A brand new IP is always cause for celebration, especially when it's in a genre not often graced with newcomers. One of those genres that has been stagnant for some time is the snowboarding genre, which some say peaked with SSX, still considered one of the best retro sports games.
The new title is called Shredders, and it is a sports game dedicated exclusively to snowboarding. Coming to Xbox Game Pass in December of this year, so far there is only one trailer, which debuted at E3 during the Xbox showcase. At this point little is known about its gameplay except that it's about snowboarding.
Consisting exclusively of mountainside routes, both clearly marked and not, there's a lot of beautiful snow being shredded. Trails linger in the deep drifts as multiple snowboarders travel together down the slopes, regularly flipping off cliffs and doing tricks. The speed at which they descend is pretty quick, but nothing extreme. Still, if it controls well and manages to look as nice as it does in the trailer all the way through, it may carve a real space for itself alongside VR snowboarding game Carve.
The trailer definitely leaves more questions than answers. Even if all footage is captured in-game as the trailer claims, there's still the question of perspective. It seems like Shredders may be a third person game, but the camera moves around so much it's tough to tell for sure. Maybe the perspective can be changed like it is in the trailer, which would certainly make for some good gameplay clips if players want to make trick compilations. If this is indeed one of the features, it could prove a competitor to classics like 1080 Snowboarding, even if the later comes to the Switch.
What will really make or break Shredders though is its gameplay, which will be seriously scrutinized. Players who love snowboarding games have a limited pool to draw from, so comparisons will be inevitable and harsh. Merely handling better than Breath of the Wild's snowboarding is not enough, it must handle like a dream.
Finally, Shredders will have to have its fair share of extras and impressive features for one very simple reason: Riders Republic. Ubisoft's Riders Republic is coming out before Shredders and features multiple extreme sports, including snowboarding. If Shredders wants a dedicated playerbase, it needs a reason for players to choose it over Riders Republic whenever they want a snowboarding simulator.
Shredders will release exclusively for Xbox Game Pass in December 2021.