Parents' Guide to Shredders

Most games do their best to stand out from the rest of the crowd, branding themselves with a unique personality and style that sticks with audiences. Shredders, on the other hand, feels like a game in Witness Protection, trying its best not to stand out. From start to finish, this game is its own worst enemy, feeling like the developers went out of their way to make it as boring and bland as possible. Everything visually lacks any sort of detail. Characters, for example, are indistinguishable from one another until someone says something and you can attach a voice to that combination of goggles, masks, and other snow gear. It doesn't help that one of the real life pros casually tosses out a self-deprecating line about how the developers spent too much money on snowmobiles and parties to afford to use their actual likenesses. This isn't Shakespeare, but it would still help if the voice actors could pretend to be enthusiastic about being in the game.

From a gameplay perspective, Shredders continues in its quest not to have any real identity. It lacks the realism and physics of a true simulation game, with players floating unnaturally mid-spin against the laws of physics. On the flip side, it never goes to an over-the-top, gravity defying extreme like a more arcade style sports title would. And the controls are an odd mix, too. The basic movements feel simple and sluggish. To effectively pull off any but the most basic trick, you must simultaneously charge up spins and jumps, releasing them with precision timing while quickly snapping the thumbstick in a different direction before instantly repositioning it to interact with the board in midair. It's a frantic bit of hand dexterity that will leave more casual players face first in a snowbank more often than not. With time and practice, Shredders can actually start to get fun. The problem is the lackluster presentation and snarky self-critical humor make it seem like even the included real world pros don't want to be there any longer than necessary. And if that's the case, why would the player be expected to feel any different?