Steep is one of the best snowboarding simulators out there. Not only that, but it’s also one of the best skiing, paragliding and wingsuiting simulators out there. The visuals are crisp and the open world is a vast snow-covered environment waiting to be explored. For all of its technical polish, the game suffers from a lack of cohesive objectives and feels like an endless series of challenges with no clear destination. Steep is a fantastic entry in a new and much-needed franchise but it requires a proper career mode and real-world tracks.
I’ve been a fan of such games since the days of the original Xbox. I went to college with our editor, Asher, and we used to spend hours playing snowboarding simulators on the console which belonged to his roommate, Louis. While the majority of time was spent playing Halo 2 multiplayer, snowboarding games were a good way to take a break from that. We went back to them often.
I remember controls being unruly and frustrating all those years ago. It wasn’t until I tried SSX that I truly found a snowboarding simulator which was easy to control and addictive. Well, now I’ve found Steep. I could go on and on and talk about the gorgeous visuals or how your rider leaves tracks in the snow wherever she goes, but that’s not the point. The game is beautiful but what matters the most in these types of experiences are the controls.
Steep is very easy to control and you can pull off insane tricks just like that. Jumping by holding down the right trigger is easy. Moving in the direction you want is easy. The game is also forgiving when you collide into a tree. You have to play Steep for yourself to understand how the developers have perfected the mechanics. Using a controller is a joy. I can’t say that for every snowboarding game I’ve ever played.
Recently we had the chance to play Infinite Air with Mark McMorris and one of the biggest challenges we had was with the controls. They didn’t need to be that difficult to understand and master. When you’re designing a game, you should make sure that even beginners will experience some enjoyment right off the bat. That game failed to do that. It was definitely frustrating. Steep is an example of how snowboarding titles should be done.
If you ever get bored of snowboarding, there are plenty of skiing, paragliding and wingsuiting challenges too. Skiing is very similar to snowboarding in terms of mechanics with some variations. Paragliding and wingsuiting are obviously very different given that they’re air-based sports. Paragliding requires you to reach a particular destination by passing through “hoops”. It’s much slower-paced than wingsuiting and can be quite a leisurely mode. However, wingsuiting is intense and some of the challenges require you to stick very close to the ground and shoot out of tiny openings. That’s quite stressful and requires a lot of repetition to master. You’ll crash a lot when you’re playing that.
What’s great about Steep is that everything you do goes towards leveling up and unlocking new areas and events. Not selecting an objective and roaming the cliffs on the Alps garners you points. The leveling-up system reminded me of Forza Horizon 3 where everything you do makes you more advanced.
My only complaint would have to be how Steep feels repetitive after many hours because it doesn’t have an overarching goal. I wanted a proper career mode with more pomp and circumstance when I won gold. Instead, I just cheered and leveled up. Sure I would take on tougher opponents and tackle more dangerous courses but there should be more fanfare. Even though many might call this a gimmick, it adds to the thrill and excitement.
Apart from that, I would’ve appreciated if Steep had given more history into each of these sports. I want to learn about the masters of snowboarding and what makes these tracks—if they’re based on real-world areas—unique. What’s their history? Their significance? If they don’t have significance maybe incorporate real tracks and tell us about them. The lack of fanfare and historical aspects make Steep feel a little bland. How about incorporating the Winter Olympics? There are a lot of directions to go to enhance Steep and give it more personality.
I didn’t get a chance to play a lot of multiplayer because I like to play games on my own. However, with my few hours with it, I found it to be quite fun especially when playing with friends. Not many of my friends bought Steep so I wasn’t able to test it out for a longer period of time. Judging by what other players have told me, it seems that the servers are solid despite the launch hiccups which only lasted a few hours.
Summary
Overall, Steep is a great extreme sports simulator which should keep you engaged for hours. If you’re a fan of such titles—especially SSX—you’ll fall in love with this one. I just wish the love of snowboarding and these other sports would shine through with the addition of more voice overs and engagement with the player. Hopefully these issues will be fixed in the sequel. Steep is definitely a great start to the franchise.
Xian was a regular ICXM contributor between 2015–2017, publishing 162 articles across game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news. Their work focused on hands-on reviews, platform commentary, and breaking-news reporting during the Xbox One X launch year and Microsoft’s wider Play Anywhere / UWP gaming initiative.