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Tony Hawk's American Wasteland

He was a punk, she did ballet...

Tony Hawk isn't just a skateboarder anymore. He isn't even just a famous skateboarder. Tony Hawk is a brand, one that due to his numerous video games has probably made him a very rich man. The kind of wealth and 'street cred' that he has accumulated through his chosen extreme sport is most definitely enough of an excuse for many adolescents to bunk off school in favour of grinding curbs, catching air and frightening the living daylights out of old age pensioners who find themselves frozen in fear as another scraggy-haired, baggy trousered 'Sk8er Boi' rolls past. Twin Hawk's image with the famous bands that appear in the soundtrack and you have a commodity that most adolescents and quite a few grown ups just can't resist. If Tony Hawk's American Wasteland was only about as much fun as terminal illness, you can still bet it would sell by the bucket load. With so much hype, then, can Wasteland, the seventh Tony Hawk game in seven years pull off something spectacular? Read on to find out.

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If you've seen the advertisements, Tony Hawk's American Wasteland's biggest selling point is that it claims not to have any loading screens, giving the player a seamless run of the city streets without any stoppages. This is true to a point, though if those commercials had small print or some of those speedily read conditions, they'd say something like 'Loading times between each large environment are compensated by fairly long stretches of bland subways or tunnels that you must endure in their place.' Either this or catching a bus to your desired area forces a suspicious drop in frame rate. No loading times? Hmm.

Fans of the previous games will feel right at home instantly with Wasteland and may even feel a bit ripped off at the lack of a challenge that the game sets them. The Story mode is a reasonably believable, if not original tale of a country bumpkin skater who aspires to make it big in the skating world. Presumably his local council doesn't provide any of the necessary facilities, so he hops on a bus to Los Angeles, California, the birthplace of skateboarding and the home of many of the sport's legendary icons. Stripped of his possessions and, weirdly, all of his previous knowledge of skating, your character must progress through a series of challenges which see you rising up the ranks and gaining respect amongst other skaters. Tasks involve set criteria, normally correctly performing a stunt (over objects and people), or racking up a certain number of points in any form of trickery that you can muster. The absence of any difficulty for Tony Hawk's veterans comes into play when you almost feel as if you're playing through one long tutorial. Every trick along the way is marked out precisely with floating icons that tell you which buttons to press and when to press them, which, well, all seems a bit pointless. Even beginners will breeze through the Story mode with a little bit of practice under their belt. Nevertheless the Story mode is a concrete addition to the game where you'll warm to your character (you have the chance to dress and groom him from the beginning. If you want to create your virtual twin, go ahead) and the other folk you'll meet along the way.

Away from the Story mode is the Classic mode, which as in previous games sets you the challenge of performing given conditions in order to unlock new levels and boards. Objectives range from scoring a set number of points to collecting videotapes hidden in seemingly impossible to reach areas. Again, though, seasoned Tony Hawk's players will just breeze through anything thrown at them and in as much, for many the mode will only exist as a means to an end, to collect bonuses and unlock levels to play in multiplayer or online. The multiplayer mode definitely makes up for the injustice you might feel towards the single player. Game modes range from capture the flag to blasting fireballs from your board, effectively turning Tony Hawk's American Wasteland into some bizarre shoot-em-up. Of course there's the legendary high score competition with support for up to eight players performing gravity-defying maneuvers in a blur of button-pressing combinations, too.

Tony Hawk's American Wasteland is possibly the best looking title in the series yet. Every character model, even the timid pedestrians have smooth contours and a realistic appearance. Their gestures and mannerisms seem deep set into they're virtual psyches which makes your playing experience satisfyingly authentic. The city environments are also a joy to explore. As expected, nearly every piece of scenery can be interacted with to pull off a myriad of stunts and you'll gain a real sense of menace as you hop on and off walls, poles, makeshift half pipes and fun boxes - in fact, just about every type of street furniture you can think of.

The game's soundtrack is provided by modern punk rock bands, all bashing out covers of songs written by some of the genre's defining artists. The soundtrack is actually available to buy separately and features performances from, amongst others, Senses Fail, Alkaline Trio and Fall Out Boy who successfully mimic the likes of Suicidal Tendencies, Gorilla Biscuits and TSOL. The game's sound effects are nothing to shake a stick at either. After seven years it's no surprise that the clunk of a skateboard's trucks knocking against concrete and of wheels spinning along tarmac have long been perfected. In addition the character acting isn't too bad, especially so from some of the pro-skaters who obviously haven't been living their lives in preparation for a couple of lines in a videogame.

