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Tony Hawk's Underground Review for PlayStation 2 (PS2)
Posted on Wednesday, December 03, 2003 @ 09:32:56 pm E.S.TThe king of action sports games has returned to take the title of “King of the Underground.” But will this game be the fresh new restart that the Tony Hawk series has much needed, or will this just be more of the same old rehash?
Graphics: Not always the greatest feature in the THPS series, usually being overshadowed by gameplay and innovation, graphics on this go are some of the smoothest, sharpest on the market when compared to other games in its genre. That shows in nearly every portion of the game, as the character models and design of the levels are nearly pristine. Neversoft has always been able to keep pace with the rest of the gaming world’s handle on console technology, and that surely shows here.
Animations in the game range from realistic to insane to just down right hilarious. The walking animation looks really nice, while some of the new bails are priceless. You’ll see your skater fall to his knees with a shattered board below him, and watch as he kicks the pieces to the curb. Priceless little details like that are what have always made the Tony Hawk games so amazing.
Dont't fall down, now.
Gameplay: Always a key point in the series, the controls on this are just as smooth as the first game in the series. Simplistic as possible, all of the buttons on the controller are used flawlessly to help maintain the perfect run ... while skating. Walking and driving, two of the new additions to the game, aren’t some of the greatest parts of the game, as the control seems very loose and slippery at some points. However, this shouldn’t be a big problem, as you’ll spend most of the game with feet on deck.
The new Story mode is one of the most interesting on the market. Taking a step away from the Career mode of old, the star character of the game is you. Yes, the one that’s sitting right there in that chair, playing the game. Using the innovative Face Mapping feature (more on that later) and the newly revamped Create-A-Skater mode, you can create an amazingly realistic doppleganger for skating around the world, trying to make it through everyday life. From the slums of New Jersey to touring Moscow and the rest of the world with some of the hottest sponsors in skateboarding today, you’ll follow an amazing storyline that involves yourself and your “best friend”, Eric Sparrow. Needless to say, Eric isn’t the most trustworthy of people, as he’s the kind that’ll stab you as fast as he’ll shake your hand. Excellent scriptwriting abound, as you’ll see the highs and lows of the character’s life unfold right in front of your eyes.
Smart guy - fall, break your leg and be right at the hospital.
Another thing that’s been important in the THPS series is the amount of game modes. Remember, this series WAS the first online with the PS2, even before the network adaptor came out. The trend of new-and-old picks up again, as you’ll have all of the old modes of play (Free Skate, Timed Run, King of the Hill, in Multiplayer, etc.), mixed in with a little bit of creativity (the less-than-stellar and hard-to-play Firefight multiplayer game).
Now, onto the Face Mapping feature that was mentioned earlier. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few months (or just haven’t been paying attention to the buzz), Neversoft has implemented a new feature that will allow you to put your face in the game. It’s just as simple as taking a picture of your face (they prefer in JPEG format, to cut down on size), uploading it to your computer, and e-mailing it to faces@thugonline.com. After this has been completed, you’ll recieve a special code back from the e-mail adress, saying that your picture is ready to be mapped. Fire up THUG, choose “Download Your Face” after connecting online, type in the code, and there’s your face, right there in the game. All it takes is a few presses of the X button over some points on your face, and it’s done. All in all, it takes about 15 minutes to be completed. This feature works really well, and should be implemented into more games in the future. However, the downside of this – the feature is only available on the PS2 version.
Sound: Audiophiles, welcome to the one of the smoothest sounding games on the planet today. PS2 and GameCube players get treated to Dolby Pro Logic II, while the Xbox kids get full Dolby 5.1. This means you’ll be hearing all the bone-shattering and complaints of your character in smooth, near-perfect sound.
The sound effects of the bails are some of the nicest, and effective in any game I’ve ever had the chance to listen to. You’ll be curious as to what measures they went to just to get the loud snapping of the neck, or the shattering of the shins. Could be just me, but it makes me wonder if Neversoft’s development house is really a masochist chamber.
The THPS series has always been one of the best when it comes to getting licensed music for the soundtracks, and that surely shows here. 80 songs lace the track listing (no exaggeration there), with acts ranging from punk legends The Adicts (“Viva La Revolution”) and Social Distortion (“Mommy’s Little Monster”), to some of the more well-respected rappers like Nas (“The World Is Yours”). Even mega-rockers Kiss make 3 appearances in the soundtrack, with even more of them showing up throughout the game in the form of unlockable characters and levels.
Replay Value: Tony Hawk’s Ungerground, like the rest of the series, is one of those games that will keep you in your seat, hour after hour, when you first pick it up. From the opening chapter in the Story mode to the last gap you need to collect them all, you’ll be glued to it. After that’s been completed though, the only real reason to continue playing is the online play. All in all, not greatly addicting, but it’ll take your life away for a while. Review By: Matt Hack - 5817 Reads
Tony Hawk's Underground Review Scores for PS2 :
| Gameplay |
| 9 |
| Graphics |
| 8.5 |
| Sound |
| 9 |
| Replay |
| 8 |
| Overall |
| 8.8 |
|
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