First Impressions: The Birdman of Microsoft.
Who is Tony Hawk, and why does he have a Pro Skater game named after him? If you don’t know the answer to that, then I would like to see that rock you just crawled out from under. Tony Hawk is one of the reasons the videogame industry didn’t go completely bust over the last 18 or so months. The professional skateboarder has one of the most popular and successful videogame franchises today. His games have spanned virtually each platform since debuting, and have won nothing short of universal critical acclaim.
What can be said about Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2X that most gamers don’t know? Here is a rundown of what has been common knowledge for some time. The game is coming to Xbox at launch. THPS2X will incorporate pretty much all of THPS and THPS2, with an additional 5 levels. And the game will look much better than THPS2 on the Playstation and Dreamcast, thanks to the Xbox graphics.
That’s all well and good, but I can hear you asking, “Why would I want to spend my money on a game I already have?” If you don’t have both THPS 1&2, this may be the game for you, since it includes all the levels from the first two games, plus more. The levels from the previous two games have also been expanded. Not only are they now bigger, but the peripheral visuals have been enhanced as well. Some of the new levels appearing in the “2X” version include a London nightclub, a subway, and construction site. The total size of this game almost necessitates a different title.
Since this is the “kitchen sink” version of Tony Hawk, the create-a-park and create-a-skater options have been retained. These features take advantage of the Xbox graphical power, naturally, and the ugly “jaggies” that plagued previous versions should be kept to a bare minimum.
There are some concerns regarding the control of the game. With the gargantuan size of the Xbox controller, some players may find it difficult to hit the right button combinations. This is where having a decent third party controller would definitely come in handy. Go pick one up.
The multiplayer modes have been tweaked to take advantage of the Xbox as well. Now you can play 4 players split screen, or LAN, thanks to the Xbox Ethernet port. The potential to skate with up to 8 players at once is extremely cool. Those of you who remember another of Activision’s licensed characters making an appearing in THPS2, will know what to expect. Yes, that guy coming to theaters in May in going to be an unlockable skater… err, that would be Spiderman. In all, there will be a massive amount of regular characters and hidden characters alike.