Although Tony is probably laughing all the way to the bank with this, the latest in the series, the rest of us might be left feeling just a little sour. Perhaps it's time that developers Neversoft go away for longer than twelve months and come back with something other than a glorified extension of a series that seems to be short on innovation. There are a few new inclusions both on and off the board and a bit of fun to be had on a BMX, but not a whole lot more. The Tony Hawk series certainly has the potential to once again reach the peak of critical acclaim that it once had, and this title is fun. Sadly too much rehashing of the same idea, especially in a game which holds your hand the whole way through, isn't going to do that.

74%

1. "He was a punk, she did ballet..."

   Your fired.

   Jason Monday, 28 November 2005, 21:21:5

2. You're fired, I think you'll find is the correct use of English grammer.

   Did you go to university? I think not.

   Trolling fiend Tuesday, 29 November 2005, 14:25:11

3. No, I didn't go to university, but at least I know how to spell 'grammar'.

   Jason Tuesday, 29 November 2005, 16:25:46

4. giggles

   ice_freezer Wednesday, 30 November 2005, 11:58:2

5. this site sucks i was looking for a demo to play not junk!!!!!!!!!!!!BLOW Me

   Jason J. Wednesday, 7 December 2005, 20:28:58

6. I went to a university!

   Wugga Wugga Friday, 9 December 2005, 16:01:22

7. this site bites! and the game bites! and yer right ben stafford i bet u haven't got 1,745,800 as ur high scores!

   thumbs down! :(

   polly Tuesday, 20 December 2005, 15:23:27

8. my combo is over 6 000 000 so stop ure showin off

   robster Friday, 6 January 2006, 20:50:21

9. this is a awesome game

   grayson Sunday, 8 January 2006, 23:20:39

10. we'll,dan the usless man i got 1 combo and it is triple urs 51,000,000, so u can shuv that up ur ass u waz.

    dudezy Wednesday, 11 January 2006, 13:36:57

11. well i got nuthin cuz i ant got da crap game

    too-2 3 Wednesday, 11 January 2006, 13:39:33

12. Funny thing is i bet they used cheats to get those high combos

    Brett Saturday, 14 January 2006, 07:16:41

13. Any Cheats For Wasteland ?

    Company Leader Wednesday, 18 January 2006, 09:28:40

14. 52,000,000

    Around there. It really isnt that hard as long as you know what you are doing

    Brauce Thursday, 19 January 2006, 01:14:56

16. can u do get all level cheats

    cc Saturday, 21 January 2006, 02:04:52

17. can u do get all level cheats

    cc Saturday, 21 January 2006, 02:04:52

18. he knew how to skate she knew how to dance he knew how to rock she knew how to prance

    Brock Thursday, 9 February 2006, 01:51:50

19. 60,000,000...

    JimminyCricket Sunday, 12 March 2006, 17:10:55

20. its fun and im really good at it

    gunther Wednesday, 5 April 2006, 19:43:59

21. how do i find glitches 4 gs?tell me what site

    VoLcOm skater Wednesday, 12 April 2006, 19:23:58

22. :} :} : } :} :D :D :D :D :{ :{ :{ :{

    anon Saturday, 1 July 2006, 20:24:56

23. what is the create a sk8er like in american wasteland

    yiddo Wednesday, 19 July 2006, 13:10:8

24. ytggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg

    eli Friday, 11 August 2006, 23:11:6

25. can you get all level cheats for it? Its a good game but im stuck on the second to last lever :(.

    Andy locket Sunday, 13 August 2006, 14:09:16

26. i NEED CHEAT CODES FOR TONY HAWK 3 TO GO ON THE NEXT LEVEL NOW

    MARTY Saturday, 16 September 2006, 02:17:6

27. about 295,000,000

    ive seen ppl get 1 billion once

    *PS* I Monday, 2 October 2006, 01:51:5

28. its duderanch #$%&%^&&**)*##@!$#%^(*&^%$$%

    demon boy Monday, 23 October 2006, 11:14:25

29. what do u guys think of tony hawk project 8?

    snoopy Monday, 23 October 2006, 11:20:30

30. JARMIE cheat

    bob069 Saturday, 11 November 2006, 02:01:17

32. my high score in wasteland is 267887504 ;P

    okoey Friday, 13 July 2007, 22:02:28

33. ddetgghetjhd

    mitsos Sunday, 23 March 2008, 13:47:47

34. i was looking 4 a demo to play not this poop

    uninprested Monday, 2 June 2008, 06:50:20