Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland
Available platforms: PS2, XBOX, Gamecube
The latest installment in the Tony Hawk skating series is a lot like a restored classic car: It looks shiny and new, and has a few new parts, but is still the same old car underneath the glossy exterior.
There have been seven Tony Hawk games in as many years, with each new version showing slight improvements, but nothing revolutionary. Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland is the best game of the series but still lacks any big improvement that would set it apart from the rest of the franchise.
The biggest improvement game developers boasted for this game was that there would be no loading times – you supposedly could roam the entire city of Los Angeles, grinding from Hollywood to Compton and back again. Does the game truly provide an environment that is free of skate-stopping load times? Yes and no. Each of the five individual areas are all there, and there are no load times as promised. But when you skate into another area, you pass through very bland tunnels with a few rails in the middle. The hallways are a stark contrast to the rest of the environment which is loaded with detail. These little areas are where the loading takes place. The game catches up and loads the next area while you skate through a drab and uninspired tunnel. You can also take the bus around town, and you can move around inside the bus while the next section loads. Is this really no loading? Yes, but only technically. It is not exactly what the back of the box seems to promise.
The story mode is an improvement over the destruction fueled story of Tony Hawk Underground. The focus is back on skating and not how much damage you can cause in a building or to your opponents. You can pick between five male skaters who have come to Los Angeles to make it big in the skating world. Sorry ladies, no love for you – you have to be a dude this time around.
As soon as you step off the bus, you are punched in the face and have all your belongings stolen. Soon after you meet Mindy, a local girl with a punk flair who becomes your guide for the rest of the game.
The story revolves around the Skate Ranch, which begins as an empty lot with nothing but a half pipe and a lot of dirt. The majority of the missions involve skating around and bringing back objects to improve the Skate Ranch. The missions will not prove challenging for seasoned Tony Hawk veterans and won’t be that much harder for newcomers. The story feels like a four-hour tutorial that never really lets you take off the training wheels. The story is entertaining and is an improvement upon previous versions but the game just insists on holding your hand throughout the course of the story.
Aside from story mode, there are multiplayer challenges as well as classic mode. Classic mode plays like the older versions of the Tony Hawk games. There are individual maps that have to be unlocked in sequence by achieving certain goals at preceding levels. All of the old favorites are there, including collecting S-K-A-T-E, getting high scores, and finding the hidden tape. Many old levels are back along with some newer ones. There is also a new multiplayer mode in which players can play cooperatively in classic mode. It is a fun new twist that makes finding those pesky hidden tapes a little easier.
The controls are pretty much the same as previous years with one new addition – the bert slide. It is easy to learn, but is also pretty useless. This installment, however, features a truck load of new moves. Performing these new moves are just like doing the old ones. Same buttons, different animations and different names. I honestly have no clue how these tricks are named. I really think that some people pick a random noun and then a few random adjectives and through them together and come up with stuff like purple flaming dishwasher 540 or indy grabass 180. Well, not exactly, but close.
Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland is a return to form for the franchise. Neversoft, the game developer, took the focus off of destroying property and put it back onto skating. They also took out the focus on Bam Margera that was seen in Tony Hawk Underground 2, thank the freakin lord. It is definitely an improvement upon previous years but there is still something missing. What that is, I really don’t know and the people who have been making the game for seven years certainly don’t either. American Wasteland is entertaining to say the least, but only makes baby steps in terms of progression.
Overall Grade: B
Contact reporter Eric Richardson at richardsondbk@gmail.com.
