A great skate game not from activision

Author's Rating:

Pros: fun and challenging levels with tons to unlock

Cons: only 8 skaters avalible

The Bottom Line: 
Great game that is a must own for even the casual skate fan. An almost perfect gaming experience! One of the best games for PS2! NOT A TONY HAWK CLONE!

Author's Review
Graphics: A true masterpiece. This games takes full advantage of the Play Station 2's graphical capabilities. The character models are exquisite and levels look amazing. All the animations are smooth and frame rate is great I can't find a bad thing to say about the graphics. One of the most visually impressive games I've seen so far. They got every thing down to the skaters shirts blowing in the wind. Amazing! 5/5

Sound: While the soundtrack boasts some great artists such as Linkin' Park, Voodoo Glow Skulls, New Found Glory and Sum 41 the music fell short of my expectations. It did not succeed in capturing the ''skater'' feel that we all know and love from THPS and THPS2. When I played Tony Hawk I wanted to go out and and buy some music. With this game I feel compelled to mute the music and turn on something else. Not to say that the songs suck, because they don't. They just get repetitive after a while. 4/5 (If I had never played THPS2 it would have been higher but when you compare the 2 THPS wins hands down)

Controls: THIS GAME IS NOT THPS3! Do not expect to pick up the game and be getting amped points right off. It feels and plays different than the Activision games. When people play it and say it sucks they're trying to play it like Tony Hawk. You have to get used to the controls and physics before you can enjoy this game. Once you do this you can look forward to hours of enjoyment. When you first start playing you will want to slam the controller into the nearest wall. An hour later when you figure it out you'll be pulling some insane tricks. 4/5

Gameplay: The one player mode is where this game really excels. You can compete in two classic X-games competitions: Vert and Park both of which are best or three runs with judges scoring. Two exceptional levels in a unique mode. The other high point in one player mode is the Arcade Mode: ESPN's equivalent of Career mode. There are six huge wonderfully designed levels with interactive objects and expansive hidden paths and areas. Each level offers six goals which upon completing unlock new stuff. Although the goals are relatively the same each level has it's own unique feel. Extremely fun and challenging! There isn't much in the way of multi-player though. There are only three selectable levels with a competition or most points objective. The game comes with lots of cool extras: Tutorial Mode which is a great help. And once you get good you can play a score VS mode where you go for high scores to unlock additional stuff. A solid all around game that I would recommend to anyone. I'd even go so far as to say that it is slightly BETTER than Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (one of the greatest games ever) 5/5

Not All Good: Although an excellent game it does have its drawbacks. First of all there are only eight skaters available for you to use and unless your an avid skateboarding fan you've probably only heard of Bob Burnquist. Multi player not as fun as THPS.