Dark Summit Review

Director’s Commentary
I only produced a couple of pieces for Planet and, although I enjoyed writing for its younger target audience to a surprising degree, have no idea how well pitched my stuff actually was. Judge for yourself. Looking a little bit silly next to SSX, Dark Summit got a bit of a drubbing from most of my contemporaries; I thought I detected the spirit of Steep Slope Sliders hiding under the lightweight exterior, though, and marked it accordingly.

Dark Summit

PlayStation 2 | Published by: THQ| Developed by: Radical Entertainment

Where is it written that the Japanese are the only ones who’re allowed to be wacky, eh? Nowhere, that’s where… and looking at Dark Summit, a game so strange and unexpected that even our Bishi-Bashi-boy Kendall gives it a funny look, you can certainly tell!

Slippery Slopes
Maybe it’s the air in Canada, or perhaps it’s just the stress of being too close to America, but Planet is now officially worried about Radical Entertainment: Snowboarding Adventure (yes, you read that right) games which have players thwarting devious alien conspiracies whilst sliding down a mountain shouting “Yeee–haww!” just aren’t healthy. Not unless you’re the player, anyway… so, while the developers wait for the men in white coats to come and “offer” them sedation in that oh-so charmingly insistent and brutish way, we can be getting on with some top downhill action…

Cut To The Chase
Although everything you do in Dark Summit is related to its ridiculous (in a good way) plot, the game is really just a bunch of separate trials and challenges which you must complete to gain – no, not moolah you greedy, greedy urchin – points. Now that might not sound like a good deal straight away, but a nice fat score means more equipment for Naya, the plucky lass you control, and access to higher areas of the mountain. ‘Course, the nearer to the mysteriously closed-off summit you get, the harder things become with Chief O’ Leary, the sneaky mountain ranger, pulling out all the stops to prevent you boarding over his turf and discovering just what’s going on.

Dark Smells
None of this would mean much if the gameplay stank like an elephants arse in the summer though… not that the Planet team has any experience of such leathery posteriors but, phew, just imagine it eh? (Yuk!) Okay… now you’ve got that idea in your head, understand that Dark Summit’s fragrance is nothing like it, in fact [sniffs the disc] the thing itself is quite plasticy actually and the gameplay [sniffs the screen] smells like an orange: It’s a little bit awkward to get into, but the bulk of the game is very sweet indeed with only a few nasty pips managing to spoil things slightly.

Summit Up!
Indeedy, once you’ve got yourself familiar with Dark Summit’s controls, the only thing to really annoy you is the loading which occurs if you decide to restart a challenge… and even THAT doesn’t intrude on the fun too much! Obviously, if you’re looking for a normal (meaning… [YAWN!] …boring!) snowboarding game then this won’t be exactly what you’re after and, similarly, it’s not really a proper action adventure either. People in the mood for something a little bit quirky and different should still check Dark Summit out though – there’s just so much crammed in that you never know what’s gong to be on the menu next, whether it’s escaping the authorities, finding bombs, ruining snowmen, grinding someone’s dinner to bits (seriously) or just showing off by jumping buckets of green sludge. It might be full of snow, but this is one game that certainly won’t leave you cold!

(Originally published in Planet PlayStation magazine)