Xbox Reviews

Mark McMorris Infinite Air Review

Review Mark McMorris Infinite Air | Maximum Games, known from Alekhine’s Gun and Lichdom,  a developer that makes games with a lot of potential but somehow always manages to screw things up. Especially performance wise, things don’t always add up. Things aren’t really better with Infinite Air, a lot of potential with some really clever gameplay ideas but prepare to be annoyed, the game fails harder than me actually trying to snowboard in real life. 

THE GOOD

  • When, after some time you understand the mechanics things really feel like a snowboarding game. Maximum Games wasn’t afraid for bringing out a game for hardcore gamers and I totally respect that decision. They could have taken the arcade-path, making things easier for them.
  • One incredible feature is the world editor, first you can fly a helicopter to edit your mountain and afterwards you can place many unique objects and share your creations with other online players. It must have been difficult, but I’m very glad that the developer took the time to make this feature available. Like with every user created stuff, you can find more bad than good stuff. But the original and great created stuff make up for that. You have some real mind blowing creations! Not to mention it gives almost unlimited replay value.
  • Infinite Air is an impressive looking game, it has a few minor disappointments like very noticeable tree pop up and frame rate issues but the snow, tricks and especially the lighting look pretty good. Your character and the mountain are highly detailed, making it almost photo realistic.
  • After a few hours I disabled the music in the options, not because the soundtrack was bad but because the sound effects from the snowboard are so good. Hearing the snow break, the icy wind while jumping or in general the sound atmosphere is simply fantastic.

Mixed Feelings

  • I know the game tries to have a professional approach but besides sliding down the mountainside you don’t really have a reason to explore it. A few hidden collectibles would have been nice.

THE BAD

  • Never in my life did I see a more complicated start for a game, you are literally thrown right into the game without any explanation.  I didn’t immediately think about pressing start to see if it had a tutorial section so I spend minutes trying to figure out how things freaking worked. So after some frustration and finally finding the tutorial, new frustration is right around the corner with some confusing explanations on how things work. I spend quite a few minutes figuring out how to do some trick-moves. No seriously, I don’t understand that Maximum Games didn’t spend more time on making a good tutorial, now gamers will end up reselling the game after playing the first 30 minutes because they don’t understand it, and I can’t blame them for that.
  • Even after patches the frame rate issues are very obvious, they have been improved since the start (luckily) but you can’t call it a smooth experience.
  • It lacks more polish. It’s a shame because yet again Maximum Games brings out a game with potential but the lack of polish makes it hard to recommend. You can see it in every snowflake, Infinite Air is rushed into the marked. To give a few examples, you regularly spawn in an object or in a glitched animation,  landings don’t always go how they should and controls don’t always work like intended.

Score: 55% | I’m sure that a select few gamers will enjoy Infinite Air but for most it will be a disappointing downhill trip.  I would definitely check it out if you snowboard yourself or enjoy making user created levels but otherwise stay clear.  

 

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