Home
OS Scores Explained Mark McMorris Infinite Air Overview (PS4)
Pros
Graphics are solid, the open world concept offers some unique possibilities.
Cons
Controls are terrible, design of the gameplay lacking, an overall frustrating experience at every turn.
Bottom Line
Infinite Air is not close to the best snowboarding option out there, and it adds nothing new to bring you in.
3
out of 10
Mark McMorris Infinite Air REVIEW

Mark McMorris Infinite Air Review (PS4)

"What were they thinking?!"

That thought came to me time and time again as I tried to play Infinite Air. If the wonky and very poorly designed control scheme was not baffling enough, it was the mechanics themselves that made enjoying Mark McMorris Infinite Air seemingly impossible.

Simply put, this is one of the worst sports games of the year.

Gameplay

There are some basic elements in place with Infinite Air that make you think you are about to embark upon a pretty fun experience. The open worlds and ability to drop in just about anywhere -- along with the pretty solid graphics -- make you think for a moment that fun is about to be had.

Then you drop from the chopper and begin your ride.

First off, the controls are ridiculously difficult. Want to keep up speed down the mountain? You have to move your left analog stick left to right, but it can't be a smooth motion or your rider will switch orientation and instantly slow you down.

Then there's the imprecise move loading. The guide says about a second of loading a move is the right call to get the maximum effect, and that does seem to be the case. But there's no real guide and no real feeling of control when you start a spin or especially a flip.

Oh the flips.

You can slow your spins down somewhat, but when it comes to flips you are at the mercy of your timing and good fortune in terms of landing them. Literally landing a flip is...a flip of the coin.

I'll be here all night.

"The design decisions that went into Infinite Air make it seem like there was real intent to create a frustrating experience."

And worse yet, your run (whatever it is you are trying to do) is over if you mess up. Miss a trick and fall on your butt? You have to start the whole thing over and hope for the best.

And don't push square (on the PS4). All I know is that it instantly starts you over. So if you are making a great run and finally not messing, a misplaced button push will end it all instantly.

The design decisions that went into Infinite Air make it seem like there was real intent to create a frustrating experience. With that in mind, the goal was met. There's nothing about the gameplay experience of Infinite Air that's truly enjoyable, which is a shame because it does seem like the underlying mechanics powering the game could be quite enjoyable with a better designed riding experience.

Modes

The bright spot in Infinite Air is the inclusion of open worlds and a seemingly endless list of things to do down the mountains.

While the whole experience isn't quite clearly explained, once you start figuring out how runs work you'll start finding that there's a lot of depth here.

You can do timed races, half-pipes, runs down the mountain with trick scores as the main goal and more. If you can figure out the gameplay's wonky design, you'll have some fun with the variety of options available.

Final Thoughts

I'm not going to lie, in its current state, Infinite Air is just not a playable title for most people. You are going to have to overlook a lot of big flaws to find the enjoyment this game could offer.

The only positive this game has is how the open-worlds concept was designed, as its actually cleverly done. A game with far better gameplay mechanics would be wise to take some notes on how Infinite Air handles the open-world extreme sports concept.

The only people I'd recommend this to are hardcore snowboarding fans who simply don't want to play the other titles on the market right now. Even then, you may be better served skipping this.

Score: 3 (Subpar)


Member Comments
# 1 bowld @ 11/03/16 01:44 PM
I really hate to see this game get such bad scores. I personally am having a blast with this game. Yes, controls were different and it took me a full day just to get used to them. That being said, now that I am used to them its a blast!! The trick system allows you to ride as arcady as you want or as sim as you want which is awesome. There have already been some great parks built and by choosing to play sim I can session the same parks for hours at a time without ever getting bored. Seems like every review I have read claims that the controls are hard so the game sucks..
 
# 2 209vaughn @ 11/03/16 02:01 PM
WOW i'm extremely surprised you gave this game a 3. What a shame. It might be over priced, but it's a quite a fun game.

1) It's realistic - how many extreme games can say this?
2) It's open world - how many extreme sports game can say this?
3) You can share content with others
4) Course design
5) Controls are not terrible; they actually take time to master. OMG what a concept.
 
