Shredders, from snowboarding enthusiast development team FoamPunch, is truly a love letter to all things snowboarding. It's clear from the game's goofy story to the way players move through the diverse mountain regions that this game seeks to pay loving homage to the likes of Amped, SSX, and Transworld Snowboarding, all while carving (pun intended) out a place of its own in the extreme sports gaming genre.
This snowboarding indie game is truly a ton of fun, even with all of its quirks, design flaws, and inherent jank. Players that are seeking a fun and lighthearted snowboarding game should look no further than Shredders. There's so much snowboarding goodness to be had in this game and here are the things we love about the game along with the things we dislike about the experience.
7 Love: That Pure Feeling Of Snowboarding
Shredders does many things right but easily one of the very best is how it instills that pure feeling of snowboarding down a mountain, whether that be tricking off a jump in the terrain park or simply gliding through powder through some trees. FoamPunch, the developers, did a phenomenal job of creating a sense of snowboarding freedom and expression.
Shredders does lean more into the simulation aspects of the genre, much like Skater XL or Session does for skateboarding. There's really no wrong way to play Shredders, something that enhances the overall experience. Fans of all things snowboarding will really love the fluidity, responsiveness, and precision when it comes to turning and carving in this powder-filled world.
6 Dislike: The Numerous Bugs And Glitches
While Shredders feels like a joy to play, there are unfortunately many technical bugs, glitches, and issues, something that can, at times, mar the otherwise perfectly enjoyable snowboarding experience. One of the more egregious glitches comes in the form of hit detection or collision detection. Lining up a rail grind (jib) or even landing from a big trick could mean disaster if things are completed just right.
None of these issues are game-breaking by any means, however, they can sometimes take budding snowboarders out of the experience. The game also has many graphical issues such as environmental or texture pop-in problems along with a general level of jank inherent to smaller-budget games such as this one.
5 Love: The Goofy And Charming Story
Something that was a major surprise to many players when they first booted up Shredders is that the game has an entire story mode. Many similar extreme sports games, especially simulation ones, often just throw players into the thick of the action, eschewing any narrative in favor of pure gameplay. While there's certainly nothing wrong with that, Shredders hopes to engage players with its goofy story.
The story here revolves around two snowboarders, namely, a cameraman and the player character. These two characters run a mildly successful YouTube channel called Shreddageddon. These two quirky snowboarders just want to ride, perform awesome tricks, land some insane moves, and hopefully meet some professional snowboarders along the way. There may or may not be a competition they hope to enter into as well.
4 Dislike: The Steep Challenge Level
Something many players might dislike about Shredders is the steep challenge level. As mentioned before, this game leans more into the simulation aspects of the sport. Tricks are pulled off via the thumbsticks, much like in the Skate series of games. Tricks don't seem to be canned animations but are more based on momentum and physics. While these aspects make for a fun time, they can be very challenging to master.
The game does walk players through intensive tutorials that tie into the game's bonkers narrative, however, it's likely many players will make tons of mistakes along the way; and there's nothing wrong with that.
3 Love: Being Able To Rewind Time
Since the game can be so darn challenging to get to grips with, it's fortunate that developers FoamPunch added in a super handy feature whereby players can rewind time over and over again to fix any mistakes. Given the nature of snowboarding, players are always moving downhill which means it can be tough to inherently retry a trick. Shredders comes to the rescue with a quick rewind feature.
At any time during gameplay, players can simply hold down a button over and over again to rewind once or multiple times in order to better line up that perfect trick or grind. On top of that, and similarly, players can also call a snowmobile at certain intervals to take them around parts of the mountain.
2 Dislike: Lack Of Gameplay Modes
Another major downfall that many players are bummed with in Shredders is a lack of overall game modes. There is really only the single-player story mode and some persistent multiplayer where other boarders are riding around at the same time. It's unfortunate that a game that captures the pure sense of snowboarding would skip out on a plethora of game modes.
Perhaps in the future the devs could add in some extra, more specific game modes. However, the single-player content does constantly throw new challenges at the player. From terrain parks to races to backcountry runs, there is always something fun to partake in while playing Shredders.
1 Love: Tons Of Player Customization
Another thing that Shredders does incredibly well is customization. Almost every aspect of the player character can be customized via unlocked cosmetic rewards. These rewards come in the form of jackets, hats, bindings, boots, and snowboards, just to name a few. These are all organically unlocked as players progress through the story mode.
Being able to open up the menu and swap out gear at any time is such a fun treat. All of this might be superfluous overall, however, it adds in some great replay value and longevity. Most of the products are actual real-world snowboarding branded products which just goes to show the level of commitment by the devs.