Arctic Thunder (Xbox)

Page 2

The PlayStation 2 version of Arctic Thunder looked simply awful. Midway has made some use of the power of Microsoft's console, as the Xbox version looks significantly better. All the frame rate problems that plagued the PS2 version are gone, and the game generally looks sharper, with cleaner, brighter textures and a heaping helping of lighting and particle effects. Unfortunately, most of the core geometry remains the same, and the game looks pretty dated when compared with most Xbox games. The levels themselves, which range from the Swiss Alps to the Great Wall of China, do a fair job of representing their respective themes, but they're pretty stingy with the polygons and lack any level of finesse. The rider animation is clunky, though the rider and sled models are passable.

When you get down to brass tacks, Arctic Thunder is not fun. The gameplay is repetitive, and the graphics, while an improvement on those of the PS2 version, still don't even begin to make use of the Xbox's potential. Unless you're a developer taking notes on how not to make a snowmobile racing game, there's simply no reason to play Arctic Thunder.

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