Each year, a new Tony Hawk game has the generosity to grace us with its extreme skate-and-combo-crazy presence. The series has adopted a near “regular” sports title timeline. Each year there's a new game, and with each year, we have a bigger and beefier experience to savor. Last year, however, marked a bit of a departure from the previous four games with Tony Hawk’s Underground (THUG). This rebirth of the franchise focused on creating your own skater and building that skater from the ground up. It also offered a more distinct look at the culture of skating than its predecessors.
Now, we have Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 (THUG™ 2) . It would be only natural to expect an extension of what was offered in last year's version, but calling it such would be an unjustified understatement. We have what I can only call a greatest hits version of our beloved Tony Hawk franchise. Yes, it does expand and better the innovations brought about last year, but it also includes nearly every mode and feature we have ever seen the franchise produce. It has embraced the options of the original four Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games, while furthering last years re-imagining of the series. Here are some of modes you’ll be seeing in this year’s version.
Story Mode: Call It World Destruction Tour Yes, that is indeed what it’s called. You might think of the World Destruction Tour as an embracing of skateboarding’s more punk-rock and rebellious roots. This story mode brims with a sort of ant-establishment, the-world-is-our-playground kind of attitude … and it’s the better for it. I wouldn’t call the previous iterations sanitized by any means, but this game’s story mode certainly captures the culture and essence of the skating world.
The story mode starts off with you and a bunch of other snot-nosed skating wannabees getting kidnapped by Tony Hawk and fellow pro-skater Bam Margera. You’re dumped in a scummy warehouse, where Bam (wearing a mask and wielding a chainsaw) scares the ever-living crap out of you. (You can call it hazing because that’s exactly what it is.) Once the practical joke is over, Tony and Bam explain that the World Destruction Tour will pit two teams against one another. (Tony captains one team; Bam the other.) You’ll fly all over the world and compete in cities and skate parks to prove you’ve got skills “to the max”. Each city is brimming with unique objectives (like destroying statues, for example), and you’ll be able to pick and choose your objectives at your leisure. You’ll even be able to swap out of your created skater and play as one of the professional skaters, each of which has a completely different set of goals to complete in each city.
Create-A-Whatever the Heck You Want Mad customization is the school of thought here. You can create any of the following:
Create-a-Skater: This one has been around a while, but you’ll find a mountain of new options to truly find the look for your punktastic skater.
Create-a-Park: Those who love to build—or those that simply want to create variety beyond the plethora of already crafted environments—can revel in this feature. Want a real challenge, though? Go find your own local skate park and try to recreate it. Tons of fun!
Create-a-Graphic: For the first time ever, you can now create your own graphics to attach to clothes or use as your personal graffiti for tagging levels.
Create-a-Trick: Don’t think the obscene number of de facto tricks options are enough? Then, create your own!
Create-a-Goal: Map out your own missions and objectives.
Classic Mode: Kickin' It Retro Welcome back to the two-minute intensity you remember from the first three Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater games. As per the originals, you’re dropped into a level with a list of objectives to complete … but with only two minutes to complete what objectives you will. All your old favorites have trudged back into the fold, too. You’ll be collecting S.K.A.T.E., setting the high score, snagging the secret tape, and more. Like the originals, each one you finish is permanently checked off the list, so the next two-minute session can be concentrated on unachieved goals. The leisure of the latest games' open-ended structure is fine, but Classic mode is a nice little retro jolt of time-sensitive adrenaline.
Tony Hawk’s latest game brings together the best of the series gameplay worlds with a healthy injection of gut-busting humor and rebellious spirit. Who could ask for anything more?
