If you’re missing the Winter Olympics and find yourself sitting by the freezer with the door open, then Sega may have the solution to your problems. Say hello to Vancouver 2010 on the PS3.

Forget those late-night hours of TV coverage that the Winter Games receives in the UK. Now, you can immerse yourself in the all things Olympic as and when you want to. Simply put on your favourite ski attire and switch on your PlayStation 3.

Getting stuck in is a straightforward affair. You’re presented with training, Olympics games and challenges. Training contains tutorials, which actually let you take control of the athlete in between pop-up prompts. This is a nice touch as it shirks the standard show-and-repeat normally found in tutorials. They aren’t too in-depth, but then you want to get carving asap, don’t you. The menus are true to the Olympic branding, loading times are fast, but best of all, Winter Olympic fact boxes crop up inbetween loading screens – what a great way to educate gamers who aren’t in the know! Whoever said that videogames aren’t educational? See mum, I told you so.

Choosing Olympics allows you to create a playlist of the 14 events on offer, which seem to lack in diversity. There’s a wealth of downhill events in the skiing and snowboarding categories and you can go down a track (just the one) in the two-man bobsleigh, the skeleton and a luge. Not the best selection, but there’s speed skating (500m button bashing and 1500m), ladies’ aerials and ski jumping, to keeps things fresh-ish.

Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be any ‘career’ mode. Oh how I wanted to compete as Team GB and bring home more than one paltry medal. But, the arcade nature of the game makes it more like a series of one-off games, failing to capture the essence of two weeks in Vancouver. This may alienate more serious gamers who revel in the competitive nature of sports games, but will appeal to casual players looking for a quick fix taking on friends.

Looking for more of a challenge, then the aptly named ‘challenges’ will give you that. They add a real competitive edge that the rest of the game is slightly lacking. Take your game up a level as you’re set a series of new targets that add urgency to the events, that feels missing from the ‘Olympic’ part of the game. The majority of the challenges involve tasks like perfecting your turns, which is a great way to master the complexities of the controls. The challenges are varied enough and the 30 on offer are great fun at times – a welcome break from the main game.

The multiplayer mode allows for online and offline gameplay for upto 4 players, which provides a decent amount of fun. However, it all feels so similar to the main game but with fewer courses, so the fun doesn’t last long.

Aesthetically, the game is a delight to look at. Visuals are crisp, textures are well detailed and there’s a nice use of motion-blur once you get going. However, on the flip-side, animations in the athletes are a bit rigid and the motion-blur (when you hold down R2) doesn’t really give a real sense of speed. It sometimes feels like you’re willing the athlete to go faster, but they never do. This lack of speed is a disappointment – most of the events in Winter Olympics are fast but I don’t think this is well represented in the game. The sound of your skis or snowboard carving up the snow are well reproduced, and these are accompanied by some gentle background rock. Not to everyone’s taste but you’ll probably find yourself humming along after 2 or 3 events.

Much of your enjoyment of this game will depend on how you approach it. If you’re looking for something with in-depth gameplay and customisation, you’re probably better off looking elsewhere. But if you’re looking for a game that’s easy to pick and play, and enjoy beating your old times, Vancouver 2010 may just fit the bill.