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Transworld Surf Review
Chris Leyton
00/12/0000
After the abysmal Championship Surfer and Surfing H2O, can Infogrames break the duck and deliver the first decent surfing game???
Surfing games have had a notoriously tough time in the past, previous examples such as Surfing H2O and Championship Surfer have shown us how not to do it, hopefully Infogrames Transworld Surf will change all that.
Developed by Angel Studios, Transworld Surf is one of a range of games under the Transworld label, that will encompass Snowboarding, Skateboarding and Surfing. As with all of these games, the bulk lies in the career mode where you must impress the photographers from the Transworld magazine and get your picture of the front cover. Other modes in Transworld surf include the standard single surf, free surf and a range of multiplayer modes.
Transworld Surf is a student of the Tony Hawk school of gameplay, giving players the opportunity to pull off some serious tricks and comboās. However making a surfing game isnāt as easy as youād envisage, well at least making a decent one isnāt. Whereas in skating games there are concrete objects to pull stunts off and definite lines to stick to in order to grab the most points, there is none of that in a wave making it very hard to remain realistic yet keep it fun. Thankfully Angel Studios seem to have got the balance just about right.
The control system follows that of Tony Hawk very closely, A is used to jump, B pulls of laybackās, Y rides the top of the waves like a grind but is called a floater in the surfing world, whilst the X button is used to slow down. The triggers pull off a variety of aerial moves. Combinations of these pull off different tricks, the key is stringing them together to get a combo going and ride inside of the barrel to watch the points seriously notch up. Itās not quite as quick or responsive as Tony Hawk, neither is it as intuitive, but it does allow players to have an enjoyable and satisfying time riding the waves.
Naturally waves arenāt a stable surface to pull of moves like concrete is, however Angel Studios have done a great job of giving the player the opportunity to pull off stunts whilst keeping the waves realistically erratic. Waves start as slowly rolling mounds and evolve into mountainous peaks of water, creating a truly thrilling ride for each individual one. Thatās also an important aspect that Angel Studios have built in, each wave feels different to the last, ranging in size and shape, the barrels, the tubes and the peaks all offer a vastly different experience, ensuring that the excitement and entertainment is kept high.
The waves are split into categories; Normal, Difficult and Hazardous. Difficult waves must be successfully completed from start-to-finish without wiping out, Hazardous waves regrettably place a variety of objects in your path to hit or run-over, whilst the normal waves are exactly that.
Previous surfing games have been dogged by camera issues (amongst other things), because of the manic nature of the sport itās a hard job to create a camera that can keep up with all of the action, and to this extent Angel Studios should be congratulated for creating one that keeps up with the action and always lets the player know what to expect. A roving front-facing camera is used in the normal section of the ride, however entering the barrel switches the camera quickly to underneath the lip of the wave and deep in the tube, a great place to be as the wave comes towering overhead.
Transworld Surf features some very impressive visuals, the waves are brought to life with a particle system that realistically portrays the spit and froth. The visuals help to convey the natural course of the waves evolution, the smooth and glossy water textures arenāt repeated whilst the lighting effects bring each wave to life, a range of underwater objects creates an aesthetically pleasing experience at least, when you wipeout. Perhaps the most impressive aspect, and what sets it out from the rest of the crowd is the fact that the courses are based on real-world locations, and so you have land in the background rather then the sense that youāre surfing in the middle of the ocean. Locations such as San-Francisco complete with the Golden-Gate bridge help to enhance the experience, and make everything seem that little bit more realistic. The 13 professional boarders all animate smoothly, if a tad unrealistic in their motions. Whilst the graphics arenāt the most impressive youāll see on an Xbox, they come together superbly to create a very realistic and whole environment.
As youād expect from any extreme game the soundtrack is comprised of the usual rock/punk/pop blend that weāve all come to expect, including the likes of The Plug Uglies, Kut U Up, The Stitches, Pepper, the Line, Hopelifter, Missing 23rd, Sloe and Stranded. Personally speaking itās not a bad thing but of course itās up to each and everybodyās own taste. Unfortunately thereās no chance to burn your own songs to the collection, so if you donāt like this type of music itās best to leave the sound off.
