There’s no denying that extreme sports games are in a bit of a rut. Retail releases such as Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 and Mark McMorris Infinite Air have been critical disappointments, and the few bright spots have come in the form of indie releases such as OlliOlli. Thankfully for gamers, Ubisoft is looking to breathe some new life into the genre with Steep.
In an interview with MCV, Steep‘s game director Arnaud Ragot explained what will make the game stand out from the rest. “We wanted to add more to the genre with Steep,” said Ragot. “There is an exploration dimension never before seen, taking players on a voyage in the Mont Blanc or Matterhorn. We really wanted to give players a sense of freedom, to let them express their creativity. It?s not only about tricks or speed anymore.” By putting a new focus on exploration, Ubisoft is hoping to deliver an experience as fresh as the snow players will be standing on. Another interesting tidbit from the interview was how the team came up with the idea of Steep, and how another Ubisoft game inspired it. “Part of the reasons why we decided to pitch Steep to our management is seeing an early demo of Ghost Recon Wildlands,” revealed Ragot. “The terrain tech really showed a huge environment with a level of detail around the player that was really exciting. For the first time, we had that feeling of being immersed in a massive landscape, and, when looking around us, we could...