Shredders from the publisher and developer Foam Punch is an excellent snowboarding game that will grip you with its indie charm. If you’re a fan of snowboarding, this is a title you definitely should not overlook because the gameplay is excellent.
Originally released last year on PC and Xbox, Shredders is a game where players will take on the role of a snowboarder that’s a part of Shreddageddon. Shreddageddon is a duo of snowboarder content creators who just so happen to be in the right place at the right time.
At the start of the game, the pair are scouted by Lisa, a brand manager at 540 Indy, a far more popular snowboarding company. She notices that you and your pal Scotty are pulling off some sick moves on the slopes and since her star snowboarder is out with an injury, you two are the perfect substitute for her content-creating ways.
Fast forward a bit and you’ll be completing some crazy tricks for Lisa while she records footage to use across 540 Indy’s social media. The story in Shredders is about as throwaway as you can get but it does a good enough job of propelling you forward towards completing increasingly difficult trials and tricks.
The game doesn’t take itself too seriously either and there are plenty of fourth wall-breaking comments thrown around by Scotty and by Lisa herself. It’s all done in the name of fun and the fun is certainly a key factor here. Shredders is quite straightforward when it comes to its control scheme and this is why the game is so great.
Players will use both analog sticks and the shoulder buttons on the controller to pull off tricks. You’ll be able to control your speed and by releasing the right trigger at the right time, you’ll be able to launch yourself into the air to pull off tricks. Using the left and right analog stick together, you’ll control your body and your snowboard. Getting to grips with pulling off tricks isn’t too hard. The game eases you into the more hardcore tricks throughout the course of the story.
The story itself will take you around 4 hours to complete and probably a little bit longer if you want to 100% it and get the maximum amount of smileys for each level. There are some levels which require a bit more precision in pulling off your tricks and these add to the game’s replayability factor.
In addition to the story, players can also freely ride around and there is multiplayer in the game too. Player customization in Shredders is limited to the outfits that you wear and everyone in the game has their face obscured by masks and goggles. The game pokes fun at this itself and honestly, you can’t even be mad about it because of how fun the game is.
Shredders is the type of game you’ll be hooked on as soon as you get the hang of pulling off tricks. There’s just something extremely fun about flinging yourself off a rocky peak or a ramp and pulling off some crazy snowboard spins and flips. Being able to instantly reset yourself if you crash also helps with the fun factor since there’s no waiting for loading screens. Miss a trick? Just instantly reset yourself a few seconds back and try again.
On PlayStation 5, Shredders runs almost flawlessly with only a minor hiccup with the sound quality occurring every now and then during cutscenes. For some inexplicable reason, the sound seems to become distorted and then normalises itself again mid-conversation. Thankfully the rest of the game’s soundtrack is fine with the music in the background is perfectly suited to the type of game Shredders is.
The voice acting is performed by actual snowboarding legends voicing themselves in the game and this is a nice touch. Though do be warned again, this game really doesn’t take itself too seriously so expect a lot of slang and colloquialisms in the speech.
Overall, Shredders on PlayStation 5 is great. If you’re a fan of snowboarding games that just focus on pure snowboarding fun and tricks, Shredders will appeal to you. The free ride mode offers a lot of enjoyment too since you can freely snowboard around and perform tricks to your heart’s content. This game comes highly recommended by us!
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X and Series S
Reviewed on PS5
Enjoy the review? want to read more of our reviews? then click right here to be whisked away to the realm of our opinions.
You must be logged in to post a comment.