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THUG Review

Chris Leyton

21/11/2003

Neversoft try a different approach with the latest Tony Hawk's title; does it work, check out inside...

The Tony Hawk franchise has rightfully become one of the biggest in the videogames industry, however as with most popular series the developers are under constant threat of flak from the fans for not pushing the barrel far enough with each new version.

Neversoft hope to address that with the release of âTony Hawkâs Undergroundâ or THUG; rather then replacing levels, adding more challenges and perhaps a new trick, Neversoft have gone back to the drawing board in a hope to reinvent the franchise.

As such âTHUGâ is structured significantly different to previous games in the series, instead of selecting a seasoned pro, players create their own character and take him through the game. Whilst playing as a nobody compared to the likes of Tony Hawks or Bob Burnquist may sound less then exciting to begin with, âTHUGâ is the first game in the series to feature a story that pushes the player through a variety of challenges and different locations on his quest to stardom.

Whilst this may all sound like too much of a tangent, the truth is that as soon as you pick up the pad youâll realise just how little it does actually stray away from the traditional Tony Hawkâs formula.

Beginning the main Career Mode, players have to create their own characters via a wide range of options and attributes for you to tinker and tailor with. Once youâve created your character youâll find yourselves on the streets of New Jersey, and presented with the choice of learning some of the new tricks available in the game.

The tutorial begins off easily allowing newcomers to get used to the standard controls, however it also introduces veterans to two new features added in âTHUGâ. The first is the ability to get off your board and literally walk wherever you want to, whilst itâs also possible to jump and grab hold of ledges to pull yourself up onto roofs and higher ledges. Thankfully this can be linked in with tricks; by hopping off in the middle of a combo a counter will appear and slowly begin to drain away, players need to get back on the board and into a combo to carry it on. Itâs an excellent addition that subtlety gives players more freedom over their combos as you can change the direction in which youâre heading â“ very handyâ¦

Itâs not long before you come up against the next big introduction â“ âTHUGâ features a range of streetcars for you to get in and drive around. Unfortunately the controls of these are a little hit and miss, resulting in an opportunity that isnât entirely grasped.

As you progress through the game the story will take you to different locations such as New York, Hawaii and Moscow just to name a few. Unfortunately the story or dialogue arenât as strong as weâd have hoped for and actually comes across as funny for the wrong reasons at times. The game still contains the traditional Tony Hawk challenges, so youâll find yourself having to collect items and doing specific tricks, but unfortunately these arenât tied into the story as well as we were hoping; one such example sees you having to collect scrap metal scattered throughout the level, to build a ramp so you can skeetch a lift from a car and use the ramp to jump over a police blockade â“ itâs just not that convincing in the end and doesnât really immerse the player as a result.

The level designs themselves are considerably different and much larger then previous outings, with a more realistic look and feel to them. As such youâll find specific skating areas with ramps and halfpipes scattered throughout the levels, with rails to give the player the opportunity to grind to other ramp heavy areas. Thankfully the traditional excellence in level design is apparent in âTHUGâ, so youâll soon find your favourite lines to skate around the environments, whilst they also offer a wider scope for exploring and discovering hidden parts.

Whilst the story aspect isnât as strong as weâd hoped for, the truth is that âTHUGâ is the ultimate game for the Tony Hawk fan. In keeping with the emphasis of creating your own character, the game gives you the option of creating your own tricks. Although youâre limited to using the existing animations, youâre given a fair degree of freedom and the ability to link in different trick animations to create a relatively new looking trick. The level creator also returns from previous versions to a greater degree, even allowing you to create your own challenges and custom goal text.

Following on from âTony Hawks Pro Skater 4â, the Playstation2 version features online support allowing players to compete in Score competitions, graffiti, combo battles and many more whilst also introducing a new mode entitled Fireball. This is essentially a deathmatch mode allowing players to fire projectiles at each other.

Visually the game is beginning to look a little dated with the same hideously scary character models making more of an appearance then ever before. That said the environments are impressive, whilst the trick animations are up the their usual best. The game looks and runs the smoothest on the Xbox, whilst the GameCube version suffers from the worst framerate.