Amped 3

by 2K Sports

Product Features

• Real-time physics objects - players can build anything from basic ramps to intricate structures that can be used to access new areas of the game, or simply set new hang-time records.
• Real resorts on massive, realistic mountains filled with player interaction, pack behavior and object manipulation.
• Plenty of stuff to do besides snowboard - have some fun with rival packs, take photos of their friends' best tricks and stunts.
• Over 300 new music tracks, for the freshest soundtrack in gaming.
• Go online and show off your top-scored runs, hang-times and crashes -- and download new content and tougher ghost riders.

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000B7Q4CU
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches ; 4.5 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: September 8, 2006
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12,380 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Amped 3, like snowboarding itself, isn't just about the sport. Sure, there's an all-new physics engine, an innovative artificial intelligence engine, and perfected controls, so you get the most authentic riding experience at some of the world's greatest winter resorts, but snowboarding is all about style. That's why Amped 3 offers incredible customization, a fat helping of boarding culture, and deep, wide sandboxes loaded with killer gameplay.

Features:

• Gravy terrain: Real-time plantable physics objects. Players will be able to build anything from basic ramps to intricate structures that can be used to access new areas of the game or simply set new hang-time records.
• Massive mountains: Real resorts, way bigger than Amped 1 and 2. These levels will be truly living mountains, immerse with player interaction, pack behavior, and object manipulation. Traverse and explore these massive levels to discover limitless gameplay.
• Snowbox: The resorts are winter wonderland playgrounds now with lots of other stuff to do besides snowboard. Players will be able to have some fun with rival packs and take photos of their friends' best tricks and stunts.
• Gravy grooves: Over 300 new indie music tracks, Amped offers up more fresh tracks than another game ever made.
• Amped online: All your top-scored runs, hang-times, and crashes are automatically posted online for all to see. Download the best ghost riders and tons of original, fresh content.

Product Description

Amped 3, like snowboarding itself, isn't just about the sport. Sure, there's an all-new physics engine, an innovative artificial intelligence engine, and perfected controls, so you get the most authentic riding experience at some of the world's greatest winter resorts, but snow-boarding is all about style. That's why Amped 3 offers incredible customization, a fat helping of boarding culture, and deep, wide sandboxes loaded with killer gameplay.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun gameplay and amazingly funny references, March 2, 2006

By 

Lisa Shea "medieval swordfighting enthusiast" - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Amped 3 (Video Game)

Amped 3 is the first snowboarding game to come out for the XBox 360. You get to fly through the snowy slopes in full wide screen high definition.

First, it's important to fully accept that this game is made very tongue in cheek. You get cut scenes with drawings almost exactly like Trogdor, you have sequences of 60s-style circles with good/evil George Harrisons urging you on. You get modern alt music mixed in with Blinded By the Light. Sometimes there are Wonder Woman style flashing lights. "The Dueling Serpents of Fangar!"

A lot of the references might go right by people who aren't both classic TV watchers and new website visitors. It's amazing how many subtle funny things are built into the dialogues and cut scenes.

But back to the game. You customize your character - male or female - with the typical array of skin color, body build, hair, facial hair, hat, clothing, board and so on. You have a GIANT mountain to explore that you can explore, do challenges on, follow the storyline on, and just have fun. If you get tired of tracking down cool places to board, you can always snowmobile all over to find a new hidden spot.

Like any game, the key here is to master the controls. Once you get the hang of the different moves, you'll be carving, spinning and sliding whereever you want to go. Dodge in the trees. Launch out over the rocks. The mountain is fully rendered and waits for you. The game is pretty forgiving for beginners, so they don't get frustrated, but also provides enough challenges that skilled boarders will find their ways to have fun.

The graphics in widescren high def are a mixed bag. On one hand, I love the groomed rippled snow and the trails you leave in it. It made me want to put aside the controller and drive up to the ski lifts. The funky stars and circles and other indicators are all true to style. The clouds and sunsets in the background are photo-realistic and lovely. However, the character models are a little plastic looking. Comapred to other games we're playing right now, they weren't up to standards.

It's important to note that the game is about fun - not about training you to be a professional snowboarder. If you slam into a tree, you don't get hauled off to the emergency room. You just bounce off and keep going. If you take a nose dive you just roll and get back up again. I don't really consider this a bad thing in a video game.

Well recommended for snow bunnies everywhere!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I have no idea what's goin on, January 19, 2006

By 

Robert Hanson "Rob Hanson" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Amped 3 (Video Game)

Just got my Amped3 a few days ago and have only been playing a few hours. But man... It's about time someone really thought about what a video game is about.

no it's not about graphics, no it's not sound, and it certainly doesn't need to be about realism. It's about fun.

Yes, amped 3 seems a lot easier than Amped 2 and Amped 1. Yes your boarder has non-intuitive controls, yes the game feels like you're in some strange strange indie music, punk rock world, and yes it's a fricken riot.

It's been a long time since I played a video game and laughed heartily and often. In a world of Robot Chicken, CATS vs. Mr.T, Trogdoor the BURNINATOR and everyone's favorite owl ORLY?! Amped 3 fits right in. Yah it'll be very dated due to pop culture references and such, but it's hilarious!

