Gaming Target - PlayStation 2: Tony Hawk's Underground

Written by Matt Swider on December 19, 2003

Full Review: A game where the goals are tough and not being run over by a УJersey DriverФ before getting sponsored is even tougher.

Neversoft may have been able to tout the skateboarding skills of Tony Hawk with great success in years past, but unlike the last four games of the Pro Skater series, Tony Hawk's Underground marks the first time the birdman bails and doesn't get the job doneЧyou do. As an average skater with a less-than-average quality skateboard, you begin a quest to go from being just another local skate punk to becoming a world renowned skate legend. Before taking that leap though, THUG gives you creative control over your skater with a ton of new options in customization. For owners of the PlayStation 2 version, this includes the ability to map an image of your face onto the character's forehead. With video game innovation such as this, players that tend to select Tony Hawk all of the time will surely shed no tears in saying goodbye to the birdman during the single-player segment of the game.

The inclusion of an actual plot and the addition of the face-mapping feature represent changes for the Tony Hawk series, yet THUG definitely doesn't undermine the foundation in a way that would upset its five-game following. Instead, it makes several minor improvements and adds elements influenced by other games to deliver the same concept with a fresh face. One of these new touches is the moving on-foot mechanic. Being able to get off of the skateboard and walk around allows for an easier way of exploring the large-scale environments as well as climbing its surroundings, but it also provides a better way of linking tricks together.

To connect tricks while walking, players hop off of their board in midair by pressing R1 and L1 simultaneously and then begin a new combo on another nearby part of the level by pressing the same two buttons. Basically, it's an easier way of increasing the size of your combo compared to always having to perform a manual between tricks. Unlike a manual though, walking during a trick set always triggers a clock that appears on-screen to limit your downtime. Of course, there's no time limit when not attempting to connect tricks for a combo, so you're free to roam on your feet forever using this newfound function.

Another means of moving around in THUG comes with the ability to drive cars. Like your skateboard, these sets of wheels work well as goals, involving everything from simply racing around cones in New Jersey to fleeing from cops in Florida. It may not control anything like Grand Turismo, or even Grand Theft Auto for that matter, and it's not possible to carjack jerks that almost run you over on the street, but the addition enables just enough variety to spice up the goals.

Offering further goal variety as well as game customization, THUG allows players to design their own goals to challenge themselves and everyone else that's online with the PS2 version. Besides generating your own goals here and fashioning the lead character in your own image in Create-A-Skater, the custom package is complete with Create-A-Trick, Create-A-Deck and Create-A-Stage. With these enhanced do-it-yourself options, you become a game designer of sorts by setting up your own story mode and having others try it out through online trading. Even though many casual gamers will end up bypassing these excellent additions to the Tony Hawk series, those that get into it will get a whole lot out of it.

In addition to being able to upload your custom designs online as well as download what others have come up with, returning online modes include Trick Attack, Score Challenge, Combo Mambo, Slap!, King of the Hill, and the always enjoyable Graffiti games. New to this setlist is Firefight, a shooting match that involves hitting other skaters with fireballs that dispense from either the front or the back of your board. Little else has changed in the rest of Tony Hawk's online presentation, but be that as it may, there's always been enough here to consume hours of your time and the latest inclusions cause THUG's replay value to feel almost endless yet again.

The music also seems everlasting in THUG with hours of nameable songs like each Pro Skater game before it. But while I was immediately impressed with the selection of tunes supplied by Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, THUG falls short in hitting those same high notes right away. This is mainly because KISS replaces AC/DC as the rock frontrunner, leaving the playlist's hip-hop and punk songs to provide better listening. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy listening to УRock And Roll All NightФ myself and know the latest studies claim that gamers are much older than once thought, but I can't imagine many KISS-obsessed people like Family Guy's Peter Griffin playing this game even if he wasn't a cartoon character. In other words, the KISS songs included are indeed welcome, but many other time-tested bands would have fit the THUG theme much better in my own opinion.

Even though Neversoft impressively packed about 75 other songs onto the soundtrack already, Xbox owners that still feel differently towards the music selection can take comfort in knowing that custom tracks are an included feature. Everyone else has to bear with the fact that the songs compiled this time around aren't as impressive on a whole, but given the extensive playlist, there's bound to be a handful of songs that catch your ear while you catch some air.