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Review: Carve Snowboarding
When Facebook held the very first Oculus Gaming Showcase in April 2021 there was lots of excitement regarding what new videogames might appear. In fact, most of the news was focused on updates for existing titles. Only one was actually brand new, Chuhai Labs’ Carve Snowboarding, gaining plenty of interest considering the studios’ CEO Giles Goddard worked on 1080° Snowboarding for the N64 back in the ‘90s. Bringing that knowledge into VR, Carve Snowboarding offers up a tantalising slice of downhill goodness.
The Oculus Quest library isn’t short of sports titles but what it is completely devoid of is anything related to snowboarding. That’s probably because trying to create mechanics which naturally involve your feet isn’t particularly easy. While stick controls work perfectly fine for normal, flatscreen snowboarding videogames that method of input just won’t cut it in VR. So the biggest worry was always going to be how Carve Snowboarding makes you feel like you’re zipping down a mountain like a pro snowboarder whilst retaining that immersive quality everyone loves about VR.
And to Chuhai Labs’ credit the system it’s created is wonderfully simple yet natural enough that even on the first course, gliding past obstacles and jumping into the air felt seamless. Whether you ride regular or goofy the basics remain the same, your front hand controls the front of the board and backhand the back. Lift both up at the same time to jump. This means the main snowboarding controls are buttonless, gently moving those hands to change direction. To begin with, the front steering control was all that was needed, cutting through the soft snow to the bottom of the mountain. It’s only when you start tricking that the complexity kicks in.
These are a combination of spins and board grabs (obviously), with six points on the boards to grab and perform various manoeuvres. Even though Carve Snowboarding isn’t in any way casual, thankfully Chuhai Labs didn’t go down the route of fully performing 360’s. All you do is hold the trigger down and the board spins beneath you. That might not sound immersive but the system works perfectly well, and the alternative of virtually spinning around and around like a spinning top would be incredibly uncomfortable for most players.
Once acquainted with the controls Carve Snowboarding is truly an exhilarating experience, whether you’re on the ground or in the air, it is a lot of fun. The wind whistles past your ear increasing as your speed picks up and there’s a suitable rumble when you go off course and into the deeper snow.
Away from the mountains it embraces the ethos that VR videogames need more than just a bunch of menu’s, they need a nice hub area you can settle into, Carve Snowboarding drops you into a nice wooden cabin full of the usual luxuries. You’ve got a big screen TV acting as your mode control, a rack of snowboards is on the wall for you to muse through; giving a retro vibe is the cassette boombox, plus there’s a roaring log fire to warm those hands-on. It’s a cosy, well thought out location, providing a suitable reprieve to the snow-based exploits to come.
Carve Snowboarding is about two things, speed and creativity. Levels are split between a Time Attack mode and a Freestyle Mode – no guesses for how those work – so you’re either bombing down the mountain as fast as possible trying not to face-plant a boulder or looking for the best trick opportunities to score big within two minutes. That is your lot though, there’s no narrative to speak of or character to embody, just you and those challenges to beat.
Which is fine, there’s nothing wrong with pure snowboarding but it does feel a bit lifeless, even with a pet pooch curdled up on your cabin’s bed to fuss. Even some of the most basic VR titles have a little bit of a backstory to ground you in the experience. Elements like the music system with its customisable playlist do help to alleviate some of that void but not enough. A multiplayer might have helped yet Carve Snowboarding offers a lonely mountain just for you. Time Attack features Global and Friend leaderboards so there’s a bit of competition, strangely nothing for Freestyle.
There’s plenty to explore and Carve Snowboarding actively encourages it with a bunch of hidden collectables. Each of the six courses offers multiple routes to find as you try to shave vital seconds off a time, however, it’s worth keeping an eye out for the spinning icons which will award you new boards, gloves and tunes to listen to. Boards are the most highly prized as they have different stats, some better in deep snow whilst others are good to trick with. This means if you’re struggling with a certain medal then locating a new board might just help.
And there will be moments of struggle. Unlocking new locations means getting five medals from the previous one, with each mode providing four with a total of eight per area. Chuhai Labs has set the challenge level high so repetition is a given, meaning you’ll need to sink a good few hours into the experience. It did seem amiss though that there wasn’t a free play option to explore the locations without a timer.
