Tony Hawk is back but this time is nowhere to be seen! Well, he is but the attention is put on you this time around. The main feature in THUG is the fact that you create a skater and progress through the game as if you were competing in real life. You go from being a punk skater kid on the streets of New Jersey to an all out pro! This is a great feature in THUG and it really draws you into the whole experience.
As always, gameplay is the heart of this series. THUG has the perfect button layout. The face buttons are used to grind, Ollie, do grab and flip tricks. The same features from before such as manuals and reverts are back but this time around there are new additions. The most note-worthy being the ‘get off your board’ feature were you can actually perform a combo and get off your skateboard, run someplace, and continue your combo!
Speaking of getting off your board… this is also a key gameplay factor. Many of the objectives require that you climb homes and buildings and even sneak by some crazy crack-heads to get your friend’s board back!
Visually, as always, THUG shines. Animation is excellent while level designs are close to perfect. Level design varies greatly depending on the location, my favorite being the secret KISS level! Great character models, detail, and overall great flow with no lag.
The Tony Hawk series has always excelled in the music department. THUG is no exception with one killer soundtrack with Rock, Punk and Hip-Hop nicely mixed together. Some big name groups you will hear are NOFX, Bad Religion, KISS, Jurassic 5, and NAS to name a few. There are over 75 songs!
Overall, Activision and Neversoft deliver once again! Great gameplay, visuals, and music. Now get ready for Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 which was recently announced! Milking the cow? As long as they keep on improving them… let them milk the cow dry! Oh and make the next one Xbox Live compatible!
Report Card:
Gameplay: 9
Graphics: 9
Audio: 9
Replay Value: 9 Overall: 9 out of 10
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