Jump On Board
Tony Hawk, who's in his forties, must be getting stiff knees and a wonky back by now, bless 'im, so it's just as well he can extend his skateboarding career through the medium of videogames. It also means we get to join in the fun.
Previous Tony Hawk games have relied on handheld controllers to translate the player's desires into on-screen tricks. This all changes with Tony Hawk: Ride, which uniquely comes with its own motion-sensing skateboard peripheral, a decision perhaps inspired by the success of games with bundled hardware such as Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Wii Fit and the like.
An Easy Ride?
The board itself is quite a nice piece of kit. It feels nice and strong and looks the part too. While standing on it players can use the various tilt mechanisms for movement and activate motion sensors around the board for grabs. In theory, this should enable the would-be skater to pull off any tricks you would on a real skateboard.
In Tony Hawk: Ride, a move that's tricky in real life is similarly difficult to pull off in-game.
And that's where a bit of a problem lies. You see, other Tony Hawk games, in letting you use your fingers and thumbs on a controller, allow you to pull of elaborate tricks and stunts with relative ease. Which, if you're not a professional skateboarder, is just what you want. Games after all are supposed to provide a bit of escapism. In Tony Hawk: Ride, a move that's tricky in real life is similarly difficult to pull off in-game. Simply keeping the board level and travelling in a straight line is a challenge in itself, then you have to flip up the nose and activate various grab sensors to pull off the tricks. It's not that the control system is badly implemented, it's just unforgiving. You just need to be aware that this is not a game for the faint hearted.
Play Modes a-Plenty
To help matters there are three difficulty levels. On the easiest setting you have no control over movement and simply have to pull off the stunts. The medium difficulty setting puts you in control of both movement and tricks but the complexity and responsiveness is tailored accordingly. Expert difficulty is, well, something you won't want to attempt until you've been playing for a very long time.
On your travels you'll get to skate in a variety of major cities taking on a number of challenges.
As well as graded difficulty there are several play modes. On your travels you'll get to skate in a variety of major cities taking on a number of challenges. These include a sort of career mode, in which you perform well in order to unlock new venues and bonuses, and Free Skate, in which you can just throw yourself around the game's environments and get to grips with that new-fangled board. There are also assorted challenges to take on. The first of these is the SpeedRun, which involves completing a course in the shortest time possible. Trick Runs present an against-the-clock challenge in which you have to score as many points as you can. There are also fixed challenges in which you have to pull off a pre-defined set of moves with as much grace, style and skill as you can muster.
Tony Hawk: Ride is a brave attempt to do something different with the skate game and, while it doesn't always work (thanks to the high difficulty level in controlling your skater), there's plenty of fun to be had. And hopefully, the next game will support multiple controller setups which will give us the best of all worlds.
GAME's Verdict
- Nice board add-on.
- Variety of play modes.
- Special challenges.
- Punishing skill level.
- Traditional Hawk fans might wish they'd included a joypad option.
- The controls could do with a novice option.
Review by: Simon 'Ooh me knees' Kirrane
Version Tested: PS3, Xbox360
Review Published: 03.12.09