(ATR) With the release of its new game, Torino 2006 - the Official Video Game of the XX Olympic Winter Games, 2K Games looks to end a long streak of sub par Olympic video games, including Sony's Athens 2004 and Konami's Nagano Winter Olympics '98.
However, the developers fell flat in several areas, leading to a disappointing game. To start with, the box advertises the opportunity to compete in 15 different events. However, there are actually 8 events: alpine skiing, bobsleigh, luge, speed skating, ski jumping, biathlon, cross-country, and nordic combined. Some of the events have variations that add up to the announced 15. Not included in the game: curling, figure skating, snowboarding, and hockey.
The biggest downfall of the game: there is no major difference in the events. For example, bobsleigh and luge are mechanically the same, except for the vehicle used in competition. The course in cross-country is the same as in the nordic combined, and biathlon, with the latter two either adding the same track used in the ski jumping event, or a shooting course in biathlon. Overall, it's just gets too repetitive too easily. It would have been great to see some modification in the types of events, or even more sports in general (although Olympic hockey can be found in NHL 2K6).
Another big problem is that the controls in the events themselves are way too simplistic. In the luge/bobsleigh, the race consists of pushing a button to start and using the control stick to keep away from the walls. There are some cases where the controls are good, however. In speed skating, you have to press and hold buttons to match the stride of the racer.
Another disappointment with the game: the graphics, which look good in the fly-by shots before each events, but the movements of the athlete models are often chunky and erratic. The sound is boring, featuring repetitive and listless announcers that sound like they want to be far away from things as possible (considering how great 2K is at getting voiceover talent for its other games, they could at least get some NBC announcers to participate).
If you are a diehard Olympic fan who has to know what it feels like to compete in the winter games, then Torino 2006 might be a fun rental for a day or so. Other than that, it's best to wait to see if Sega's upcoming Beijing 2008 game can break the Olympic video game curse.
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