Games

Best of 2009 | 08 |07 | 06 | 05
Advanced Search

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games.

Shaun White Snowboarding

EMAIL PRINT xbox360

7.7 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 48 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 18 votes
Read user comments
Rate this game >

Game Info

Publisher: Ubisoft

Developer: Ubisoft Montreal

Genre(s): Extreme Sports, Snowboarding

Players: 16

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Release Date: November 16, 2008

Summary

Developed in close collaboration with Shaun White, Olympic Gold Medalist and eight-time X Games Gold Medalist, Shaun White Snowboarding allows players to enter a world of total freedom, where they can create their own experience and choose how, where, and with whom they want to ride. Open World Mountains: Choose how you ride in open-world mountains across the world. Conquer extreme peak conditions, create your own paths in the back country, or compete with fellow riders in the terrain parks. Your Friends Are Always Around: Play in a world where your friends are always around. Do your own runs on mountains populated by real gamers, or join your friends for a quick session from any mountain. More than Just Snowboarding: Have fun with your friends on and off the board! Throw snowballs, hike to access secret spots, film your friends doing ripping tricks. You can also upload your videos online to share with the world. Ride Your Way: Express yourself through tricks, riding styles, and highly customizable avatars – both in single-player and in the online world. Use the intuitive dual analog control to pull off a huge variety of tricks that express your style. Next-Gen Technology: Built on the Assassin's Creed engine, this game creates a massive world with gorgeous visuals and realistic NPC interactions. This is also the first time a snowboarding game is completely driven by physics instead of animation. Authentic Snowboarding: Ubisoft has worked closely with Shaun White to infuse the gaming experience with authenticity, personality and humor. Shaun is a friend and mentor in the game, and will help you with your skills. And, if you are deemed worthy, you may even be able to play as Shaun in the game. [Ubisoft]

Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

3DJuegos

If we add the power of "Assassin's Creed" to the Tony Hawk's videogames gameplay, probably the result would be this title. It lacks of some game's modes, but it's still an interesting option to discover a genre like snowboarding simulation in the next-gen.

Read Full Review >

GameTrailers

Shaun White Snowboarding could definitely benefit from some more polish and it's fairly derivative, but its open-ended design and subdued trick system capture the feel of the real sport. Snowboarders will appreciate the ability to play the game how they want, but it's low on flash, so weekend warriors should buy a three-day lift pass for a test run.

Read Full Review >

WonderwallWeb

A decent attempt at a snowboarding game which would be better if only it was a bit more user friendly straight from the beginning.

Read Full Review >

TeamXbox

Shaun White’s not the best, nor the worst, snowboarding title we’ve ever played. And its greatest moments are occasionally dragged down by imprecise controls and a sometimes fun-siphoning story campaign.

Read Full Review >

Xbox360Achievements

A openworld, sandbox snowboarding title that lacks some serious direction and structure, offering the gamer no real story or incentive to work through the challenges.

Read Full Review >

Da Gameboyz

Shaun White Snowboarding is one of those games that you should go into with little to no expectations.

Read Full Review >

IGN

Shaun White Snowboarding is an uneven game that often feels at odds with itself. Still, I had fun making my way down the different mountains and riding with friends.

Read Full Review >

IGN AU

All things considered, Shaun White Snowboarding is a more than competent snowboarding game. It’s just not that compelling.

Read Full Review >

Gamer.nl

Ubisoft hasn't succeeded in getting the full potential from Shaun White Snowboarding. Some gameplay elements, like the enormous freedom and control, aren't that fantastic in the end. But the good online mode and the beautiful surroundings make up for it.

Read Full Review >

Official Xbox Magazine UK

Shaun White is not for "SSX" fans hungry for more extreme boarding action. If you like your simulations or have a genuine interest in the sport, you'll appreciate its realism. Everyone else, however, will just be itching to pull off a 24-rotation mega backflip.

Read Full Review >

GameSpy

While the singleplayer campaign doesn't give gamers many reasons to stay engaged, we can envision a large online community racing, tricking and wagering while snowballs fly through the air. Because really, isn't that what snowboarding is all about?

Read Full Review >

GameFocus

If you’ve been just craving a snowboarding game for a while now, SWS is worth a shot, but only because it’s the only gig in town. It’s not a bad title, by any means, but it lacks what made games like SSX and Amped so great, which is a focus on the sport itself.

