Fall Line

The snow at the top is untouched, the light is the colour of the inside of a peach, and the only sound is the wind in the larches. Push off, and for as long as you stay on your feet the mountain is a blank page with a single line being drawn down it: yours, two fine grooves that curve wherever you lean.

Fall Line is a top-down downhill run where the skiing is the game. Hold a side and the edges bite into an arc; let go and the slope pulls you back down the fall line, faster; turn too hard at speed and the skis break loose in a spray of powder that costs you everything you built. Thread slalom flags and pairs of pines to build a multiplier, skim close past the trunks for style, and spin off the kickers, as long as you're facing forwards when the snow comes back up. A couple of rivals ski the same mountain beside you, carving their own lines, and occasionally into a tree.

The mountain runs forest, rock garden, avalanche run and meadow, then round again, steeper and thicker, from morning light through dusk to blue moonlight. In the avalanche run the slope behind you lets go and the only answer is a straight line. There is a yeti. Most runs end face down in the snow with your skis standing upright beside you, and your longest line stays staked out across the piste for next time. If you'd rather just ski, Zen mode picks you up, brushes you off and lets you keep going.

Or switch on Battle mode and the race turns into a running fight. Punch and kick anyone who skis alongside, and grab the crates on the line for a machine gun, grenades, health packs and body armour. The rivals pick them up too, and they fight back. Crashes cost health instead of ending the run; you are out when you are knocked out.