Shooting drains lots of time in the biathlon.

For sheer exhilaration, few things match zipping down a snow-covered mountain at top speed. But somehow, Winter Stars mucks it up.

This winter-sports game lets you compete in 11 activities: snowboarding, figure skating, curling, bobsled, biathlon, paraskiing, snowmobile, downhill skiing, freeride skiing, ski flying, and short-track. Though Stars does nail some aspects — like getting you to make a wedge with your feet to slow down, as in real skiing — the gameplay is unnecessarily tough overall thanks to unreliable Kinect controls. It doesn’t help that the career mode has just two difficulty settings: standard (which will drive you mad when you get stuck on frustrating challenges) and “Family Mode” (simplifies everything to a fault).

You can stay busy in the pretty lengthy career mode, where you’re competing in tournaments, unlocking various disciplines, and following a well-meaning but rough storyline. And there’s local split-screen and online multiplayer supporting up to four players, but good luck convincing anyone else to join you in this seasonal depression.

PUBLISHER: Deep Silver  •  DEVELOPER: 49Games  •  ESRB: Everyone  •  MULTIPLAYER: 2 offline or 4 over Xbox Live  •  ACHIEVEMENTS: Challenging  •  COST: $40

On Xbox 360 (for Kinect only)

+ Storyline adds context for the various events in career mode.

+ Shiny, bright, colorful visuals with pretty snowscapes.

– Controls poorly; half-baked, uninspired interface with clumsy navigation.

? Were the voice actors trying to rival the epically bad movie The Room?

4.5