Tony Hawk: Ride
Tony Hawk now with “close to actual skateboarding”
Tags: Tony Hawk: Ride Categories: PS3 Previews, Previews, Wii Previews, Xbox 360 Previews
Posted by Mike "Two Tone" McConnell on Sep 11th, 2009
Tony Hawk games are getting along in years, and it’s hard to keep your edge when it’s obvious the franchise is just “cashing in” with annual updates and no innovation. Like Kiss or Cher perpetuating another farewell tour, I’m more pointing and laughing than planning my next purchase. Well Activison has taken note of EA’s Skate franchise and decided what is needed to keep the franchise going is more simulation. Keeping with modern fashion, there will be another cumbersome plastic controller next to your Guitar Hero and Rock Band setups, the Wii Balance Board - you apparently need a big plastic skate board.
After that initial doubt, I finally got my hands . . . eer feet, on the game and I can tell you that this is a useful piece of plastic. Instead of button mashing madness, Tony Hawk: Ride delivers something bordering on an actual simulation, requiring some actual balance and coordination. The first change that you’ll notice is that the game has been taken back a few steps from its last feature heavy incarnation. Instead we have multiple game modes that focus on a specific skill: Speed, Tricks, Challenges, and Ramp Challenges. The board is oriented a little differently for each mode, but the basics remain the same. You use balances to move and rotate the board, and then cover one or more sensors on the four sides of the board with your feet or hands to trigger different tricks.
The game isn’t going to be for everyone. For example, if you enjoy the Tony Hawk games as they have become over the last several incarnations, this is going to be a mixed bag. The action is still about tricks, but stringing together insane combinations and scoring millions of points in one go is going to be far more difficult. The game eases you into it though, with a casual mode that guides players around the stages allowing tricks to be performed along different paths and obstacles. As the difficulty increases, players are then eased into the open world mode.
Tony Hawk: Ride does not have a career mode per se, which may be a big turn off for veteran completists. However there are challenges that allow players to collect new skaters and gear. There are cut scenes with pro skaters to introduce new stages and tricks. Due out in November, Tony Hawk: Ride should offer a new breath of life into the stale franchise and give players yet another virtual workout. I’m not kidding about that, playing the game was quite a workout.
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Tags: Tony Hawk: Ride
Posted by Mike "Two Tone" McConnell on Sep 11th, 2009 and is filed under PS3 Previews, Previews, Wii Previews, Xbox 360 Previews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