Read Full Review >

Cynamite

Unfortunately the huge potential that slumbers within a snowboard legend and a global publisher hasn’t been used. Shaun White is something for the hardcore boarder – only the multiplayer offers some unique features.

Read Full Review >

Planet Xbox 360

Much like the previous Sports Snowboarding games on Xbox 360, Shaun White Snowboarding is a slick and presentable title on the surface, which doesn’t have the mastery or depth to guarantee long-term entertainment.

Read Full Review >

Armchair Empire

Play it for a few hours, play it with your friends, after that, go to sleep and dream of SSX 5.

Read Full Review >

Game Informer

This game is stuffed with things to do, but it doesn’t take long to figure out that you’re just going around in circles. The gameplay fails to elevate this title, and players are unable to take advantage of the possibilities all around them.

Read Full Review >

GameZone

Shaun White’s first snowboarding game is a mess that misses the entire idea of what snowboarding is all about.

Read Full Review >

Extreme Gamer

Shaun White Snowboarding slides down the gaming mountain a little too fast without concentrating on what is important.

Read Full Review >

Official Xbox Magazine

A lot of us are baffled that snowboarding has been so deathly quiet on 360, and if you’re dying for the next SSX or Amped, Shaun White Snowboarding won’t be the game you’re hoping for. If you’re a serious boarding fan, the mini- MMO multiplayer is totally worth a look, but otherwise, you have better games to play.

Read Full Review >

XboxAddict

Overall SSW is a decent game and you'll find some fun for a while with both single player and multiplayer.

Read Full Review >

Deeko

Shaun White Snowboarding starts out rough but after learning the ropes and getting involved with the multi-player experience it becomes a passable entry to the now current generation of consoles.

Read Full Review >

Total Video Games

Despite offering a freeform control layout, Shaun White Snowboarding still feels like a pretty standard example of the genre at heart.

Read Full Review >

X360 Magazine UK

Should have concentrated on being a master of one trade, and not a jack of all. What’s there is accessible and fun, but largely between friends. The inevitable sequel should be better.

Read Full Review >

Kombo

Shaun White is a game that is almost there, but doesn't quite make it.

Read Full Review >

VideoGamer

It's clear that Ubisoft had some big ideas for Shaun White Snowboarding, but many of these have been hampered by an overly difficult control scheme, cumbersome navigation, a terrible map, too much collecting and a disappointing frame rate. The recreation of the four ski resorts is excellent, the online functionality is well thought out, and at times the views are magnificent, but the game just isn't as much fun as it should have been.

Read Full Review >

Play.tm

Impressive visuals and physics don't make up for frustrating controls and a sense that the game is lacking a certain congruency. I'd rather be playing one of the old SSX games to be honest.

Read Full Review >

Eurogamer Portugal

Yet and as it was said in the beginning SWS is a game that feeds a great expectation and aspires to be one of the best in this category offering a good set of mountains (although the structure of the game is somewhat similar in every set) but ends up taking away from the experience sometimes quite funny due to the constant repeat of backtracking not so usual in these situations.

Read Full Review >

GamePro

All in all, Shaun White's Snowboarding didn't leave me blown away. I liked the terrain they provided, the impressive visuals and the push towards new ways to perform tricks. I hope this title continues on and that all of the little glitches and feedback from fans help create an epic snowboarding game worthy of Shaun White's name.

Read Full Review >

GameShark

Shaun White's contrived inclusion might be the game's biggest misstep, as his predetermined objectives limit your ability to explore and make for some of the least extreme offline boarding on the market.

Read Full Review >

Cheat Code Central

Nearly every potential plus is a minus: the open world is artificial; the supposedly intuitive control scheme is actually counterintuitive; and the event types range from lackluster to merely okay.

Read Full Review >

Games Master UK

"SSX 3" is five years old but still more advanced. SWS is underweight and out-of-date. [Jan 2009, p.64]

GamingExcellence

There are better snowboarding games on other systems, and Shaun White just isn't one that needs to be played.

Read Full Review >

Gameplayer

The more time you’ll spend with Shaun White, the more the lack of polish makes itself apparent.