# 3 rick diesel @ 11/03/16 02:34 PM
Review seems a bit harsh from what I have seen of the game. Sure there are some issues that keep the game from being truly good (body physics lack realism, imo), but you didn't even mention the ability to create your own slopes, which is a main feature and something new the game offers, and is what intrigues me the most about the game. The creators of this game wanted it to play fairly realistic, so it is not a surprise that controls would be difficult to pick up on unlike most arcade style games. Games shouldn't be knocked for requiring a bit of time to get the hang of the controls, that usually means that there is some actual depth and skill involved in playing the game, though from your review it does sound there are some layout issues that should be improved in future updates.
 
# 4 greenbomber @ 11/03/16 02:36 PM
My problem with testers in general is they don't spend time on a game. If you cant master it fast its garbage. No its not garbage just because its not easy, Its just not for you. To give a low score because a game is not for you is ignorant and says a lot about you as a reviewer but its all to common with critics in general because they gotta review the next game then the next. The gaming world forgets the 80s and 90s when games were hard as hell. Now a days, a lot of gamers need instant gratification to be happy. If they cant get it in the first hr, the game is trash.

You wait one year from now this game will be still trending and your score of 3 will be set in concrete and solidify you as an armature reviewer.
 
# 5 GrandMaster B @ 11/03/16 02:44 PM
Yeah it sounded a little like you spent an hour with it and because it was too hard, you gave it a 3.
 
# 6 greenbomber @ 11/03/16 03:13 PM
Seriously. Watch what a person can do if they practice the game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HsAGpQYYiY and here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyadKwBqn5Q

You show me sports game that gives you that level of control outside of skate.

As you said "worst sports games of the year." seriously? seriously? Your review is the only 3 I see.
 
# 7 WhiteBunny @ 11/03/16 03:22 PM
It really seems the spiritual successor of Skate 1/2/3.
 
# 8 DBMcGee3 @ 11/03/16 03:30 PM
A 3 sounds harsh for any game, but this one has a 47 on Metacritic thus far, so let's not act like Chris is the only one who didn't enjoy it.

Is this one a full $60?
 
# 9 greenbomber @ 11/03/16 03:32 PM
its only the critics that are being hard on the game. They dont want to spend time on them. 7 out of 10 on steam from users. Critics are the problem.
 
# 10 Buddywalker @ 11/03/16 04:07 PM
Thanks for the warning.

I think I will probably go with Ubisoft's "Steep" in December. If they don't fully mess up with the controls and trick system Steep could be a big title for most winter sports fans.
 
# 11 bowld @ 11/03/16 04:21 PM
I played the Steep beta and own this game. IF you are looking for a pure snowboarding game in the same style as Skate, this is the game for you. Steep was fun but is not a pure snowboarding sim. Its basically a winter/mountain game that happens to have snowboarding in it. Steep seemed to play better when racing or just riding but when it comes to jumps, rails and boxes this is the game to get
 
# 12 BuckTurbo @ 11/03/16 07:54 PM
First off, everyone is entitled to their opinion… but this review is ridiculous. The game is not easy, in fact, it is hard, but you have missed the mark on many things and are really doing your readers, the developers, and yourself a big disservice.

This is not an NHL (ENTER YEAR HERE) game. You don’t know the controls yet, and you won't until you’ve played it for a while. Remember gaming? Putting in time? Investing your interest? How games used to be, especially ones that take a risk and break a few boundaries.

It’s enjoyable to people who enjoy video games and don’t take art and hard work for granted. You got a free code, played for 15 minutes, scratched your ***, poured a mason jar of cheap chardonnay, and typed a very misinformed review. The word “editor” doesn’t show up once in your review… you know, one of the biggest components of this title?

The tools of the world editor are robust and inspire creativity. You are encouraged to make stuff for you and your friends to ride. Did you open that part of the menu? You should; go have some fun.

As for - ‘what were they thinking’. They were thinking they’d make something challenging, creative, and different, but clearly they need a “PUSH X TO PAY RESPECTS” level for reviewers like yourself who phone it in.

To quote a modern day Einstein:
Simply put, this is one of the worst sports reviews of the year.

0/10 Operation Sports.
 
