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Airblade Review
Chris Leyton
00/12/0000
Airblade impresses with outstanding visuals and tight gameplay.
Dreamcast owners may remember a launch title named Trickstyle, despite its flaws the game won its fair share of plaudits mainly because of its good looks. Well Airblade is a quasi sequel in all but name, gone is the frustrating difficulty, in is a new story mode and the outcome is a more polished, balanced title then its predecessor.
Itâs apparent from the moment you start Airblade that itâs a next generation title, PS2 owners fed up with games that fail to exploit the machines power would be well advised to check this title out, it looks superb.
Players take on the role of Ethan a lad with a passion for skating. His friend Oscar has mysteriously disappeared after inventing a hoverboard whilst working for the GCP Corporation. During the course of his research, Oscar found a way of generating unlimited energy via force field technology. Upon learning the results of his research, the GCP Corporation feared a loss in profits, because the new discovery would threaten to collapse the oil market. Before his bosses could act, Oscar managed to escape with his prototype, however it wasnât long before he was found and kidnapped, the hoverboard, or âAirBladeâ as its better known has fallen in to the hands of Ethan, so itâs up to you and your friends to find and rescue Oscar.
OK so it may be slightly different for an extreme title to be based so heavily on a story, however the trick based approach to TrickStyle didnât work too well, and seeing the opportunity, the developers seized at changing the mould slightly. Youâll still have to pull off all manner of stunts that you would in a Tony Hawk title, however now thereâs a narrative and objectives to progress the game.
The normal score and time attack modes are available, if you just want a bit of extreme action, however the main focus is on the story mode. The mode comprises of six levels, each consisting around four-six objectives. The first level sees you taking out security guards, knocking out a GCP limousine, the snipers and then grinding your way to the top of a building to rescue one of your friends. Each level brings a new set of tasks, giving you plenty of scope to try out all of the skills available to you, be it grinding, hovering, racing, etcâ¦
An arrow guides you to your next objective, though this isnât always the most direct route, most levels have a distinct line through them that will result in the best times once youâve worked it out. Airblade is all about looking impressive, finding a route high in the sky, grinding along telephone wires, grapping a pole switching direction, putting a few flips into the jump, seeing how long you can keep the combo going, and thatâs where a lot of the games appeal lies, image conscious PS2 owners will lap this up.
Asides from the outstanding visuals, the next thing that youâll notice is the controls. This is no skateboard youâre controlling and that comes across immediately, as youâd expect theyâre extremely bouncy and floaty, it takes a while to get used to, so donât be too surprised to see yourself circling the enemy rather then slamming your board into them the first time round. However after practise, the controls begin to assert themselves on you, with further practise youâll be pulling off some of the most extreme and impressive stunts Iâve seen in a boarding title.
The stunts are performed in a similar manner to Tony Hawk, the X button allows to jump, the ٱ button performs your tricks, the O button lets you perform all manner of grabs, both on the board and on polls/rails to get access to unreachable places, whilst the ∆ button performs grinds. As in Tony Hawk, combinations of stunts link up, resulting in bigger scores for the more tricks youâll pull off in succession.
Initially the board moves slowly, however build up your boost bar by performing stunts and a quick press of the L1 button shifts the board into hyper-crazy speed mode, nicely shown off with some impressive motion blur effects. The boost bar also acts as a hover meter, by holding onto the X button you can hover across gaps, the bigger your boost the longer you can hover. The boost bar adds a sense of tactics to the proceedings, at times youâll have to ensure youâve got enough boost left to navigate the last gap on a run, or jump onto a helicopter, etcâ¦
There are more stunts available then you can ever hope to memorise, ranging from the standard kick flips to the awesome big-air suicide. Because of the stunning animation you get a real feel for each stunt, which helps when youâre linking them to achieve that ever-allusive high score busting 28-combo.
On to the visuals, suffice to say youâve probably seen the screens, may have even seen some video clips. Well letâs just say none of them can do justice to seeing this beauty in action. Environments are often huge, requiring a few practise attempts just to get an idea of where everything is, each one is bustling with pedestrians, vehicles, helicopters swarming in the air, you get a great feeling that this is a real world.
The most striking element about the visuals is the luscious textures, never in any previous PS2 title have I seen such diverse and detailed textures, they bring each level to life. Add in the special effects that youâve come to expect, including some fantastic lighting effects, the previously mentioned motion blurring and my current flavour of the month, depth filtering to give that nice and realistic touch.
Airblade music is a fusion of hip-hop and rock that sounds fantastic. Each song has been layered, so whilst it starts off mellow, you can expect some big beats by the end as youâre rushing against the timer to beat that last objective.
Asides from the main story mode Airblade features several other modes, including some unique multiplayer features. The score and trick list modes are, as youâd expect, the show-off mode is as it says, a chance to rub it in for any unknowing fool. Two players line up against each other in a split-screen, whilst a colour-coded display onscreen that keeps track of who's on top in the categories of air, combos and grinds. Players with the most categories in their favour win.
The Ribbon Attack plays like CTF in a FPS, players must find a ribbon that is initially hidden, when acquired, the ribbons length begins to increase, and your opponent must snatch it off you. The player with the most steals wins. Last but not least is the Party Mode that allows up to 8 players to compete in a round robin knockout competition.