Why 4 stars? Yah, graphics, sound, realism, physics and such have taken a bit of a back seat, I'd like the world to look at bit more realistic than Amped 2, it'd be nice if my boarder did the tricks the way i'm mushing them into my brand new 360 controller, and yah, when you run over someone with a snowmobile... there should be some carnage... but seriously folks, if you buy a video game to have fun and not to challenge your button mushing, thumbstick whirlin' skills, definitely pick up amped 3 and leave your hang-ups behind...

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Amped 3: Trippy, funny, and very good., December 11, 2005

By 

C. Bakehorn (Bloomington, IN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Amped 3 (Video Game)

Amped 3 is my favorite video game that features unicorns, action figures being set on fire, Russians, and shiny kitty litter. There aren't any other games featuring enough of this stuff, I must say. But Amped 3 features more kitty litter than you'd ever believe, and it's got some great snowboarding gameplay to boot. Amped 3 is one of the better Xbox 360 launch lineups, and it's the only one that's going to have you laughing and scratching your head in confusion within the same gaming session.

I doubted Indie Built could pull off a great game here. Amped 2, which was generally considered too difficult and too technical, bombed on the sales charts and it came as a surprise to me that anyone wanted to pick up XSN's snowboarding franchise. Well, Indie Built did it, and they did one heck of a job making an enjoyable game. What makes Amped 3 so unique is, well, everything that isn't related to the fantastic gameplay itself. You wouldn't think too much of the game from looking at its bright green box art which features a snowboarder and the prominent, bold, and pink Amped 3 logo. Once you crack open that box and pop the game into your Xbox 360, you'll be thinking differently. Some of the stuff you'll see in this game is more bizarre than anything you'll ever see again. I mentioned unicorns and kitty litter earlier, but those are just two of the seemingly endless items of wonder that are tossed around in this trippy game. I'd like tell you more about the stereotypical anime cutscenes, the cut-and-paste art, or the sock puppets. But I can't. I can't tie any of these things to the Story Mode, and it would be a travesty for me to ruin any of the stuff in this game. It would ruin the "What the heck?" feeling that I was so happy to have while playing Amped 3.

The Story Mode is where most of your time will be spent. There are hundreds of challenges. Some are extremely generic to the genre--score points, go through checkpoints (which in this case are acid-influenced magic circles), or do a trick to impress a sponsor. These goals are the ones I didn't like, and they were the ones that I got really tired of when I was finishing up with the story mode. I especially hated the kitty litter challenges, because I hate picking up random, scattered, unimportant items in games like this. The ones I enjoyed kept me playing, though, especially the crash-your-sled one. The goal here is to launch your player off of his sled and physically harm him as much as possible. Needless to say, this is endlessly entertaining and constantly funny. It's even funnier when you're not riding on a sled, because sometimes you'll barrell downhill on a chair or a portable toilet or other objects. This is what I wanted to see from such a unique, artistic game--fun, creative modes. Sadly, the generic goals don't do the game any justice, but Amped 3 is a lot of fun to play and that's what allowed me to trudge through the ho-hum junk and reach the exciting stuff. Indie Built made Amped 3 easier to play (which is something XSN failed to do with Amped 2) and they did so by making the controls very similar to Neversoft's Tony Hawk series. All of the tricks are mapped to the controller's face buttons and grinds are made easier with an auto-snap system that aligns the player with rails. These two factors alone make playing Amped 3 simple and fun while the difficulty comes from the challenges themselves, not the controls. This alone makes the game much better than Amped 2.

While the art is fantastic and the presentation is impressive, the visuals of Amped 3 are its most disappointing factor. Launch titles are expected to show off the power of a new console, not show any kind of shortcomings. Amped 3 doesn't really impress me visually. If you told me this was an Xbox game and I didn't know what you were playing, I wouldn't think twice about it from looking at the graphics. It certainly doesn't look bad--little touches like powdery snow effects look really nice. It's just that this game's visual calibur is very low when it's compared to 360 beauties like Perfect Dark Zero, NBA 2K6, and Madden 06. The audio factor is quite different--there are hundreds of songs, dozens of artists, and hilarious voice acting to boot. If you're a fan of indie rock, electronica, and hip hop, you'll love the tunes found here. Since the original Amped, I've appreciated the fact that the series has featured so many low-key, unsigned bands.

The Xbox Live factor here is pretty disappointing. There isn't any online multiplayer at all, and the most interaction you'll have with other players is through the Leaderboards, which hold records for every single challenge found in the game. I thought it was fun to see how I sized up against other players but I would have loved to actually hit the slopes with someone else. Maybe they'll do it with Amped 4.

Mentioning Amped 4, I'd love to see Indie Built go for another round. Amped 3 is a fantastic game. It offers fun snowboarding gameplay, an art style that will blow your mind, and a story that will bust your gut in laughter. You don't have to sift through a lot of junk here--there are some annoying challenges, the graphics are ho-hum, and the lack of Xbox Live multiplayer is certainly a let-down. Other than that, I can't complain. Check this game out, it's great. If nothing else, you'll want to get that "What the heck?" feeling I mentioned before.