As for comfort Carve Snowboarding is most definitely on the intense side of the scale. Literally, as you start the software the very first box issues an intensity warning with the option to add a vignette – an apt snow vignette. In actuality, after several hours of playing there wasn’t the faintest whisper of discomfort, even after ploughing into several trees in a row. There is the option to play seated should you need it, although Carve Snowboarding definitely isn’t a sofa game.
Saying Carve Snowboarding is the best experience of its type is a bit mute considering the lack of competitors on Oculus Quest. That said, any that do come along will have a tough time competing against Chuhai Labs’ winter offering. What it lacks in personality and charm Carve Snowboarding makes up for with (mostly) on point mechanics and adrenaline-charged gameplay which will make most players smile – or barf! Even after hours going down the same 6 mountains there always seemed to be a new gap to venture through and most importantly, it never got boring.
Carve Snowboarding Drops Onto Oculus Quest Tomorrow
A month ago Chuhai Labs revealed an exciting project coming to Oculus Quest, Carve Snowboarding. Coming from the mind behind 1080° Snowboarding for N64, Giles Goddard, there isn’t very long to wait to see the videogame in action as it arrives tomorrow.
Carve Snowboarding looks set to offer some intense snow shredding action as players take to the slopes, filled with huge jumps, grind rails, multiple paths and a lot of dangerous-looking rocks to avoid. Not much has been revealed about the gameplay besides that first trailer in April so it’ll be interesting to see how Chuhai Labs handles both steering a snowboard as well-performing tricks.
Expectations are high considering Goddard’s previous projects, plus he recently conducted a Reddit AMA in which he remarked: “I’ve been an avid snowboarder for many years yeah and all my kids are too. I’ve always wanted to make a VR snowboarding game and the Quest is the first piece of hardware that lets you do that properly due to it being truly wireless.”
The gameplay will be split between two modes by the looks of it, a Time Attack mode which is all about speed and getting down the mountain as fast as possible. The other is a Freestyle Mode which is all about scoring those big points, pulling off major tricks using anything and everything on the courses.
The courses will also feature glowing collactables to pick on route. These seem to range from new tape tracks to add to your boom box and of course new boards. In true snowboarding fashion these will probably feature various stats depending on what type of rider you are and whether you need a board for tricks or speed.
Carve Snowboarding hits Oculus Quest on 27th May, retailing for $19.99 USD. VRFocus will continue its coverage of the snowboarding title, reporting back with further updates.
A Winter Downhill Wonderland Awaits in Carve Snowboarding
If you’re of a certain age, remember 90’s gaming and owned an N64 then you may recall 1080° Snowboarding, one of the platform’s best sporting titles and seen as a benchmark for future games of that ilk. Well, one of its creators, Giles Goddard has teamed up with Chuhai Labs to create a spiritual successor in virtual reality (VR), Carve Snowboarding.
Announced during the Oculus Gaming Showcase today, Carve Snowboarding is set to offer all the thrills and highspeed excitement of this extreme sport, hurtling down mountains, performing giant leaps, grinding rails and pulling tricks to win big. Details so far come from the first announcement trailer, highlighting some of the courses, gameplay, and a few additional extras.
Carve Snowboarding will have a nice wooden hut as your base of operations by the looks of things, with an old-school boombox allowing you to swap tapes out so you can listen to tunes on the slopes. A selection of snowboards are on the wall so you’ll be able to mix and match between those, although it’s unclear if the variances are purely cosmetic. On the far wall looking like a big screen TV is the list of the main options, selecting the courses and gameplay modes such as Time Attack. You’ll also have a per pooch to keep you company.
The big question regarding a videogame like Carve Snowboarding is how well the studio manages to translate actual snowboarding into VR whilst ensuring a comfortable experience. Probably the best example so far is Early Access PC VR title Terje Haakonsen’s Powder VR which offers both arcade and simulation styles. At this early stage, Carve Snowboarding seems to be a more arcade-style experience.
At the moment there are no other details for Carve Snowboarding, such as when it might be arriving and whether it’ll be a PC VR or native Oculus Quest title.
The Oculus Gaming Showcase has been filled with updates and new info on currently known VR projects but Carve Snowboarding was the first brand new one to be revealed. As further updates are released for the snowboarding title, VRFocus will let you know.