ORF-Ski Challenge 2007 

Reviewed by: DeathDude

Positive Points: Long courses
Great music
Control movement good

Negative Points: Have to register to actually race

Genre: Racing

Size: 59730 KB

Requirements: Windows
The minimum requirements:
System memory: 256 MB
Graphic card: performance similar to GeForce2 or comparable
Processor: at least 1 GHz
Operating system: from Windows 98
Optimal:
System memory: 512 MB
Actual Graphic card: at least 128 MB texture memory 
Processor: at least 2 GHz or higher 

There is 300 MB free memory space needed on the hard disc. According to the progress of the competition, the game download requires ten to 20 MB free hard disc space.

Questionable Content: None

Editor rating: 4.6

Homepage: http://skichallenge.orf.at/sc07/stories/englishinfo/

Download location: http://skichallenge.orf.at/sc07/download/stories/gamedownload

As you stare down the track, looking down the treacherous path that lies ahead, you take a deep breath, adjust your goggles, and get your skis ready as you charge out of the starting gate and try your best to have the fastest time down the hill. You are competing against other skiers, for that coveted number one time. That is essentially the premise of this game, as you take your skier and aim to be the best skier. In ORF Ski Challenge 2007, you have many different options to customize your skier, the track you race on and even the weather conditions as well. You also get some great music, easy to control your character and much more in this title.

When you first start up the game, head on over the options menu to customize your skier. You can choose a male or female skier, as well as different designs for your skis and different colour outfits as well, once that is done; you have 3 different modes you can try out. It would be best to start with the training mode, to get accustomed with the controls. Be warned, these tracks are not short, but are quite lengthy ones, and they will take you a fair amount of time, before you can complete them. Once you think you get enough training finished, you can move onto qualifying, but here is the tricky part and going to warn you about this feature.

Once you enter the qualifying mode you will get a prompt of a login and password screen, if you wish you can register yourself, it asks for a bunch of personal details, mostly where you live, your name, zip code and so on, course you can always give gibberish if you like. Once that is done, it’ll connect you to the server and you can compete in a qualifying race, if you manage to beat the qualifying race, you will be able to enter the race mode, where you can compete against other skiers for the best times. 

Once you do start playing, the graphics are really done quite well. From the snow as you race down, to the different weather effects such as the sun and even snow. To even the individual fans who cheer you on and the different sights such as chair lifts and more. It all looks very nice and you will definitely need a fairly decent system to really experience its beauty. The music also, is composed of some nice tunes. Some are a bit, strange but most fit in with the game, and some really give you a push with the speed and excitement that is being pumped out by the artists on these music tracks.

The only real concern that I had with the game, was the whole idea of having to register to qualify. I can understand why it is required, as the site does keep track of registered profiles, and records them for the best times and all that, but if the feature was optional that would have been nice. Granted it is free and it is your choice, you can still experience a lot of the game through the training mode, being able to customize to your hearts content if you do not wish to participate in this manner.

Nevertheless, this was a fantastic game, and definitely recommends you check it out, especially if you like to ski or just a fan of skiing in general. It’s called ORF Ski Challenge 2007, see it for yourself.