Game review: Vancouver 2010 - Playstation 3

As a result, Sega have released Vancouver 2010 – a sporting simulation game based on the event.

Featuring 14 events to choose from you’d be forgiven for believing Vancouver 2010 would offer the gamer a bit of variety. Sadly this is not the case.

Events such as skiing and snowboarding handle almost exactly in the same, with the gamer controlling the athlete in the usual method – steering them with the left analogue stick, accelerating with R2 and breaking with L2.

When you consider all the skiing events and snowboarding events add up to a total of eight (out of 14), that doesn’t leave you with much bang for your buck.

Whilst the other events on offer have a slight hint of variety, they are not very exciting.

The speed skating events consist of both the 500m short-speed skating and the 1500m, with the later of the two playing more like a music rhythm game like Parappa the Rappa.

The sledding events are fun, but once again there is very little difference between them. The three sledding events (two-man bobsleigh, luge singles and skeleton) are controlled in exactly the same way again.

The ski jumping event does offer a bit of respite from the same old, same old – but once it is mastered there is no incentive to come back to it.

And that is one of the main problems with this game – it offers you very little in terms of re-playablity.

Where as other sports games may offer you a different track to try out, or the option to change your equipment (which in turn would affect how your athletes perform), all of these parameters are decided for you.

One neat addition which is quite helpful is that the developers have included the option to have a tutorial before each event – quite handy if you have forgotten the controls.

For the more experienced gamers out there this is probably a bit pointless, but for the casuals (which I suspect this game is aimed at) it could prove quite valuable.

Graphically the game looks very good, with all the tracks looking authentic and the Olympic athletes rendered quite respectfully. Sadly, the animation can look a bit clumsy at times.

During the skiing events, when the athlete would be going over a slope, they occasionally shift into position without any subtle adjustment or elegance. The same thing happens during the skating events, when you find yourself crashing into walls and all of a sudden the skater is on the floor.

Being a sporting event, action replays are provided when you play the game in Olympic mode.

These look quite convincing and are presented in variety of different camera angles, but they are let down somewhat by the repetitive and irritating rock music, that is also splashed throughout the rest of the game.

Audibly, the rest of the game is quite impressive – during events you can hear the wind on your face and the crowds cheering you on.

A neat little trick that brings a hint of suspension to the proceedings is when just before your event starts everything cuts out, with the exception of the countdown clock.

On the downside, I can’t help but feel that an opportunity has been missed with the lack of commentary, especially on the replays.

All in all Vancouver 2010 is quite an average sporting game. Whilst it looks great on the surface, it lacks in content and variety.

When you have other games out there like FIFA 10 and Wii Sports offering more entertainment and re-playability, I can’t help but feel Vancouver 2010 will be left out in the cold.

Verdict: 5.5 out of 10

The Good

Good graphics
Easy to get the hang of
Some fun to be had with multiplayer

The Bad

Repetitive
Needs more events