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If you are the same age as me, then chances are you've spent some time playing the "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater"-series on the early game consoles. The game was so appealing to most people that they didn't even get annoyed whilst replaying the same story-line over and over again to watch a new Pro video and every single one of those games were an improvement of the other. Even though we had a reboot and HD release of the first 2 games (with some levels from THPS3 as DLC), the feeling that old gamers had playing it were lacking. Tony Hawk's American Wasteland is a perfect example of how the feeling should be, and one of the best Tony Hawk-games to be released since it all started.CLASSIC MODETo make a perfect alignment with the original concept and games, classic mode is what should bring nostalgia to those specific gamers. Even though there's only 6 levels to beat, with no "contests" in between, this is probably the favourite game-mode of many gamers. The objective list is similar to the ones you might have completed when you were 5 or 6 years old: get a high score, collect 5 random things, do a certain trick over a certain gap, etc. The combo objective, that required you to collect the letters of the same word (C-O-M-B-O) in one massive trick is something that came along since Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 which requires some skill and knowledge of the maps and that is probably the hardest objective on all maps. All in all, every objective is easily completable - even for those new to the franchise. It doesn't matter who you pick to do these objectives with, it can be any Pro Skater featuring on the list or even a created one that you can customise with endless possibilities.

STORY MODEStory mode is what came over from the fantastic "
Tony Hawk Underground"-games, but this time; you aren't skating to get sponsored. This time, you skate around trying to build a fantasy skatepark, called the Skate Ranch. Some of the tasks to obtain the parts can be easily obtained, while others might take a few more attempts. Just like in Classic Mode, all of these goals shouldn't be too hard, and the things the builders decided to do with the parts can be classified as innovative. A story mode isn't complete if nothing goes wrong, and that's exactly what happens. Whilst trying to keep spoilers to a minimum, gamers who are or were loyal to the franchise will see what's coming and that's where the Pro Skaters come in. We'll meet some familiar faces such as Bam Margera, Rodney Mullen and off course Tony Hawk himself; but also "new" (to that timeframe) Pro's will be featured. Some of them have ridiculously hilarious objectives to convince them to join your quest, others are considered hard but nothing feels more rewarding than proving yourself to those that are considered the best in what they do.
Even though no new notable features are included in this game, there's two that change the game-play a bit. First off we have new tricks called the Bert Slide which is a bit hard to master (and I still remember having a hard time completing the related objective for Tony Alva when I was a young lad) and second of all we have Sponsor challenges. The last ones are available in all locations where a skate-shop is located but don't really help to get you sponsored and getting free stuff. These challenges will serve as those that can improve your stats and make your customised skater better in what he does. Completed a 60 meter manual while it was active? Your stats will improve for that related trick. It mixes up the game a bit and allows the gamer to free roam the area a bit.
Even though the following isn't a new feature, it should be noted that you can now also conquer the BMX world. You'll get some instructions about how to ride those things by Rick Thorne. There's only a few challenges related to that specific "transport method", and none really require skill but they earn you some more cash, so why not try and complete them while you are roaming the streets of Hollywood or East L.A.?
In the story mode, there's also 9 different locations, which can be accessed by fast travelling or by skating from one place to another. Doing the latter doesn't give you any load screens and the next area will load while you are skating in the intersection. The story related areas are quite big and require some free roaming to find every thing available; being it Tag Challenges, money challenges for a homeless guy or finding all gaps. Completing everything this game has to offer is challenging and a bit time consuming, but an enjoyable one as well.
GRAPHICS AND SOUNDWhile we all know that this game was originally released for PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox and Xbox 360, the graphics could be classed as outdated. However, for those gamers that like to remind themselves about great video-games in their young lives it won't be an issue and the game is still fun to play. The graphics aren't horrible and some recent games should take an example of how this game looks now that it is 10 years old.
We all know the classic sounds when doing an ollie, triple flip, boneless or a grind. That formula still hasn't changed from the original games. What should be considered important when trying to summarize sound is the soundtrack. It's fair to assume that every one that has played the old THPS-games know what the soundtrack was like and this game is no exception. Even though the track-list got refreshed with some newer bands such as Green Day or My Chemical Romance, it still gives you the feeling that you are actually playing one of the older instalments with a few upgrades on them. The soundtrack is great and fits in with the atmosphere that surrounds the game.
GAMEPLAYI believe it's fair to say that the Tony Hawk franchise doesn't care about being a realistic skateboarding game and focusses more on button mashing and being sorted amongst other Arcade-games. The controls are still true to all the previous games and nothing has changed apart from some added tricks such as Wallplants, Nata Spins, etc... We will all try to get the highest possible combo, whether it being achieved with those who prefer cheats to maintain the best balance (SHAME ON YOU! :D) or that's that just want to reach it legitimately. For those who still haven't played any game in the Tony Hawk-franchise (and again, SHAME ON YOU!), the controls are easy to master. I do need to add, and this completely from a personal perspective, that I believe the game plays better on a PlayStation controller.
ACHIEVEMENTSThis is only applicable to the Xbox 360 version of the game, so please bear that in mind while reading the next paragraph. The achievements, a total of 45, in this game are fairly easy to obtain. 6 achievements are rewarded after completing goals in Classic Mode, 8 achievements are related to progressing and finishing Story Mode. 15 achievements are related to playing each area online, and another 15 achievements are awarded after setting a highscore in each area after choosing the "Free Skate"-game mode. That leaves one achievement, and immediately one of the more challenging ones. The last achievement requires you to have both game modes completed, whilst completing every objective and finding each gap at least once. Don't be mistaken, the achievement isn't that hard to obtain but it will take some time before you meet the requirements to unlock it.
CONCLUSIONSeeing as the Tony Hawk and Skate-franchises are completely dead (sadly), the people that love Skateboarding games that are searching for alternatives can find it here. Yes, you could go back to even older entries to experience the nostalgia, but Tony Hawk's American Wasteland is one of the best games you'll ever play in this genre. There's endless possibilities of creating a skater, graphic or you own skate-park and it isn't a wrong assumption to say that this game is one you shouldn't miss out on. Even though the game is 10 years old and the graphics could look outdated, I'm sure you will all enjoy the mass amount of challenges this game can bring you.
*** Spoiler - click to reveal ***To be able to write this article, the reviewer spent 15 hours in-game completing both Classic and Story Mode, whilst unlocking 31 of the in-game achievements on Xbox 360. A copy of this game was bought by the reviewer. This review was posted on our website first, here.
4.5