Read Full Review >

GameSpot

Frustrating issues make Shaun White Snowboarding seem less like a downhill rush and more like an uphill grind.

Read Full Review >

Thunderbolt

Bottom line: the whole game feels remarkably uncomfortable despite looking so smooth and natural.

Read Full Review >

Meristation

Shaun White Snowboarding does not deliver what we expected it to. Frustrating gameplay, chaotic presentation, lack of game modes and several technical issues; snowboarding can do much better, and this is not the way to go.

Read Full Review >

Kikizo

From the off, Shaun White Snowboarding is an easy game to hate, thanks to a combination of counterintuitive controls, broken physics and the fact that it almost refuses to give you any guidance as you learn the basics.

Read Full Review >

Level7.nu

The basic mechanic of riding a snowboard down a mountain covered in white bliss is pure fun and beautifully framed in Shaun White's Snowboarding. Unfortunately, the actual meat of the game is severely flawed which cripples the overall experience. Competitions and other game modes are riddled with issues, bad AI and poorly designed challenges being two of them. Shaun White's Snowboarding does the actual gameplay right, and just about everything else wrong.

Read Full Review >

Gamervision

Shaun White seems like a nice enough guy. He’s certainly a talented athlete, and a pretty sharp businessman to boot, but slapping your name on a game that not only disappoints and frustrates gamers, but also makes you look like a complete tool through its ludicrous, cheesy, almost offensively stereotypical cut-scenes can’t be a step in the right direction for “the Flying Tomato.”

Read Full Review >

Xbox World 360 Magazine UK

Best wait for "Stoked" instead. [Jan 2009, p.79]

Video Game Talk

Shaun White Snowboarding simply feels like an unfinished and unbalanced game.

Read Full Review >

Game Revolution

Shaun White Snowboarding should have used other aspects of the Assassin's Creed engine and gone beyond the boundaries of the real. It just feels like a miss. It's not exciting or fun enough for me, reading more like an instruction manual than anything else.

Read Full Review >

MS Xbox World

Shaun White Snowboarding ultimately is more of an uphill experience than it is racing down an icy slope.

Read Full Review >

Console Monster

Overall the game is bland. As bland as the colour of the snow. As shallow as a frozen puddle. As frustrating as Shaun White himself. Ubisoft tried to take the crown from the likes of Amped and SSX but tripped on the carpet leading to the crown and spiked themselves on the Royal sceptre nearby.

Read Full Review >

Gaming Age

Mediocre at best and controller smashing at worst.

Read Full Review >

BigPond GameArena

Shaun White Snowboarding just isn’t very good. With completely uninspiring mountain designs, a pitiful single-player quest and awful controls, there’s really no reason to pick this one up.

Read Full Review >

G4 TV

Just an all-around disappointment. It has its moments of giving you the thrill of hurtling your body through the air at dizzying heights and performing ridiculous sets of over-the-top tricks, but for every one of those moments, there are dozens more that will leave you in a speechless rage.

Read Full Review >

1UP

The game looked promising, as it employs the Assassin's Creed engine and offers an expansive world to explore. But the intimidating controls and lack of direction will scare away anyone hoping for some quick and easy fun, and sports-game enthusiasts looking for the next SSX or a snow-themed Skate won't find it here.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 7.7 (out of 10) based on 18 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Ian J gave it a9:
The game was overall OK. It has cool maps and lots of acessories. It is a very big game. definatly worth the thirty dollars.

Tyler gave it an8:
Definitely a solid game. Could use some improvements in the story, maybe having some kind of one. But the game play is solid and definitely a blast to play with friends.

J. H gave it a7:
Dudes...I have not seen more BS crap reviews in quite a long time. No, the controls are not rock solid, but they just simply are NOT as bad as some of these weenies complain about. "I keep flipping!" Dude...if you lean forward while going off a ramp, guess what physics...the same physics you complain this game is not adhering to...are going to make your body do? They put "move center of gravity forward" and these bone heads are whinig "it keeps making me fiip when all I am telling it is that I want my center of gravity pused forward as i go off the ramp..." Wow...It is not Amped2, but if you despise the kiddie sillyness of SSX and were utterly devastated by the trainwreck that was Amped 3, this game fills the gap rather nicely. I just truly, truly hope that Ubi doesn't get discouraged by reviewers who have not even played (one review above complains about having to press the A button to 'go fast'. Yah...not really sure what game he played) and accept what this game is: first iteration. If they do that, and tweak it for the next iteration, they could take a solid 6-7 game and spawn a franchise. Of course, mostly likely the jacktards at the review sites will be assumed to have WAY more influence than they ever should have.

