With much of the country just digging out from massive snowstorms, it's a good time to re-visit some great snow-based video games. The below collection of games is a personalized look at five games that use snow in effective, awesome ways. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Silent Hill

When the original Silent Hill was released for the PlayStation, it was a revelation, arguably the first horror game ever released that was actually scary (quiet, Seventh Guest fanboys). One of the things that made the game work was the setting. Not only was the town of Silent Hill silent, it was also coated in a fine dusting of out-of-season snow, as if this town was so messed up, even the weather didn't obey natural laws. Scariest. Snow. Ever. Especially when you find out that it's not really snow at all...

Contra

This repetitive run-and-gunner was a must-have NES game as well as a must-play arcade game, but it was hard. Really hard. So hard, in fact, that any forward progress was cause for celebration, so you knew that by the time you reached the "Snowfield" level later in the game, you were a real man. Plus, you were shirtless... in the snow. That's badass.

Goldeneye 007

While this N64 classic is best-remembered for its multiplayer, Goldeneye contains an awesome, snow-based level called The Snow Patrol that involves tramping through the whited-out Russian countryside, taking out pesky enemies with a sniper rifle and disabling a satellite control station in Severnaya, Russia. The combination of the fields of white stuff, the silent kills and the looming satellite station in the distance makes for very cool gaming.

Uncharted 2

If you ever need proof of the hardware capabilities of the PlayStation 3, check out the Tibetan levels of Uncharted 2. The snow sticks to Drake's jacket like it really would. His footprints are left behind in the snow and remain there long enough to write words if you feel like it, and you can hear the crunch of the crystal granules underfoot. I swear I actually felt a blast of Arctic air shooting from my PS3 during this level. Plus, you fight Yetis! How could you not love a level with murderous abominable snowmen?

SSX Tricky

We had several inter-office arguments about which snowboarding game to include on this list. The 1080 fans point out that their game is Skate to SSX's Tony Hawk, and some feel that SSX 3 is actually a better snowboarding game than Tricky, but I don't care. It's my list, and I think Tricky is the single best snowboarding game ever released. I also think it manages to give the feel of changing winter conditions caused by snow versus ice, and that's no easy thing on a PlayStation 2.

Metal Gear Solid (and, kinda, Metal Gear Solid 4)

Sterling here. Since Steve didn't play Metal Gear Solid (for shame, I say!), I'll describe. The game takes place on an Alaskan military base. Therefore, Solid Snake kicks off the game running around in sub-zero temperatures while Naomi Hunter blathers on about nanomachines preventing hypothermia and the Illuminati footing the bill for Snake's goose down jacket, But I digress. From the time Snake shows up to infiltrate Shadow Moses to the point where Liquid Snake kicks the bucket, it's a harrowing adventure set in the same tundra where MILFs shoot wolves from helicopters. Bonus points to Kojima for milking the nostalgia in MGS4 with a large dose of fan service. Also, Steve's wrong. SSX 3 is the best one. Sterling, over and out.

Honorable mentions:

Ski Free: How can you not love hating that damn Sasquatch?

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City: In the 1980s, they called cocaine "snow."

Superman: It wasn't in the plot, but the visuals in this Nintendo 64 game were so terrible, it looked like it took place in a damn blizzard.