Vagusnet

When people think about skateboarding games the first name that comes to mind is the Tony Hawks games because for the last few years they have killed off all of the competition with it’s fantastic game play, however things haven’t been to shiny for the series as it has become really stale and hasn’t brought anything new to the table.
Well Activision are trying something different with there first Tony Hawks game for the Wii by giving it a SSX feel to it and for the most part it works but there are a few problems with it.

As usual with the Tony Hawk games you are given the chance to create your own skater and also get the chance to play as other famous skaters however this is the one thing that activision has decided not to do by only giving you the chance to play as tony hawk and ditch the other skaters but replacing them with some made up idiots who can get on your nerves alot.
The create a skater mode hasn’t changed at all you can still build your character from the ground up giving him the features you want to give him or make him as unusual as you like.

After you have decided whether to play as one of the preset skaters or one of your own you then have the choice of going through the career mode or play against your friends (not online) in the usual modes that are on offer from a straightforward salom races to a trick attack mode where it is your goal to get more points than your friends.
If you decide to choose the career mode then you are in for a bit of a surprise because this is where the big changes happen, no longer do you just get one big world but now you are given different places to play in from the highlands of Scotland to the east side of the world with Hong Kong.
Now this might sound great however you aren’t given the freedom like you are use to with the series instead the game is now treated to a SSX style feel where you have to race from the top of the course to the bottom.
Interlaced in this is a few different challenges from the usual get to the bottom before the other opponents to try and get the most points and finish first and also thrown into the mix is silly challenges like trying to cause as much damage you can, but this challenge only takes part on a small part of the course and can feel a bit short.

As usual you also have the annoying music that always been present in the Tony Hawks games, from the basic generic rock music to the annoying hip hop there is something for everybody on the soundtrack.
The sound has also been given a more cartoonie feel to it with the other characters being so annoying that you just want to pour concrete down there throats so they can shut the hell up.

So whats the game like i hear you ask well it’s a different experience for a Tony Hawks game and for the most part seems fun however that fact that Activison have gone for a more simple feel to it will piss off a lot of the Tony Hawks fans as they expect the usual open feel and a basic freedom the games normally offer however this is a great start for Tony Hawk beginners as it’s a more simpler game and it doesnt require you to learn hundreds of tricks.
As said above the music is the generic crap you are used to in the series and the characters are a big pile of crap and does make the game feel a bit cheap.
Added on top of that the fact that it’s not a really long game and it doesnt feature any online modes what so ever makes this a game that i don’t think that you’ll want to go back and play it much after you have finished it unless you want to fully max out that stats of each character then in that case it will add a few more extra hours to the life of the game.

Overall i will pat Activision on the back for trying something different with the series instead of just doing the same thing again however Wii owners are going to feel a bit left out considering that the Xbox 360 and other console do get a proper Tony Hawks games.
If you are after something different in the series then go out and by it you wouldn’t feel that disappointed, however if you like the series for it’s more open feel and the thought of the game only being confined to certain areas then i would avoid.

7/10