THUG 2 Review

Having built one of the most popular franchises to find a home on videogame consoles, Activision and Neversoft found themselves in the difficult position of having to re-invent the Tony Hawkâ??s series last year with the release of Tony Hawkâ??s Underground (THUG).

Despite offering some innovations, the attempt at merging a storyline and open-ended gameplay with the addictive score-based challenge that millions have come to love, resulted in a split down the middle, with hardcore fanatics alienated by the lack of focus on the actual game.

So a year forward and we have the release of THUG2, which certainly makes broad and welcoming improvements to the formula laid down last year. Once again players take control (to begin with) of a rookie, however this time around the story actually compliments the experience instead of feeling tacked on at the last minute. Teaming up with the cast of Jackass (Bam Margera, WeeMan, Steve-O and the long-suffering Phil Margera), Tony Hawk and Bam Margera enlist the help of your character along with several others for the dubiously named â??World Destruction Tourâ?. What entails is the typical assortment of Tony Hawkâ??s challenges but with a level of humour that will have Jackass fans pissing themselves â?“ itâ??s a double act that works perfectly, and to be honest weâ??re only surprised that they didnâ??t think of it sooner.

Alienated THPS fanatics will however be pleased to know that the game provides an â??Originalâ? mode, removing the introductions of the past few years and just chucking you at the various challenges â?“ no story, jokes or characters, just â??S-K-A-T-Eâ?, the old environments and the gameplay that youâ??ve likely spent hundreds of hours practising.

Itâ??s not just the front-end and production values that have received a welcoming make-over, as THUG2 introduces many new gameplay concepts, some of which work better then others. Most notably is the introduction of a new â??Focusâ? feature that allows players to slow down time whenever theyâ??ve topped up the special meter; simply by pushing down the right thumbstick, time slows down and allows players to perform some of the most outlandish tricks youâ??ll ever likely to see come from a skateboard. Not only is this ideal for million+ combos, but it also zooms in on the action and your characterâ??s feet whenever a lip-trick is being performed. Thereâ??s been some discussion on this feature, with some claiming that it takes away from the skill needed to play the game, whilst others believe it just takes the series to new extreme heights. Itâ??s certainly a feature that youâ??re either going to love or hate; personally anything that improves our scores on TH is always good in our opinion.

Less opinionated is the introduction of the â??Freak-Outâ? meter, which allows players to hammer a button whenever theyâ??ve taken a fall, and depending on how far they manage to get the â??Freakâ? bar determines how much their on-screen persona freaks out. Freaking out grants you a score bonus, however more importantly it just feels right; as weâ??re sure youâ??ll know the frustration of one fatal mistake that brings a huge combo down to zero.

Other introductions include the Sticker Slap that allows you to unsurprisingly slap stickers on walls whilst leaping away from the wall to carry on your combo, and finally you can pelt innocent bystanders with various objects that you can pick up along the way. Naturally all of the introductions have been tied into the excellent scoring system, so youâ??re free to mount a huge combo, jump into a sticker-slap, pull off a few focus moves and finally end it with a freak-out tantrum when itâ??s all gone wrong for some serious points.

Throughout each of the games six stages located throughout the world, p-layers will have the ability to play either as the rookie that they begin the mode with, switching to various skating proâ??s or uncover a secret character from each stage such as Benjamin Franklin or a Spanish matador. Each of the characters has a unique selection of goals to complete, with successful completion opening up the next stage and the typical plethora of unlockable goodies that the Tony Hawkâ??s series is famed for.

Returning from THUG in an all-new and improved manner is the ability to totally customise the game, from everything such as your character, to the tricks you perform and the location youâ??re in. Playstation2 owners benefit slightly from the ability to add your own face via an EyeToy grab, although there are a number of other ways to incorporate your likeness if youâ??re an Xbox owner. In addition players can also design their own stickers which they slap across the walls thanks to the â??Create-A-Graphicâ? mode; rest assured the level of customisation is quite beyond anything else out there, Tony Hawkâ??s fans will have many months of play from this aspect alone.

Playstation2 owners (and PC) also benefit from the inclusion of online play, with a variety of game modes and the inclusion of two new types. Quite why the Xbox version still lacks online play is anyoneâ??s guess at present, considering the fact that online features have all but become a standard in recent Xbox releases. As a result Xbox and GameCube owners have to make do with a selection of two-player splitscreen modes.

Visually the game has undergone some minor improvements, most notably that the animators have been given free license to make characters more expressive. As a result itâ??s slightly less realistic, but itâ??s certainly an improvement upon the lifeless animations featured in THUG. Itâ??s certainly as far as the series can go however without taking time to radically re-do the graphics engine; itâ??s all beginning to look a little dated, whilst issues with the framerate occasionally donâ??t exactly help the experience.

On a sound front the game once again impresses with a wide selection of eclectic tunes, skating along to â??Thatâ??s Lifeâ? from Frank Sinatra or Johhny Cashâ?? â??Ring of Fireâ? is just a surreal gaming experience that everybody should check out at least once. Besides classics from yesteryear the game features the typical mix of Punk, Rock, Nu-Metal and Hip-Hop â?“ if youâ??re a skating fan itâ??s likely youâ??ll find something worth listening to.