Tony Hawk's American Wasteland

"Simply Just Boring"

INTRO: I ain't gonna lie, I haven't played Tony Hawk since N64. I liked that game a lot too, but I just was never thought to give the franchise another go around. Why? Because it pretty much seemed like the game stayed the same. But with the sparse 360 lineup I thought THAW would be worth a try.

GRAPHICS: The graphics stand out but not in a good way. These graphics honestly look no better than any average Xbox game. Sure the game has a higher definition but it is barely noticeable. In fact if someone put the 360 screen shot and Xbox screen shot side by side, I would not be able to tell the difference.
Score 5

SOUND: The soundtrack is amazing. The game features a long list of punk and rock songs. This is one area where THAW has always stood out. The sound effects are also great. It is quite satisfying to have your skater fall on his face with a realistic crunch. The voice acting is top notch to.
Score 9

CONTROLS: With as precise of a game that THAW is, the controls need to be dead on. The game does an all right job of this but can be frustrating at times. The button mapping does come across as idiotic sometimes. The game is no longer challenging based off timing but complexity.
Score 5

REPLAY: THAW does feature online, but like previous TH multiplayer modes, there is not much to it and not really that fun. THAW also features classic, free skate, and story modes. Story mode becomes frustrating because of the controls but unfortunately this is also the part of the game that progresses everything. Classic mode is entertaining though, as can free skate be at times.
Score 6

GAMEPLAY: THAW plays like any other TH game. The only real difference here is supposed to be THAW is free of load times. Which really isn't even that big of a deal to the gameplay. In story mode you will have a bunch of “missions” to complete. The whole idea is that you're a country boy come the big city to become a skater. All of the characters are very far stretched . And there is no real reason to pay game much attention here. As far as gameplay mechanics go there is nothing new here. There isn't much you can do to a skating game, but the franchise has become quite repetitive.
Score 5

THE BOTTOM LINE: If you are a TH fan than THAW is probably worth a rental. Otherwise unless your looking for a good soundtrack steer clear of this one.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 01/19/06