GENRE
	Extreme Sports
	DEVELOPER
	Neversoft
	PUBLISHER
	Activision
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1-2
	CONNECTIVITY
	no
	BUY NOW AT

It’s about that time of year game fans. The temperature drops a good 20 degrees, all plant life withers up and dies, and the malls are filled with screaming children whose parents aren't much better. So why go out into these shitty conditions. I say stay inside, block off all contact with the outside world, except for of course a trip here and there to EB to pick up new games. In order for this plan to work, you will only need three simple things: three months’ rations, a space heater, and Activision's new release THUG 2. For those of you not up to speed on your gaming acronyms (like my local EB salesman), THUG 2 stands for Tony Hawk Underground... 2! This game is about two steps away from being called Bam Margera Pro Skater, seeing as he is the main pro skater you see in the game.

visuals

THUG 2 is just as appealing as its predecessors and then some. With scenic tours through more than 3 different continents and 7 towns, THUG 2 earned the name of World Destruction Tour. Throughout the game there are also beautiful FMV including all of your favorite pro-skaters. They do everything from blowing up skate parks, to making other skaters wet their trousers, and they do it all in pixilated glory. Not having been to any of the cities in the game, I can’t really say how accurately they portray the real cities, but I’m sure Australia has tons of ramps like in the game. A nice new touch is also the night and day effects. While skating around you will notice it get gradually darker, until it eventually turns to night, and then back again.

audio

There’s one thing everybody knows about Tony Hawk games, even your great aunt ester knows. Tony Hawk Pro Skater Soundtracks Rock! THUG 2 does not disappoint in this area. Johnny Cash to The Sugarhill Gang, from The Casualties to old blue eyes himself, Mister Frank Sinatra. This soundtrack has music everyone can enjoy. There’s nothing like doing a 360 melon over a German Shepard while listening to Rappers Delight. I suggest you try it, soon. The voice acting in THUG 2 is also top-notch. Professional skaters Bam Margera, Mike Vallely, Chad Muska and several others lend their voices to the game. Not to mention a few non-skaters making appearances such as mister Bad Ass himself, Jesse James. There are also a few areas in the game that, when you enter, the music will automatically change. For example, when you enter the Beer Fest in Berlin, the music changes to a polka, but when you leave, your music will return back to normal. I for one did not really care for this, because most of these music areas play really crappy music. So Activision put in a little option to tell these areas to shove there crappy up their polka loving asses.

gameplay

In THUG 2, you start off where you left off in THUG 1, New Jersey. After creating your own character like in the first game, using an impressive amount of customization, you and some other pro skaters are taking hostage by a chainsaw wielding Bam Margera. He invites you to join the World Destruction Tour. The game starts lets you start off in a training level, which is none other than the where house from the very first Tony Hawk game. From there you get to travel the globe to cities including Boston, Barcelona, and New Orleans (pronounced N'awlins, by everyone who is cool). The goal system is a combination between all previous Tony Hawks. Where in Tony will tell you your starting goals at the begging of the stage, then locate your pro skater you pair up with at the begging of each level, you get a new set of goals to complete. Unfortunately, favorites such as Geoff Rowley and Andrew Reynolds have been cut from THUG 2, so don’t expecting to pair up with everyone you’d like to. You also get a new set of goals when you find the secret character in each level. Like the shrimp vendor in Australia, or the Little Jimmy in his full body cast, who gets around on a supped up wheel chair. Each Goal you complete gives you a certain amount of points. To move on to each new level you will have to get 600 out of 1000 goal points.

Neversoft also brought us Classic mode in THUG 2 for those of you were sad for the old times, when you would try and get everything done in two minutes. I for one was glad when they did away with the 2 minute time limit in Tony Hawk 4. Yet if it’s a time limit that floats your boat, have at it haus. The Classic Mode brings back the classic, traditional goals from past THPS games. If you remember collecting S-K-A-T-E, finding the secret tapes, or trying to meet that ridiculously high score, you’ll enjoy Classic mode. Not only does it add what seems like a completely new game to THUG 2, but it’s just as fun as the Story mode. Considering that the story mode can be a tad short, you can get your money’s worth out of the Classic mode.

Lets not kid ourselves though, the main thing we all want to do in Tony Hawk is destroy as much public property as human possible. If that is what your looking for, you will be as pleasantly surprised as I was. There are a few things in each level you can do, like grind a certain railing that will cause so much damage, I almost cried tears of joy on multiple occasions. Or if you’re more into throwing items at random people, then you’re also in luck. THUG 2 also introduces projectile items. Yes you heard right, projectile items. You can grind down an awning and then wing a paint can at someone’s face, and then hilarity will ensue.

As always, Neversoft always puts in a few new ideas. THUG 2 introduces 4 new ideas that I haven’t covered yet. The first being the Natas spin, which any pro skateboarding enthusiast will tell you, is one of the hardest tricks to do, and also the coolest looking. This trick lets you spin continuously while grinding in a single place. It’s preformed with the same balance meter you have during a manual or grind. The second new idea is called Focus, which can only be used once you have filled your special bar. Once you have filled your special meter, hold L and time will slow down while you do your tricks. It gives you a little more control and you can see when to release tricks easier. It didn’t really come into play that often when I played, but I did still enjoy it. Idea number 3 is stickers, yes stickers. Instead of just plain old wall planting, now whenever you wall plant, you will also put a sticker wherever you touched the wall. You will also be able to pick your sticker from a huge selection. The last idea is also my favorite: Tagging. When not riding your board, you can tap Y when facing a wall and you can spray paint your personalized tag pretty much anywhere. You will be able to also create your own tag. You can use backgrounds, pictures, and letters. My tag had a bad word in it, but if that’s not skateboarding I don’t know what is.

multiplayer

Aside from multiplayer classics like Tag and Horse, Tony Hawk brought in a new game called Scavenger Hunt. The two players take turns hiding items all around a level and then the second player tries to find them. Well I liked the game idea, it just doesn’t compare to Horse. I’m still mad that they took out the horse sound after someone lost in Tony Hawk 4. My friends and I usually played the game, where instead of playing to H-o-r-s-e, we played to Pony Eater. Long story. The main downside to the multiplayer mode in all Tony Hawk games has always been that when you have two people playing split screen, you don’t get enough room to see what’s going on, which doesn’t seem to be a problem for other games like first-person shooters. THUG 2 has not improved in this respect in anyway, but if you don’t mind only getting half a screen, be my guest.

overall

So there you have it, another year, another Tony Hawk. After finishing the main story mode, I still had about seven levels that hadn’t been unlocked, so there’s plenty more replay value to be had in Classic mode. I’ve played some mean games of Pony Eater, let me tell you. So to conclude, board up all your windows and doors and wait out the cold and annoying young children with the help of THUG 2 and a space heater. Heck, why not just hibernate till THUG 3… actually that’s starting to sound like a good idea. Anybody know where I can buy freeze-dried rations?

8.9/10