Celebrating the release of Amped 3 for Microsoft’s new toy we here at Gamecell have decided to live like “real” snowboarders. Well, OK we don’t have a snowboard, funny goggles or any athletic ability, but we have been saying “Rad” and “stoked” a lot and the other day I fell over a bin and injured my leg a bit. I think it’s safe to say that we’re true adrenaline junkies. My fingers hurt…

For a next-next-gen console Amped 3 doesn’t really smack you in the chops with a faceful of beauty like some of the other launch titles have. The mountains are absolutely huge and there are loads of other ‘boarders and skiers on the mountain with you, but disappointingly you get a fair bit of popup and the graphics are too plain, lacking that graphical “BAM!” needed to impress on the 360.

There’s a lot to do on each slope; ranging from the bizarre story mode (which we’ll come to later) to the hundreds of side missions peppered across the map. These challenges range from simple high-score runs and following the lead of a pro boarder to the more bizarre collecting kitty symbols and throwing yourself down the mountain on a sled (or sofa/toilet/fridge), trying to injure yourself as much as possible! Each challenge unlocks new abilities, music tracks or clothes for your customisable boarder, which of course, is totally rad.

The customisable boarder part of the game is pretty cool, letting you toy around with sideburns, mullets and clothes to create a truly “pimping” boarder, or of course a big fat redneck if you prefer. Your character’s interaction with the other characters in the cut scenes is nice, as every customisation you’ve done is all present and correct, personalizing the game a bit and making things a little less generic.

It sounds pretty simple but the presentation is harder to describe than you might think although it's certainly slick. The best way to describe the weird scenes would be like the old Monty Python animations; bizarre 2-D characters on static backgrounds just doing mental stuff. Examples include a man in a suit with a pig’s head on a spring or Commie Russian gameshow hosts made with hands. Other sections look like the old pixel games from the ‘80s. This craziness sometimes has you wondering what the hell it has to do with the story but most of the time its sheer randomness will make you smile (and wonder what drugs the developers were on). I still remember a line upon winning one of the challenges based around an old 80s RPG: “Thou art a stud”. Classic! - Especially if your character is a girl. Hmmm.

While you’re cruising down the slopes you won’t need to set up a custom soundtrack, as there’s plenty of music to keep fans of every genre happy. Crazy boarders who are into Alternative/punk could actually go weak at the knees with the amount of music that’s about. Classical aficionados might not take to it too much, though.

With loads of massive mountains (each with numerous different pistes and varied slopes) to explore and literally hundreds of bizarre challenges revolving around the weirdest story mode I’ve ever played, Amped 3 is a game that will keep you busy despite the relatively simple control system. The only problem is the complete lack of a proper multiplayer mode and the sometimes unpredictable camera. The whacky story mode is funny but it’ll depend on your sense of humour and is quite a Marmite thing but the gameplay is enjoyable enough to survive enough even if you don’t like the crazy stuff. Just.