Despite some technical and usability flaws, STEEP manages to deliver a satisfying extreme winter sports experience, with a well balanced gameplay between arcade and simulation and a ton of things to do in a huge and surprisingly varied environment. A welcome return for a long gone genre.

Steep is a very good game, especially for a genre that has gone by the wayside for a while. The paragliding may feel boring to most people, but the skiing, snowboarding and wingsuit diving are exciting and well implemented enough to make up for that inclusion. The emphasis on open-world traversal over conquering specific events makes this a game with a much more relaxed feel, but it still provides tons of exciting moments for those who are open to such a change from the action sports template. Even if the winter sports selection were much larger on the current console generation, Steep would still be worth checking out.

There are some things to like about Steep, particularly its open world approach to snow sports, but it doesn't quite all gel well together. If you're looking for a snowboard stunt game, then you should pass on Steep because that's not the focus of the game. On the other hand, if you enjoy snow sports, then it's worth checking out. You'll have enough fun exploring the large amount of terrain contained in the game that you'll get your money's worth from it before it reaches the point where it begins to feel played out.

Steep is an admirable effort from Ubisoft Annecy, one that is chock full of decent ideas, but held back by others. This simulation extreme sports title lays down the foundations for what could turn out to be another staple in Ubisoft’s ever growing catalogue.

Steep is a game that's never really sure what it is, and its vagueness and lack of meaningful rewards causes it to suffer in any comparisons to the likes of SSX. But there's a quiet thrill to exploring the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc, and snowed-in Alpine villages. It's a strangely attractive approach for all its qualifications, and there's a constant sense that Ubisoft is channeling George Mallory's famous response when asked why he wanted to scramble up Mount Everest: "Because it's there."

Steep is a great game marred by odd design decisions that drag it down a few notches. With some tweaks and band-aids this could easily be one of the better games of 2016, but the nagging issues found here are enough to make me not want to play it for more than an hour or so at a time.

The emphasis on freedom is undermined by the game being a series of challenges. The allure of exploration is undone by the ability to teleport anywhere. The loose and wacky physics system belies the real-world setting. These are all disconnects that Steep can't reconcile, and it's a stranger and more off-putting experience because of it.