Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD Review
Back when I was 14 and 15 years of age I spent loads of my time playing Tony Hawk’s Pro skater and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2. I would have all my mates round and we would play the game until early hours of the morning. The sound track and gameplay were second to none, FACT!!!
When I heard that the games were coming to Xbox 360 and in HD I was so excited because I would be able to reminisce whilst going back to my childhood.
Tony Hawk’s Pro skater HD allows you to choose one of 8 skaters, Lyn-z Adams, Chris Cole, Riley Hawk, Tony Hawk, Nyjah Huston, Eric Coston, Rodney Mullen and Andrew Reynolds. Each character has their own style and varied attribute distribution depending on their real life skater style.
Throughout the campaign you will earn money. This money can be used to buy attributes to make your character better in certain skill areas such as speed, ollie and lip balance. You are also able to buy new moves and decks. Buying decks is pointless in my eyes because you will only ever see the picture if you do a darkslide.
Controls
Just like they were in the good old days. A to Ollie, B to grab, X to flip trick, Y to grind and RT/LT to rotate faster. Simple controls that will be easy to pick up after about half hour of play although you will trip yourself up at times from trying to over trick.
Game Modes
Career mode offers the fast passed objective gameplay we all know and love. You have 2 minutes to collect the letters S-K-A-T-E, get a sick score, perform specific tricks etc. This is the my favourite game mode because no matter how many times you fail you are happy to go try again because it will be different every time and you will be rewarded upon success.
Single session is a 2 minute run whereby you have to get the highest score possible. Your score will then be added to the leaderboards.
Free Skate is exactly what it says, skating with no time limit or goals to achieve.
Big head survival whereby you will have to score massive combos constantly or else your head will grow and explode.
Hawkman you will have to collect all pellets located throughout a level whilst doing tricks to collect them.
Projectives which is similar to the career mode but with added difficulty and new objectives.
All game modes have their pro’s and con’s but there is more than enough content for to keep you occupied for a long time.
Locations
All the locations are here and feel as fun as they ever did. School, Warehouse, Hanger, Marseille and Venice beach are just a few of those returning. These locations look great and are totally untouched from their original state minus the lovely HD render. It is also worth mentioning that like before there are some hidden areas in certain locations so be sure to grind, jump and trick over everything.
Soundtrack
One of the reasons Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2 were so successful was the soundtrack. Millencolin “No Cigar”, Public Enemy “bring the Noise” are two of the most memorable tracks I remember and I am glad to see them in the game BUT!!! Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD has robbed us fans of the full soundtrack and replaced them with some horrible, modern, boring tracks that don’t fit well with the game. Although this will annoy some (myself included) it isn’t enough to ruin the rest of the game but it definitely is a great shame.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD doesn’t offer my old favourite “local Play” but it does offer online play. The available game mode for online play are…
Graffiti You have to tag objects by scoring the highest points on the said object. The person with the highest number of objects when the time runs out wins.
Trick attack. You will have to try to score the highest in order to be at the top.
Big Head elimination. You will have to score huge points in order to deflate your head otherwise “Pop” you lose!!
Free skate. You and some random people or mates can do as you please with no time limit or specific objective.
These game modes are Ok but personally the game mode I wanted the most was HORSE because you watch others take their go, banter and try to put each other off. I think that multiplayer falls short because of the lack of HORSE and really hope they add it in DLC.
Overall Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD is great. Those of us that have played the previous games in their original form will be a little disappointed with the lack of the full soundtrack, local play and HORSE but for newcomers it will be like playing a Tony Hawk’s game is it is meant to be played and they will love it.
The game requires skill and dedication in order to succeed and it will be a fun journey. There is something that feels missing from the game and I cannot put my finger on it but it isn’t enough to stop me form having the great fun that I used to over 10 years ago.
9/10
Review By Wicket2961
