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