PAX Gamers - Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Review :: XBOX
| Tony Hawk's Underground 2 | {icon} | - Posted by Turry | at Nov 09, 2004 | - 356 views |
Anyone who claims themselves to be a gamer knows about the Tony Hawk series. Beginning in 1999 after the infamous Tony Hawk 900 stunt at the X-Games, the series has been a major factor in an extreme sports genre franchise that never seems to run out of steam. Until now. It can be said that after 5 games the series can do no more, and shouldn't be expected to. This is contrast to the entire series, which delivered a fresh game every year. Even the first Underground put a nice new coat of paint on an aging series. What goes wrong with the series? Read on.
The XBOX is a graphics monster. Why does Activision give the XBOX the shaft in the graphic department. The same tried and true bland Playstation graphic shine through on this version of the game. While there are extra bells and whistles from last years game (actual shadows appear on your skater as you skate under trees or lamps). The XBOX version is still not tapping the console for it's full power. This is mostly due to the engine, which recieved a more cartoony upgrade from the last game. There are still major clipping issues, and levels are pretty bland.
Last years THUG slapped a semi-deep linear story mode on the old Tony Hawk series, and actually delivered a nice game. This year, marketing takes over and Bam Margera and the antics therein take over. The game seems less focused on skating and goals and more of the same things you've seen on Viva La Bam, WildBoyz, and Jackass. It's old. How many times can you watch someone get tapped in the sack with something or torture another skater? If you do enjoy this, you're in for a treat, because there's plenty of it. The skating engine remains as tight as ever with the addition of the useless Natas Spin, and the Sticker tap. Spraying logos comes in to play now, but unlike Jet Set Radio Future it's more "Scoot up to spot, press Y". A lot of the additions are fairly useless and aren't used to full effect throughout the game. Classic Mode is brought in to give the game a feel of the old days. Goals are layed out and you are given the classic two minute timer to get things done. This is great, but the goals are hard to find, both in classic mode and the Story Mode itself. Unlike the last Tony Hawk, you have to hunt down the goals, and sometimes the goals aren't clearly defined, so you will wander around forever looking for that ONE thing so you can move on.
The story mode itself revolves around Team Hawk and Team Bam on a world tour of destruction throughout the game you will skate and destroy things, use special guests on a level to unlock more things, and watch cutscene after cutscene of Jackass like stunts. This is supposed to be a fresh spin on the franchise, but it seems more like a marketing ploy to get it to sale like the old days.
Sadly, THUG 2 is strictly a rental. It's easily finished within a weekend or two days sitting. There's just not enough additions or freshness to make it worth buying. Unless your a hardcore Tony Hawk fan, just rent it.
Multiplayer adds to the fun factor of this game, but only for so long. The fun ends when you realize you've done this before and better. This is definately not the strongest Tony Hawk game. Hopefully this may be the last one for a while. Unlike the last games this Tony Hawk has sort of came and fallen under the radar. Activision and Neversoft need to go back to the drawing board, or just hold the series for a while. Oversaturation is never a good thing. In addition: No Live Support! What is this? Why is Playstation getting the online goodness, when XBOX has a proven steady and reliable online community. THUG 1, forgivable. THUG 2, it's not, and there's no solid reason why.
Tony Hawk's Underground 2 is great game to cut your teeth on if you're a newbie to a series. Series veteran's however will find little to love or like about this game, and fly through it in a little under a weekend. Like the Madden series, it's getting to the point where the content isn't worth the price. Hopefully Activision will realize this and reconfigure the series. While doing this think about adding online support for the XBOX, which is a major downer condsidering the Playstation version has had online since the last Tony Hawk 4.
 |  | | 75% | 90% |
Comments - Post Comment | View Comments (0)
Page 1 of 1
1
| 
