No need to risk life and limb hurtling down a mountainside ! From the comfort of your own armchair it is now possible to take part in a series of winter sports events : alpine and cross country skiing, bobsleigh, ski jumping, biathlon and Nordic combined. A full package, with something for all the family.
Winter Challenge offers several modes of play and all are easily accessible. "Single Event" mode allows for a one-off event; "Winter Challenge" mode sees the gamer take control of a national team during an international competition and "Career" mode lets the player guide a single competitor from amateur to international level.
Easy access and easy gameplay
Cyanide's aim was to create a game for all the family, while still making Winter Challenge interesting for the seasoned gamer. Almost any player should be able to finish an event, but to do well requires plenty of application, especially in events where winning margins are counted in hundredths of seconds.
Easy to learn
All sports are covered by full tutorials that enable the essentials of each to be quickly understood. Moreover, once a player enters an event, two additional mechanisms help him/her to progress. First of all, the "Back in Time System" (BTS), present in alpine skiing and bobsleigh, means that an error is not necessarily disastrous. Should there be a missed gate, a fall or crash, it is possible to move up to 5 seconds back in time. Once the clock restarts the competitor can be put on a better trajectory or, simply, be slowed down so as to successfully renegotiate the passage. BTS thus allows all players to learn from their mistakes and to finish an event.
More seasoned players will benefit from the second mechanism that has been integrated into Winter Challenge. A "ghost" competitor is created, and continually updated, from the best performance in an alpine, bobsleigh or ski jumping event (for each slope, track and jumping hill). This allows a player to constantly race against his/her own best performance (or that achieved by another person) and to continually push back the threshold.
Several multiplayer modes
Winter Challenge offers several multiplayer modes, from competitions on the same PC to competitions over the Internet. "Hot Seat" mode enables gamers to race one after the other, using the same PC. It is easy to set up, allowing for fun competitions in a family setting. For those seeking real-time multiplayer gaming, the LAN/Internet mode allows for up to 8 gamers to compete in parallel, with each player viewing all other competitors as "ghosts". The winner's "ghost" can be downloaded for training before the next head-tohead. It is also possible to download the "ghosts" of the best performances recorded of all those who competed online. A dynamic ranking system is constantly being updated with up to the minute times/distances.
Each week, all gamers can go head-to-head in the event of their choice via "Winter Challenge" mode. A Winter Challenge exists for each event and competitions run from Saturday to Saturday. Armchair athletes from across the globe can therefore compete in a true worldwide winter sports extravaganza.
Price and availability
Winter Challenge is available for download from www.cyanide-studio.com via a PayPal guaranteed transaction. Price is 29.99 Euros (approx. £19.99 UK / $34.99 US). The game integrates several language versions, with manuals in PDF format.