Alpine Racer 3 screenshots   The Final Say! Gameplay 8.7 Graphics 7.0 Sound 7.0 Value 8.2 Alpine Racer 3 -  reviewed by Andrew B  Review Date: 2 December 2002 Review Score 8.2/10 Distributed By: Sony

"A return to good old fashioned arcade action and more importantly ...FUN!" Alpine Racer 3 is the third game of the alpine racing trilogy by Namco. Alpine Racer 3 is based on the popular arcade game that actually had the player strap on a pair of ski's in order to play the game. Unlike the arcade versions, Alpine Racer 3 features improved graphics, characters and gameplay that is a step above the previous games.  Alpine Racer 3 features eight different playable characters that all specialize in different winter sports such as cross country skiing, downhill skiing, snow blading and freestyle snowboarding. Although the characters are efficient in their chosen field, they all have different ratings in power, speed and turning that actually does make a huge difference to gameplay. The more races you win, the more money you will receive and lets you upgrade your equipment or even change the type of equipment you are racing on. For example, you can change from ski's to snowboards if you feel for something different. As with most racing games, the more courses you win, the more courses are unlocked in the game. The controls of Alpine Racer 3 are extremely easy to pick up and you don't need to memorize every button on the DualShock for the game solely focuses on pure adrenaline pumping speed and you don't need to perform any tricks in order to succeed to the next level or course of the game. The main controls of the game are actually just left and right. There are three standard modes of gameplay that include Slalom, Cross Race & Time Attack and can be played either against the computer or against a human opponent. The last mode in the game is called the Extreme Winner's Cup and is basically a career mode challenge that lets you win cash for races and allows you to upgrade to faster racing equipment. The main object of Alpine Racer 3 is to achieve the maximum speed as possible so you can win the race. However, there are a variety of obstacles in the way such as tight corners, cliffs, trees, rocks and even moving obstacles such as avalanches, trains and opponent skiers.  Namco have decided to take the realism on the game one step further and have actually based the courses on real life ski runs that include France and Switzerland. There are also some strange manmade creations in the game that really portray a sense of magic and wonder.

As with most Namco games, the characters play a pivotal role in the storyline and there is a magnificent CGI movie at the start of the game that shows their motivations and why they wish to win the alpine racing tournament.

Graphically, Alpine Racer 3 isn't the most impressive game on the market at the moment but it's probably one of the best winter sport games around and really does put a sense of speed across when you are racing down alpine slopes at ridiculously fast speeds. The backgrounds are unfortunately quite dull but there are various special effects such as lighting and detailed textures to keep gamers interested. The game also features some awesome weather effects, whether its the sunshine on the alpine slopes or the deadly winter blizzards. The characters in the game are well animated but unfortunately are made up of a small polygon count so they appear to be quite blocky and square shaped. Alpine Racer 3 also maintains a constant 60 frames per second to ensure for some of the smoothest racing possible on the PlayStation2 . Although generally a bland game graphically, the awesome introduction CGI movie is worth the admission alone. 

Alpine Racer 3 contains all the right sound effects you would expect to hear when racing on snow, such as the sounds of ski's gliding on snow or the background noises of avalanches and trains. The voice acting is nothing short of outrageously bad acting but it really suits the game perfectly. Characters are from around the world but have a really strong American accent. This all adds to the magic of Namco's Alpine Racer 3!

Alpine Racer 3 is a great little arcade game that will guarantee gamers and their friends hours of competitive enjoyment. Although it doesn't win many medals on the graphics front, the game is highly addictive. Check it out!

- Andrew B