| I must confess to some apprehension when reviewing this game. There have been a lot of snowboard games out there lately and considering there has not been a great deal of industry buzz surrounding Dark Summit, I wasn't too sure what exactly to expect..... upon starting the game however I was very, very impressed. Something to understand about this game is that it's not trying to be a SSX Tricky or Shaun Palmer style of game. This is a mission based snowboarding game that is an absolute treat to play. Everything is yours for the unlocking, from new characters to runs on the mountain. And what a mountain it is! Mt. Garrick is one of the nicest that I have had the pleasure of snowboarding, however for some reason the chief ranger, O'Leary has decided that snowboarders are not welcome on his mountain. What is he up to? A secret group have banded together and via burst transmissions recruit you the player to find out why things are progressing they way they are. Missions are set for you and they can be something as simple as 5 grab tricks, progressing to avoiding contact with Mountain Security. Graphically the title rocks and runs seems to go forever and ever. Frame rates are constant and character and environmental animations are smooth and well realised. Tricks are easy to do and the average gamer will soon be doing great stunts in no time. However this is where any similarity to other snowboarding games ends. Yes tricks will score you more points but the focus is on getting those missions accomplished. Doing tricks though will enable you to buy bigger and better gear. Game AI is well done and when being chased by security they certainly do not make things easy for you. Almost everything in the game environment is interactive and I had just as much fun crashing into things as I had doing the actual missions. Run into a snowman and have bits of him rolling down the hill with you. That's what good games are all about: adding the obvious little details. That's why games such as Metal Gear Solid 2 have such acclaim. | 
