushing. The latter wasn’t necessary – I presume the developers
threw it in because they ran out of motions. But it makes the game feel like
every other winter sports title out there, a feeling that wasn’t prevalent up
until this point. The other tricks aren’t bad but are very simple to perform,
and with ramps being short and infrequent, you won’t have too many
opportunities to perform them during the average race.

Four players can ski simultaneously.

Invitation Limitation

We Ski has some of the best mechanics designed
for a Wii game. You will become more deeply connected to the controller(s)
than in any other winter sports game available. It’s that good.

However, as a whole, the game is seriously
lacking. Aside from the tutorial, there are just two modes of play: Ski Race
and Freestyle. Ski Race offers three different race types: Race, Slalom, and
Moguls. There is no reward, notification, or grade-keeping calculation for
winning them. You can pick any random race and win. Then another … and win
again, without even trying. There isn’t much of a challenge involved, a fact I
credit to the game’s eagerness to be played by all Wii owners. What developers
and publishers don’t realize is that easiness bores casual gamers too.

Freestyle is We Ski’s idea of a campaign mode.
You ski around, looking for someone to talk to. Fellow athletes may have a
challenge for you, or ask that you retrieve something they’ve misplaced. Aside
from being a cheesy version of RPG exploration, it’s also frustrating and
boring. Have you ever tried to ski up a hill? It isn’t much fun. Thus, the
game includes several lift points that’ll take you back to the top of each
hill. You’ll do this repeatedly to reach every challenge, some of which are as
generic as skiing through a bunch of people in search of a missing kid.

While these mini-games may interest some
younger players, the way of reaching them won’t. Gamers, especially young kids
and casual players of any age, want to jump right in and play without having
to stop and look around. They won’t want to seek out a challenge in the
Freestyle mode, and may end up avoiding it altogether.

Get used to seeing this animation, and
note the "Skip" button on the bottom right corner of the screen.

Which is most unfortunate, because this is not
a run-of-the-mill game with lousy mechanics. It’s a run-of-the-mill game with
excellent controls that could not have been designed for any other platform.

*****
Wii
Balance Board Update: The highly sensitive technology of Wii Fit and the
impressive motion controls of We Ski might make you think that, when
combined, there could be no better combo. But while We Ski uses the Wii
controllers to steer, perform stunts and other actions, it only uses the
Balance Board to steer. You’ll have to crouch a bit and lean your body left
and right to pull this off — a move that, while a tad closer to the real
thing, doesn’t make the game feel any more intuitive. When the Balance Board
is turned on, your controller motions are reduced, so instead of adding to
the game’s sensitivity, you merely change it. Furthermore, multiplayer games
are not allowed when the Balance Board is in use.

Review Scoring Details for We Ski