Winter Sports 2010

Winter Sports 2010: The Great Tournament is an unofficial game of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Anyone that has had the (mis)fortune of playing the official version of the game may have been waiting anxiously for this title, hoping for some redeeming gaming experience to fall from this sporting spectacle. Unfortunately, while there are many entertaining events to enjoy within this title, The Great Tournament does fall short of all it could have been. With both graphics and gameplay not quite existing on the high level that we are used to, and irritatingly unresponsive controls in many of the different games, Winter Sports 2010 is unlikely to be a game that holds your attention for a long time.

The Great Tournament features eight different game modes which doesn’t sound like a lot. However, featuring events such as the bobsled, figure skating and downhill skiing there is quite a bit of variety to sink your teeth into. There’s also a range of different modes in which to enjoy the sports. Career, cup and campaign modes are well complimented by an online mode featuring up to 4-players, and even split-screen multiplayer functionality.

Jumping into the career mode, you’ll be faced with the traditional story associated with the majority of sports games. You’re an amateur, working your way toward the world championship through the winning of many small contests along the way. It’s a tried and tested formula, and it works well in this setting due to some interesting additions in gameplay. One such example is the inclusion of experience points throughout the career mode, just as in an RPG game. The more experience you gain, the more rewards you will have access to. We’re talking gloves that will have you navigating corners more accurately to increase your speed, or even a ‘rumble pack’, preventing your opponents from knocking you off the track.

An interesting career mode, less serious challenges on offer providing the ability to collect coins as you ski down a slope, and multiplayer featuring global ranking tables, The Great Tournament’s got it all on paper. The question that remains is how enjoyable the games themselves are. Unfortunately we find that it is in this key area that the developers have dropped the ball, with unresponsive and frustratingly clumsy controls for almost all the events.

We can’t completely write off this title with that objection; certain events included such as the bobsled run give an incredible impression of flying fast down the track. And many of the games offer a great deal of fun, particularly in multiplayer mode. However, it is a shame that what could have been a great game has been let down by completely inadequate controls, something that could have been drastically improved if more time had been spent in this area by the developers.

You aren’t likely to be disappointed with this game because bad certainly isn’t the word to describe it. The word adequate would be more fitting, but in a world packed full of exciting and entertaining games adequate simply isn’t good enough.