Tony Hawk Ride
Pro Skater put the alternative sport videogame in the spotlight. Countless imitators have popped up through the years, but until recently it carried on as the premier franchise. Iteration after iteration saw it slowly fall from grace until Electronic Arts stepped up and took the lead with Skate. Rather than continue on in a head-to-head competition, mega-publisher took a step back, some time off, and decided to reboot the franchise. Inspiration from Wii Fit and its own popular Guitar Hero series has resulted in, a US $120 game that comes with a fancy skateboard peripheral.
A more immersive skateboarding game that would ride the recent wave of hit games featuring their own custom controllers. An expensive proposition that neither casual nor hardcore gamers will get much out of.Tony Hawk Ride is a vastly different beast from past games in the franchise, and that should be readily apparent from the moment you see it on store shelves. You can't use a traditional controller.
Instead, you'll have to get up off of the couch and use a custom controller shaped like a skateboard. This board is covered in sensors that detect which way you're leaning, whether the nose or tail are raised, or even if you're reaching down to mimic a grab. It's quite sturdy, too, so you don't have to worry about kids breaking it.
In theory, playing Tony Hawk: Ride should be fairly intuitive. Brush your leg along the ground next to the board and your character on screen will push off to gain speed. Raise the nose and you'll do an ollie. Raise it half-way slowly and you'll do a manual. Variations and more complex tricks can be done by twisting the board or leaning forward or back while in the air. Reality is a little less kind. Ride can be played on three different difficulties.
On the lowest, called casual, the game does most of the steering for you. Players only need decide when to jump and trick. On the higher levels, steering and other assists are turned off. The trouble with Ride is that it feels like it plays itself on casual and the learning curve for anything higher is far too steep. And when I say it feels like it plays itself, it really does. Face away from the screen or simply kick the board around on the ground and you're just as likely to pull off big tricks on the lowest difficulty setting. Toss the controller around like a mad monkey and you might find yourself with a high score.
Doing a specific move, however, is frustratingly difficult. That turns the game, at least on casual, into the skateboarding equivalent of button-mashing.
Build+up+a+style+meter+and+you+can+pull+of+bonus+crazy+tricks.Once you turn the difficulty up, you begin to see the failures of Tony Hawk: Ride. Steering is incredibly difficult, as is pulling off moves regularly. Lose your balance and lean to the side just a little and you'll start spinning in circles, bouncing off of pieces of the environment and failing challenge after challenge. It pushes the sensitivities to the extreme and makes the transition from casual to anything else punishing and, well, not fun. The more you play, the more you'll also begin to notice that the physics and collision detection aren't up to speed – I once watched my skater go straight through the wall of a half-pipe and then fall through the world.
Other times you'll watch your skater's head slide right through a cement wall. The camera has plenty of difficulties, too, once you take the game off of the casual rails. Ride simply lacks the polish that is necessary to match the hardcore controls. All of these things are problems that would absolutely not fly in past Tony Hawk games, and they're more than enough to make any serious gamer walk away. If you're rich and want to spoil your kids, Tony Hawk: Ride might be worth a look.
Though the game plays itself on casual, I could see little kids having a great time hopping around on the board and watching things happen on screen. It may just be random moves and total nonsense, but I've seen far less entertain little kids for hours on end. However, if you are looking for more, you'll want to start with the campaign. It's the main single-player draw, though it is possible to simply hop into a park you've unlocked for a stress-free exhibition that just allows you to skate around and practice.
The campaign pulls every available mode and stage into one package, including a half-dozen or so cities from around the world and several different game types. There's a race where speed and grabbing time bonuses is the objective. Trick sessions are all about scoring points under a time limit. Challenges require you to do specific tricks. Then there's a game like basketball's horse.
Do well in these and you'll earn session points which will in turn unlock new areas and challenges to play, as well as new gear and pro skaters.
. Summary: Players can experience skateboarding like never before in Tony Hawk: RIDE. For the first time, players have the ability to physically play the game using an innovative motion sensing skateboard controller, allowing for unprecedented freedom and movement.
Tony Hawk: RIDE focuses on innovation Players can experience skateboarding like never before in Tony Hawk: RIDE. For the first time, players have the ability to physically play the game using an innovative motion sensing skateboard controller, allowing for unprecedented freedom and movement. Tony Hawk: RIDE focuses on innovation and fun, bringing the #1 best-selling action-sports franchise to the forefront with cutting-edge technology for the hardcore fans and accessibility for the mass audience. Tony Hawk: RIDE features a wireless skateboard controller designed in conjunction with the game to offer a dynamic gaming experience built from the ground up.
Tony Hawk Ride Wii
Using a combination of accelerometers and motion sensors, the intuitive controller allows players to physically control the action by performing various movements and gestures on the board that directly translate into amazing tricks in the game. Without complex button combinations or analog sticks, gamers of all skill levels can literally step on the board and play!
I'v got to say, the board worked quite well for me, but as I played it more it seemed to get more and more unresponsive. I have it on I'v got to say, the board worked quite well for me, but as I played it more it seemed to get more and more unresponsive. I have it on the wii, and the graphics are balls, loading screens take the piss and the game is generally quite hard to get used to (This is coming from a skateboarder). The menu's are also inconsistent, which really ticks me off, mid game you can use the board to scroll menus, but no, as soon as you go the main screen, you have to pick up the remote again, which is okay if you know that. I stood there for 5 minutes trying to get the menu scrolling with the board, this may just be a side effect of my own stupidity however. I think if I had the game on Xbox, I would have gave it a better rating, the graphics look simply amazing, but as this was a christmas present I didn't get to choose the console.
I went into the game with a positive mindset, unfortunately the controls weren't as polished as I thought, and the graphics were hideous. It I went into the game with a positive mindset, unfortunately the controls weren't as polished as I thought, and the graphics were hideous. It felt like the developers knew they weren't going anywhere and stopped mid project, boxed the game, and shipped it hoping to receive at least some cash to make up for lost funds. There are better skating games out there that don't involve silly peripherals. It doesn't work- they gave all these reviewers only 3 hours of actual testing, which wasn't even enough to get used to the It doesn't work- they gave all these reviewers only 3 hours of actual testing, which wasn't even enough to get used to the controls- from calibrating, to getting used to them.
GameTrailers had to go out of their way and actually buy their own game, play it for 20-something hours and got the real feel for the game. GameZone, GamingTrend, Planet Xbox 360,& XboxAddict were all payed for their scores- they are liars- they only spent a couple of hours with the game (which didn't matter) cause Actavison's PR just payed them for the review.
Tony Hawk Ride With Skateboard
Do not buy this Trash- It Doesn't Work!