Tony Hawk's American Wasteland

The best thing about the multiplayer aspect of Wasteland is definitely the addition of Xbox live functionality. You can take your custom boarder online in a series of different modes and game-types that seriously extend the life of this game. All of the standard options like custom, private, and quick match are included, allowing full customization of how you want to play. You can even limit the skill level of your online opponents, something all multiplayer games should include.

There’s a nice mix of game types too, you can play versus classic mode, free skate with some pals, or get into some of the more unique modes available. I personally found myself playing a couple of these untraditional modes the most, Fireball, and Scavenger hunt. Fireball is a standard death-match game where you have the ability to launch fireballs at your opponents. It’s a heck of a lot of fun and a nice change of pace from the standard matches. In Scavenger Hunt you’re given a certain amount of time to hide your items, as is your opponent, and when the game starts you must hunt down more than your opponent does.

Overall there’s a surprising bit of variety in the online modes, especially for a skateboarding game and for the most part, it plays exceptionally, with little or no lag to speak of.  For all those who are looking for a more local experience (or just don’t have Xbox Live), the game also features split-screen and System Link multiplayer. Also new to Classic mode is a two player co-op mode that lets you take on the goals with a buddy. The co-op is great if you have a buddy over, but it would have been nice if the developers would have included online co-op for all us sad and pathetic recluses. Overall the impeccable multiplayer aspects of this game go along way to warrant the price of admission.

You’ll be hard pressed to find a game that offers up such a diverse move list, and pulls it all off with precision and complete success.  Anyone who’s played a Hawk game before will feel instantly at home with the control scheme. The L-Stick is used to control direction, the A button to Ollie, the X button for flip tricks, the B for grab tricks, and the Y button to rail. The bumpers are used for the new Bert Slides, and Bert Modifier, one of only two new moves available this time around.

The Bert Slides allow you to weave quick figure eight style turns, made famous by Alba and the other boys from Dogtown. Rounding out the controls are the Left and Right triggers, used to revert, switch stances, spine transfer, and level out. Along with the Bert slides, the only other new ability at your disposal is the wall running. Using the right bumper you can wall run, allowing you to reach higher locations or just back flip off, it’s a small addition but does open up the levels to some degree.  Overall the controls benefit from the addition of the bumpers on the 360 controller, and also improve, albeit marginally, on an already solid controlling game.

The graphics in Tony Hawk are almost identical to those found on the previous generation versions, and that’s not a good thing. For an extra ten dollars, and on my new 360, I expect games that showcase what the system is capable of. I do understand that many developers were under the gun to get their Xbox 360 titles ready, and that also not having the beta units in time and learning the new system can be a challenge, but that’s really no excuse.

Just look at other so called “ports” that made the jump – games like Need for Speed, and more recently Burnout: Revenge and Fight Night Round 3. They look fantastic on the 360, and prove the point that ports can turn out successfully. The only main noticeable difference between this version and those found on the PS2 and Xbox is resolution, and that difference isn’t necessarily for the better. The higher resolution actually hinders the visuals, allowing you to see the shody textures better. 

As is to be expected from any Tony Hawk game, there is a lot of licensed tracks to listen to while you rip up the streets on your skateboard. Green Day, Bad Religion, and the Doors are just some of the artists featured. This is not to mention the fact that you can also use your own soundtrack.

As far as non-musical sound elements are concerned, you will pretty much find what is to be expected. The voice acting will often help you to progress throughout the game, and can also spark the odd giggle, but the skateboarding and locale sound effects also do the job nicely. Everything from the grind sounds, car horns, and pissed off members of the public are all there.

Final Word

Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland is the best game in terms of gameplay and graphics in the series to date. However that said, those looking for the next-generation look, feel, or features will be disappointed – there is nothing to really distinguish the game on the Xbox 360 from versions on the Xbox or PS2.

This doesn’t mean that THAW is not a good game, in fact it is a great game. If you don’t have it for the Xbox 360, then by all means check it out. However if you do already have it for another system then don’t expect much more should you grab THAW for the 360 as well.