Tony Hawk was the first skateboarding game and although numerous other games
have tried to copy its formula, the series has continued to evolve and remain at
the top of the extreme skateboarding heap. That trend continues with the release
of Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 (THUG2), although it is more of an incremental move
forward from its predecessor than an evolutionary leap.
Probably the most dramatic change between the THUG and THUG2 is that the
game’s story mode has taken a turn towards the dark side. The story mode moves
you between different city locations as you try to work your way up from a skate
nobody to a skate legend by pulling of tricks and completing special goals
unique to each location. In THUG2’s story mode you are placed on a team of
skaters led by Tony Hawk that enters into a competition with Bam Margera and his
miscreants in a competition known as the World Destruction Tour. The Tour will
take you to cities around the world where you’ll compete by trying to rack up
the most points by destroying property and terrorizing the locals before moving
on to your next destination. Vandalizing statues, tagging walls, and nailing
pedestrians are just a few of the lofty goals you’ll take on to prove your worth
as a skater. Prior Tony Hawk games were all about the skating and I can’t say
that I really like where the game is going with this malevolent turn. That being
said let’s move on to the gameplay…
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| Grinding a cannon in Boston |
When you begin skating at a new location you’re given a list of goals to
accomplish before you can move on to the next. These goals include things like
tagging a particular wall, finding a secret character, or pulling off a certain
trick at a specified location. Your list of goals is easily accessible at any
time from the pause menu and in a nice touch you can get tips or clues on how to
accomplish each goal. There are also additional challenges to be found by
speaking to some of the people on the streets and finding the hidden characters
will unlock bonus goals that can be accomplished with the new character. As
always, there are also plenty of hidden bonuses, secret gaps, and hidden paths
awaiting players who do a little exploring.
So how do you pull off tricks? This is accomplished by pressing the right key
combinations at the right time, with the exact trick determined by location. For
example, you’ll do a different trick when catching air off of a half-pipe than
you will when jumping on a rail. To complete the trick you’ll need to make sure
you land with your board pointed in the right direction and avoid any obstacles
in your way. To really rack up points you can string tricks together into combos
and your points will continue to accumulate until you wipe out. Some tricks are
harder than others to pull off, and your success is also dependent on your
skater’s stats. Each skater is rated in a number of categories, so no matter how
hard you try to pull off a really hard trick your skater may not have the speed,
balance, or other skill needed. The good news is that as you explore each area
you’ll find secret tricks that will result in skill increases, so you always
have a chance for improvement.
Control in the game is either very good or pretty tricky, all depending on
how you play. There’s just no really easy way to play a game designed for a
console controller with a keyboard, so you’ll be facing a handicap if you go
that route. However, plug in a gamepad and things improve markedly. You can
easily map the buttons on the controller to your liking and next thing you know
you’ll be pulling off grinds and ollies with reckless abandon. Many console
ports lose some responsiveness and control in the porting process, but that’s
not the case with THUG2.
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