I love the snow. I love skiing, snowball fights and building unintentionally disfigured snowmen. So it should be no surprise then that I make a point of watching at least some of the Winter Olympics on the box when it comes around every four years. Sporting events of that magnitude always carry a sense of grandeur, an aura of expectation for greatness, and a spirit of ceremony which is all stylishly packaged for viewers at home with the usual broadcasted overexposure to sponsors' logos and corny mascots. That's the real Winter Olympics. Sadly, much of what makes the event an entertainment spectacular has either been drastically marginalized or is missing entirely in Vancouver 2010: The Official Game of the Winter Olympics.
A license like this, as with the Summer Olympics, is brimming with possibilities. The Winter Olympics may not have the same level of exposure and fanfare as its sunny cousin, but the events are just as exciting (if not more so), and the setting is arguably far more interesting. Track and field? I'll take icy slopes any day. So the question is, why oh why did the developers insist on stripping the whole event down to its undies and leaving it out in the cold?
Ok, so we have a game of a big budget sporting event. First thing you'll want to get your teeth into is the fully fledged Winter Olympics mode, with all the bells and whistles and the glory of leading your chosen nation to glory. Right? Well, you can try, but you'll be sorely disappointed. There is an Olympics mode, but all it consists of is a list of the possible events of which you select the ones you want to take part in, an option to choose a participating nation (as my editor pointed out with dismay, there's no Jamaica!), and then off you go, trundling your way through the selected events until it all ends with hardly a whimper of ceremony. There is no character customization at all, no grand introduction, just a series of events with a few seconds of posing on the podium afterwards. Winning the Olympics should be a big deal, I would imagine, but here you are just sent off back to the main menu with barely a pat on the back. This lack of fanfare and ceremony is probably the games biggest shortfall, the one missed opportunity which really damages the overall experience.
The events themselves on the other hand can be rather entertaining, but are also inconsistent. Ranging from standard Alpine racing disciplines, including a variety of skiing and snowboarding events, to the lethal speed of the frozen tunnel of death which plays host to the luge, bobsleigh and skeleton events, there is at least a fair amount of variety here. The control systems for each event are mostly responsible for their inconsistency, with some obscure and obtuse methods of getting your little man (or woman) safely to the end of the race. Then again, some events are really straightforward, and it's when Vancouver 2010 keeps it simple that things start looking up. Fiddly rhythm-game sections feel out of place in events like the indoor speed skating, and the dual-analogue stick twirling needed to manoeuvre through the Ladies Aerials event is just silly. On the other hand, hurtling down the ice tunnel in a two-man bobsleigh or luge is manic, brutally fast, and easy to control.
That wild speed is one of the strongest aspects of Vancouver 2010's gameplay. Creating the illusion of speed in a game is not easy, and many racing games have tried and failed to make the player feel immersed in terminal velocity. It's actually difficult to pinpoint what it is about the downhill events here that make it feel so frighteningly fast sometimes. Maybe it's the motion blur (which serves a double purpose here because it also does well to mask the sometimes sub-standard environmental textures), or the way the gamepad vibrates violently with each bump, or the sound of packed snow crunching under your skis. Essentially it's all of those things together, and it works.
While the breakneck pace of some of the events will definitely put a smile on your face, it will probably be short lived, because there isn't much to bring you back to any specific event once you've won gold. That being said, winning gold can be pretty tricky, and will in many cases require some serious concentration at high speed and a bit of luck to get to the top of the winners podium. One tiny mistake, and your times will plummet, putting your character right at the bottom of the pack. This might spur some on to try harder and work on shaving seconds off the race times, but most will just be left feeling frustrated before too long.
While working on perfecting your race time, you will have plenty of time to study your character and the environments, and again the keyword here is inconsistency. The snowy peaks in the distance, with cold winter light filtering through the clouds, does well to convey the tranquil beauty of the icy landscape, but the character models are basic at best, and your immediate environment is a mixed bag too... nice from far, but far from nice. Sound is equally inconsistent, with realistic effects adding gravity to the illusion of speed over the snow and ice, but the music often seems really out of place. Nothing kills the tension and atmosphere in a serious race event of this nature like generic 'alternative rock' buzzing in your ears. Commentary is so rare, it's barely worth mentioning. So I won't bother.
By this point you may be ready to hand in your ski pass and get the hell off the slopes, but don't be too hasty. Look past the inconsistent and uninspiring Winter Olympics mode and you will find new reasons to smile, with the aptly titled Challenges mode, basically a series of increasingly challenging challenges across the different events. Challenges range from basic (but strangely thrilling) ski events where you need to stay as close to full speed as possible or consistently corner your bobsleigh to its limit, to more obscure events like snowboarding where the controls are reversed. While they aren't all equally entertaining, this is definitely the part of the game which will keep you coming back for more.
Multiplayer gamers can take to the slopes with friends and compete for a position on the leaderboards, playing via Xbox LIVE or System Link, and while this does add a bit of excitement to proceedings by adding the human element, the basic flaws still prevail, so don't expect Vancouver 2010 to take up much of your online game time.
I almost feel guilty for being so critical of this game, because in truth some of the events really did give me a quick thrill, especially the luge and skeleton races, but there just isn't enough here to warrant a purchase for most gamers. It's really sad that a license with such potential has been let down with a half-baked Olympic mode, which even goes as far as to exclude some of the official events from the Winter Olympics such as curling and ice hockey. There are far too few tracks to race on, you can't change any aspect of your character besides his/her nationality, and there are just too many missed opportunities to overlook. Yes, the speed will sometimes give you a funny feeling inside, and the challenges are good for a few laughs, so those with an affinity for winter sports may find joy here on the snowy peaks of Vancouver, but the rest of you are advised to leave this underachiever out on the ice.
Pros:
- Some events are nose-bleedingly fast
- Challenges are fun (and will net you some easy Gamerscore)
Cons:
- There is no sense of ceremony you expect from a worldwide event of this magnitude
- Controls, graphics and sound are all inconsistent
- Some aspects feels somewhat unfinished
Rating: 
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