# 13 Buddywalker @ 11/03/16 08:42 PM
I don't like to work hard in my spare time. My day job is hard enough, so I like it easy in my free time.

If I need nearly an hour for learning the controls of a game it's not fun anymore.
 
# 14 BuckTurbo @ 11/03/16 09:16 PM
Buddywalker, I get it, jobs suck hard, that's totally fine. I love coming home and relaxing with an easy game. But your interpretation of a game being too hard isn't going to influence the sales of a game.

Question:
Do you have a dedicated website towards sports that could cripple a games reputation and potentially put people out of jobs? Is that in your "spare time" agenda?

I would assume not.

Your job isn't to review a game; If it was, you would play for longer than the length of 2 "Dharma And Greg" episodes. You know?

This stuff unfortunately matters to the success of a game.

This game has a user review of over 7/10 for a reason, people who stick with it and want to be creative thrive. Reviewers....eh....not so much.
 
# 15 stocksy @ 11/04/16 02:47 AM
"If I need an hour to learn controls it's not fun"

People really do need instant ego massaging gratification these days don't they...

There are games from my childhood I still haven't mastered 25/30 years on.

It's a while generation of "if I'm not good at it - it's the games fault not mine"

Bonkers

I assumed most games felt that if they game was too easy it was bad. Looking at reviews it seems all people want is dumbed down one button press starts an animated squence type game.

I'm not very good at video games. I don't pick up new control schemes easily but that's part of the fun and reward.

"What were they thinking?"

Innovate don't imitate I'd imagine.
 
# 16 DBMcGee3 @ 11/04/16 03:06 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by DBMcGee3
A 3 sounds harsh for any game, but this one has a 47 on Metacritic thus far, so let's not act like Chris is the only one who didn't enjoy it.

Is this one a full $60?
I retract this statement. Just spent like a half hour watching several videos of the game, and these guys don't seem to have any issues with the controls at all. Looks incredibly fun to me.

Now I have a decision to make, dammit.
 
# 17 Pappy Knuckles @ 11/05/16 10:54 AM
Still haven't read the review, but the backlash in here made me dig up info on the game. After reading some positive things and seeing the video posted below, I've decided to give it a chance. Downloading now. A steep learning curve doesn't bother me, especially now that I see what kind of runs are possible. Plus HB Studios treated me well with the Golf Club, so that helped make getting this an easier decision also. Gonna give it some run in a bit and see what's up.

 
# 18 temaat89 @ 11/05/16 03:15 PM
This is a good game....once you get used to the controls
 
# 19 Pappy Knuckles @ 11/05/16 06:11 PM
I'm starting to get the hang of this game a little bit now. I really enjoy this a lot, but it took me about an hour before I was able to put up this score. It feels great when you're able to land a good trick. I enjoy this more than I did the steep Alpha. Steep was prettier (although this isn't a bad looking game), but it wasn't as fun to play. Snow looks kind of weak based on what I've seen of it and I'm not spending $20 to test a free-to-play game.

 
# 20 209vaughn @ 11/06/16 12:55 AM
I've been coming to Operation Sports for years. I'm going to say this with 100% sincerity.

This review is irresponsible. The guy failed to mention many of the points of the game. These kinds of reviews are a HUGE deterant to quality indie-devs who are working to put out a quality product. If you think the game is not very good, it should be given something like a 6. You gave it a 3, which is pretty much saying that it's garbage and shouldn't even have been made. THAT IS OBVIOUSLY NOT HOW THIS GAME IS.

"Then there's the imprecise move loading. The guide says about a second of loading a move is the right call to get the maximum effect, and that does seem to be the case. But there's no real guide and no real feeling of control when you start a spin or especially a flip."

There are helpful tutorials. Btw.

"You can slow your spins down somewhat, but when it comes to flips you are at the mercy of your timing and good fortune in terms of landing them. Literally landing a flip is...a flip of the coin:

You do realize that's how it is in real life?

"And don't push square (on the PS4). All I know is that it instantly starts you over. So if you are making a great run and finally not messing, a misplaced button push will end it all instantly."

Meh, they can patch in a fix for this, who cares?
 

« Previous12Next »

Post A Comment
Only OS members can post comments
Please login or register to post a comment.