What happens when you combine the awesome action of snowboarding with an action adventure theme? You have my friends what is known as Dark Summit. This is most likely the first game of its kind, but does this combination of sport and action actually work? Readers, you may ultimately decide after this review.

Fans who loved SSX Tricky and the Cool Boarders series may become disappointed with this title because it may not be what they expect from a snowboarding based title. The game is more or less mission based so fans will either love the collaboration or despise it. When first seeing early demos of this title, it seemed as if this would be a breathtaking game visually. The graphics that are presented in game, I did not find to be too impressive. I was expecting this to be on a DVD format, but I was sadly disappointed. There are slight instances of pop-up of objects that are in the background when running through levels. This should not be an issue as we now live in the age of 128 bit systems and more! The graphics for the character design are also quite sub-par. Visually, when the scenery and the character design are on screen, there was nothing that made my eyes pop out and say WOW. I am sorry, maybe I have been spoiled by the visual presentation of SSX Tricky

Now lets have a look at the gameplay. An essential part of every game on the market is for user friendly controls. Moves on the snowboard can be achieved through button combinations. However, there is a concern here! I noticed when executing these maneuvers the reaction time is very sluggish and noticeable. There is a slight delay from what you command in hand and what is actually done on screen. If you have tried or own any of the other PS2 snowboarding titles, then this will stand out as a sore thumb. It is obvious that this may be a new venture from this developer and should be looked into for future improvement if we must see a possible franchise.

The sound in this game is average as well. I was pleased to see that the mayhem that I caused on the slopes was recognized by my antagonist with verbal confirmation. At least they were on point there! The sound effects were nothing of a stellar performance but I could not complain too much here. The aural experience of this game has so far stayed consistent with the quality of this game, average.

Does this game hold the ticket value of what it may cost on the shelf at your favorite video game store? Well the cost of a rental may be actually what this title is worth. Snowboarding fans may see the limited trick moves and senseless missions as a travesty. And action adventure fans may say "Why am I snowboarding here?" Maybe a different approach should be taken towards this genre or perhaps just not attempted at all. Over all this game may be tossed and forgotten once it has been completed, and that's assuming someone can bare to play this game for that long. In a nutshell I would have to say great concept, sub-average attempt.