Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Tony Hawk's Underground Hitches A Ride

Posted by simoniker on from the hawk-theft-varial dept.

Thanks to IGN PS2 for their hands-on preview of Tony Hawk's Underground, the latest in the multi-million selling Tony Hawk skateboarding game franchise. Evolutionary changes include "the ability to hop off your board and go around on foot", hitting inaccessible locations and new combos, and you can also now even "...hitch a ride on passing cars... [and] take control of a few automobiles" - hopping in and out GTA-style? Narcissism is also in, as you can "...pull a digital print of your own face into the game via the network adaptor and play as yourself", as the developers try to mix things up after the high-quality, but not mindblowing Tony Hawk 4.

3 of 8 comments (clear)

  1. analog steering? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    most important question: does it finally have analog steering? or still only digital steering using the analog stick?

  2. THPS needs to go back to it's roots, though... by unclethursday · · Score: 3, Interesting
    While I really liked THPS3, and was satisfied (though not blown away) with THPS4, Neversoft really should go a bit back to their roots.

    THPS was by far the best skateboarding game I had played since 720 Degrees in the arcade. Then THPS2 came along and blew my socks off.

    THPS3 kept a lot from THPS2, and did a lot of improving (mainly in graphics and frame rate, although THPS2 on the Dreamcast was a major improvement over THPS2 on the PSOne).

    THPS4, however, just wasn't as much fun to me. Neversoft really took two steps back to take one step forward when they designed THPS4.

    Some things were great, like the free roam until you wanted to do a goal thing; but then others were just 'meh' (some pro challenges insanely easy (even if looking hard) while others insanely hard; mediocre level designs in some areas) or even downright ass backwards (shared goals? Never having to use another skater except for their pro challenges? Yeah, that makes for a whole lot of replay value...).

    And in three games now, we've had the same special move for three different secret characters. Spider-Man (THPS2), Darth Maul (THPS3), and Jango Fett (THPS4) all used the "Spidey Varial (Does Whatever a Spider Can)" for one of their special moves; and both the skeleton from the Xbox version of THPS3 and Eddie (Mascott for Iron Maiden) used the same move for one of their special moves. Let's get some variety with these secret characters!

    I really hope THPS Underground is a good game, but I'd really like to see the series go back to its roots in some ways. The incredible level design and goals in THPS2 mixed with the enhancements from THPS3&4 (and Underground) would be an absolutely incredible game.

    Thursdae

    1. Re:THPS needs to go back to it's roots, though... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      THPS4 was my favorite, out of the whole series... Well, pretty much besides 1, on PSOne. There was something about THPS3 that didn't do it for me, and in turn, I didn't play it that much. 4, for some reason, clicked, and I really enjoyed it.
      I liked how you didn't have to beat the game with every character to earn attributes, as that became repetative.

      While the shared goals were sort of... cheap... I, honestly, like that more than the THPS1/2/3 take on it. It seems like a psuedo-replay value, because there's nothing really knew, especially since 2, with the invention of customizing the trick combos and the such.

      Eh, I'm excited for THUG, it'll be something new and something interesting.
      Mike