Ski Resort Extreme ( Windows )

Rating:
Summary: A good value
Review: Ski Resort Extreme is a fairly well done game, with a lot of new features and gets what it is intended to get done well. This game is not outstanding and is not a very huge innovation in the Ski Resort Simulator gnere. However, this game is very enjoyable and a lot of fun. This may not be as good of a game for casual game players as it is for skiers themselves, because you kind of need to know what you are actually placing on the map, because it can help.

The gameplay is just like it sounds, you start off with an empty mountain and your objective is to transform it into the ultimate ski resort. The maps are varied and can be very large, with around 10 different maps. There are a lot of different kinds of lifts and buildings to choose from, and you get to hire your own staff and basically manage a ski resort. This is just the basics, with only a few little extras thrown in.

The graphics have been much improved from previous games, such as Ski Resort Tycoon 1 (Highly Reccomended By Me), SRT 2, and Ski Park Manager 2003, 2004. They are extremely detailed and the lighting and shadows are a great touch. The shadows even adjust for what time of day it is, making it look like it is morning and look like it is sundown. This feature is probably one of the best in the game. There is also a cool night mode which allows you to extend the day.

The music, hmmmmmmmm, how should I put this...............
it REALLY sucks.

Now, after that, we move onto the problems with the game. Although the night mode is cool, it can really slow down the game if you don't have a beefy machine. I do not know why this happens, but i turn off the night mode to avoid this problem. Next. The buildings seem to break down within 2 minutes after they get fixed. The quad lifts are especially prone becuase they break down fast, and then no one fixes them, they just kind of sit there, broken. Loading times may also be lengthy, but this is only a minor problem. The game may also randomly lurch to a standstill at some points, causing you to reboot the game. This game mostly has a problem with running very smoothly, because with me, it frequently slowed down, even with the graphics turned down. This especially happens when your resort is big. Just so you who are interested know, i have a Dell Pentium 4 1.8 GHz, 256 MB of RAM, Nvidia GeForce 2 64 MB graphics card, and a 32X CD-RW drive.

PROS
+Gets the job done
+Good graphics
+Good lighting
+Good Gameplay

Cons
-See above

Overall, this game is worth picking up if you are a fan of the gnere, because it is a very good value. This game is just good, not great.