Your Face gave it an8:
Although it is far from perfect, this is a great game. I think that anyone who has snowboarded will truely appreciate this game, however those who expected a polished SSX will be disappointed. There are no quadruple back flip mctwists to be found here. That said, there are enough unreal moments in the game to keep it fun, (such as grinding a monorail track right to the bottom of the mountain!), and that's what gaming is all about.

Christopher S. gave it an8:
Once I read the manual and figured out how to switch the grab and shifty the game became way better. The tutorials are total crap. The controls should have been like this from the start what the hell Ubisoft?

Adrian V gave it a7:
It's certainly no Amped 2, but it is still way better than Amped 3 which means that this is currently the best snowboarding game you can get on this gen of consoles (unless Stoked turns out to be better). The sound is fine except for the annoying voice overs and offers a decent soundtrack. The gameplay is very responsive, however a little jerky in the animations when making sudden movements. Landings seem to be quite lenient but not enough to ruin the challenge too much. It is very easy to ollie onto a rail, however you don't feel as though you are magically locked on as your board can easily slide off if you don't follow the direction of the rail just like what happens in real life snowboarding, so in that respect they got the grinding right. Performing rotations in the air seems to be quite difficult to do when you try and attempt a forward or backward flip as you just seem to meet the ground too quickly and hardly ever complete the rotation as it happens too slowly. Oddly, this problem doesn't occur with left/right rotations. This might get better though as your boarder improves. Sense of speed seems to be a little on the slow side but not enough to cause too much grief. Again this could improve as your boarder gets better or you buy a faster board. Level design is pretty good with wide open runs and lots of places to explore. The snow effects are cool, but could be better by representing powder, ice etc a little more convincingly. Graphics are great and more realistic than Amped 3. The gameplay actually reminds me a lot of the Tony Hawk games more than anything else which is not exactly what I was hoping for. I would have rather skate controls. Snowball throwing is lame, but again better than Amped 3's inclusion of this pointless activity. I have yet to test online functionality so cannot comment on that yet. The whole collect em up nature of this game is a little disappointing as I was hoping that this game would be more like Amped 2 with score challenges, photo shoots, sponsor events, etc and as a result there just doesn't seem like there's a real lot to do in this game which is a pity. Another thing I must mention is that it doesn't look or feel right when your boarder lands a trick as I feared from watching many of the gameplay previews. there just doesn't seem to be much weight or momentum displayed as the rider makes contact with the snow after a hard landing. All you get is a camera shake and your rider just keeps their legs almost straight as though they never even left the ground. I really like that fact that you can get off your board at anytime and I like the inclusion of the animation your rider performs when on a flat where they do a sort of crab like walk animation with the board still strapped to their feet. Anyway, in summary Shaun White Snowboarding is a slight disappointment, however still worth getting if you are into snowboarding games and have been yearning something close to the Amped series after the abysmal Amped 3. Let's just hope that Destineer sees fit to release Stoked in the UK and here in Australia. From what I can see by watching the gameplay trailers, it is shaping up to be the spiritual successor to the Amped series and looks very realistic with awesome weather and snow effects. The graphics don't look quite as nice as Shaun White though, but I don't really mind as long as they nail the gameplay.

Robert M. gave it an8:
Te scope of the mountain, the terain and the overall ambience are quite beliveable. The default controls are weird but some game option let me change them and the game got a lot more fun and challenging there on. I love the variety of boards and the trick is to get the right one for each competition, thus a bit of snowboarding knowledge always helps out which is nice. The soundtrack and riding sounds are great and the coolest thing: The game accesses in the in-game menu all of my Music playlists!! Wow!

Games

Sony

Microsoft

Nintendo

Other Platforms

Upcoming &Recent Releases

Shaun White Snowboarding

Game Info

Summary

What The Critics Said

What Our Users Said

Upcoming &
Recent Releases