It's been 10 years since the first Tony Hawk skateboarding game, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, first ollied onto consoles, forever changing the way gamers interact with the sport.
Now, the Birdman is ready to revolutionize skating again with a brand new Tony Hawk experience, Tony Hawk: Ride. But before you strap on the kneepads for another go, check out our Top 5 things you should know about his latest creation.
1. Look ma, no hands!
By far the most exciting change to the Tony Hawk series is its new controller. Instead of wrapping their hands around a gamepad, players will step on a new skateboard peripheral, shifting their weight to steer, hop, and pull off tricks. Boasting accelerometers to detect leans and pivots as well as IR sensors to track grabs, it's an impressive piece of tech. Lift up the nose slowly and the on-screen skater performs a manual, while popping it quick creates an ollie. It's the closest thing in video games to actual skateboarding, minus the threat of painful injuries.
2. Go with the pros or mold your own.
The Tony Hawk games have always had a robust Create-a-Skater mode, letting you design the rider you've always dreamed of, and Ride is no different. Players can tinker with a very deep creation tool, complete with original tattoos crafted by Corey Miller of L.A. Ink. Fans looking to hop right in can simply choose one of the game's many pros, including multiple versions of Tony Hawk alongside icons like Stevie Williams, Christian Hosoi and Rodney Mullen. Wii owners get the added bonus of skating with their Miis or with Mii versions of the pros as well.
3. Rock with the Hawk.
A Tony Hawk game without a killer soundtrack is not a Tony Hawk game, so when Activision unveiled its 50-tune song roster, we were quick to give it a listen In addition to loads of indie rock, the eclectic mix includes big acts like Green Day, Wolfmother, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The Raconteurs alongside a variety of more up-and-coming bands. And lest we forget Kenny Rogers.
4. Plenty of ways to skate.
In order to streamline the experience, Tony Hawk: Ride focuses on four different gaming modes that revolve around shorter game play sessions: Speed runs, Trick point scoring, Challenge task completion and Freeskate, which allows you to explore levels at your own pace. The game also offers three different difficulty levels, a Casual mode that handles the steering while users concentrate on grinds and combos, and a Confident and Hardcore mode that take off the training wheels and enable more complex tricks.
5. See the world from home with friends.
Rather than try to recreate real skate parks, Tony Hawk: Ride opts for more fun skating environments based on key regions in the world, including Southern California, New York, Chicago, Tokyo, Frankfurt and Barcelona. Each area features unique levels that are either A-B race sessions or free skate areas to practice tricks, while half-pipes exist as stand-alone levels for those looking to pull off more sophisticated combos. The experience can also be played online on the Xbox 360 and PS3, where players simultaneously compete against one another for a spot atop the leaderboards.
Tony Hawk Ride Gallery
Posted: 13 Nov 2009
