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When it comes to extreme sports games,
there's perhaps no better then the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series.
Many games such as Thrasher and Dave Mirra's Freestyle BMX
have tried to compete, but they ultimately couldn't compare. Last fall when the
XBox launched, it launched with none other then a new Tony Hawk
game. Well, sort of new anyway. While the PS2 got Tony Hawk 3, the
XBox received an update of part 2 called Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2X.
So, what's the X in the title for? Is it just another quick port of part 2
that's trying to bleed the game dry before part 3 hit the system? Lets see.
First off, if your not familiar with the Tony Hawk series, then
you must not be a gamer. Since the originals release on the PS1 and DC, the
series has become the undisputed king of extreme sports and skateboarding games.
Not since the likes of Skate or Die and 720 has a
skateboarding game received so much praise and attention. The series itself was
actually inspired by a much lesser known arcade game by Sega called Top
Skater. If you haven't heard of that one. then your not alone. It was
pretty rare in most areas of the country and most gamers probably have never
even heard of it let alone played it.
The character line up in 2X is exactly the same as in the original
part 2 on the DC and PS1. You get a pretty good assortment of real life
skateboarders including Kareem Campbell, Rune Glifberg, Elissa Streamer, Chad
Muska and Tony Hawk himself. There's also a few hidden characters like Officer
Dick and Spiderman that can be unlocked as well. Each skater has their own stats
and move sets which can be altered to your own liking. Some of these moves and
stats must be purchased with cash earned in the games Career mode. You can of
course, use a cheat code to bypass all the work if you don't have the time,
patients or skill to earn the cash and hidden characters on your own.
There's also a create a character mode included if you want to make your own
character. Added from the original Tony Hawk 2 is the ability to
create female skaters. While this does add a bit to this mode, its still lacking.
There's just simply not that much to customize your character with here. I guess
I'm spoiled by the create a character modes of some of the wrestling titles I've
played like WWF No Mercy and Attitude. The games
developer Treyarch could have done a lot more in this area of the game.
Perhaps the biggest addition to 2X comes in the form of the
levels. Not only do you have all the levels found in the original part 2, but
you also get every level from part 1, as well as 5 new XBox exclusives. This
brings the total levels up to an impressive 24. To make things even better,
Treyarch even went back and made some additions to some of the older levels. For
example, the Airport hanger level from part 2 now allows players to go up into a
new area in the control tower. While none of the changes are really too drastic,
they do give vets of the series some new stuff to look out for.
Something I found really cool about having the old part 1 levels in the game is
how you can use Manual's in them. These were originally introduced into part 2
and now that they can be used in part 1s levels allowing players to reach higher
scores then they ever could in the originals.
As for the 5 new levels, although they may not be as impressive as the
originals, their a welcome addition to the game and give Tony Hawk
freaks some new challenges to master. These new levels take place in areas like
on roof tops, a construction site and my favorite, an ultra cool looking disco.
If 24 levels aren't enough for you, you can create your own with the Skate Park
Creator. With this feature, you'll never run out of levels to play in as long as
you keep creating new ones. And yes these levels can be saved into your XBox
hard drive so you don't have to worry about losing them when you shut your
console off. And although I'm not 100% sure, I believe Treyarch improved this
mode over the original part 2. I can't really say because I never really
bothered playing around with it much in past games.
For play modes, you get the same thing as in previous versions of part 2. These
include the Career Modes where you take your skater through various levels
unlocking set goals in each stage. These goals are the same as before and pretty
much consist of things like getting a high score, knocking over barrels or
finding hidden tapes. You start off with playing part 2s levels and once those
are beat you can play through part 1s levels and then the 5 new levels. With 24
levels included, there's a lot to do here. Like with the cash and hidden skaters,
you can also use a code to unlock all this if you don't care to earn it on your
own.
There's also a 2 minute Single Session mode as well as a Free Skate. Single
Session is great when playing against a buddy to see who can get the best score
in a certain level while Free Skate is best for learning the levels. You can
also play a multiplayer split screen mode that supports up to 4 players. I can't
say I've tried it with 3 or 4 players yet, but given that the 2 player split
screen runs so well I'm assuming the 4 player is handled just as good. Well, that
is if you don't mind the ultra scrunched up screen. You can also link up your
console with a friends and play multi player that way if you wish. It can
support up to 8 players that way.
Graphics 7.5:
If your looking for a system showpiece for your XBox, then Tony Hawk 2X
is not the game to show off the systems power. This of course is not to say the
graphics are bad in any way. In fact, their really good. This is by far the best
looking version of Tony Hawk 2 yet. The frame rate is much more
solid then past versions, the textures are much sharper then ever before. Just
look at the grass. No longer is the grass just simple flat texture maps. The
grass is now looks much more realistic and 3 dimensional. There's also a few new
extra's that were added in the levels that I noticed as well such as helicopters
in the background of the outdoor area in the Hanger level. I also noticed a
pretty humorous "All Your Base Are Belong To Us" reference hidden on a
sign in the Ventura level. This didn't seem to be present in the original.
My biggest gripe with the levels is that part 3 came out around the same time as
this did. The levels in part 3 just feel so much more alive then the ones found
here. I think Treyarch could have done just a little more to bring the levels to
life. Its sort of nitpicking but I guess part 3 just spoiled me a little.
Sound 9:
Sound is the exact same as in the original. You get the same sound effects and
music tracks. The soundtrack includes licensed bands such as Rage Against
the Machine, Naughty by Nature and Powerman 5000.
Don't like the soundtrack? The use your own. Yep, Tony Hawk 2X
takes full advantage of the Xbox's built in hard drive and allows players to use
their own music if they so wish. An overall good job on the sound.
Control 9:
Ok, first things first, the XBox pad is not nearly as bad as most people claim.
These people are most likely the ones who have been using a PS or DC pad for the
past few years. I would expect things to feel a little weird if you've been
using a different pad for so long on the game. Give yourself a few hours with it
and you should be used to it completely and whipping out all your moves like
before. If your still having problems with it then I'd suggest trying out either
the Mad Catz pad or the new Microsoft S pad. Both are smaller and may work
better for you. Personally, I don't have any problems at all with the standard
pad so things are pretty much near perfect for me.
Overall, I'd highly recommend Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2X to either
fans of the series or to newbies who've never experienced this amazing series.
The more rabid Tony Hawk fans should find more then enough here to
come back and play through it again while the newbies get a great introduction
to the series. You can also find the game for a mere $20 at most places so its a
great buy as well. Great job Treyarch
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