boarding and blading

this game has a lotof potential. first it has the last 5 thps game backing it up (not 4 cuz thrers tony hawk 3x on xbox) plus its taking a different route. theres the create a trick thing. and its a littleless publisized. not a lot of commercials. i think they wanted real skaters to play this game. Not 7 year old who try to kickflip their first day and quit cuz they cant. cuz thats what the first few games did. But i like the series and this game should be really good.

Don't get me wrong - this is a good game. I just think some of the "ground-breaking" elements it's supposed to contain aren't really that ground-breaking.

In Underground you are to progress through a story mode by which you start with nothing and end up as king of the skating world, all the while battling your once-friend-turned-enemy Eric. Throughout the story you complete several goals and missions to progress on to the next level. Once completing the story mode you unlock a secret level, a Kiss Concert arena, which is one of the coolest levels, by the way.

At this point you can return to previous levels and search for all the hidden goodies, learn new tricks, create your own tricks, or create a park for that matter. It's definitely an improvement over Tony Hawk 4 and is clearly the definitive skateboarding simulator.

First I'll give you the positives. The game has a great deal of online features allowing you to share parks, tricks, etc. online, as well as compete in online tournaments. It also seems to be very faithful to presenting a real simulation of skating and doesn't allow you to defy physics too much, except for the rail rides and surviving horrific falls.

Now the hype.

Underground is lauded as a game that let's you "get off your board and walk around." Um...have you ever played a game called "Grand Theft Auto?" You can walk around - and do a whole lot more. I'm sorry, I don't really find the fact that you can "walk" to be earth-shattering.

I also feel the game is a little *too* real. For example, take SSX. This is a game that gives you a real sense of controlling a snowboarder careening down a mountain, but at the same time let's you completely disobey gravity at your will. Underground isn't really like this. If you are actually a skater I'm sure that compared to reality the Tony Hawk games are awe-inspiring, but to a non-skater the air tricks are rather underwhelming and don't look all that different from what you see on ESPN2. While this is in some ways good I suppose, it leaves me wanting to be able to do more spectacular stunts.

The controls are pretty jerky. One thing I've never liked about the Tony Hawk series is the erratic control and Underground doesn't fix it. One little move and suddenly you're facing the other direction.

Lastly, the story-mode is pretty short. The only game in the series I've played is Tony Hawk 4 (so I'm not a hardened veteran) and I finished the game in only a few days with moderate playing.

I gave the game 4 stars so obviously I liked it, and yes, it's a good game. But game of year? No way. I'm not sure I get all the hype. Sorry to all the diehards of the Tony Hawk franchise.

Its a awesome game but the only problem was...IT WAS TOO SHORT! I beat the game in like a day. But it has an awesome game mode and all the other great things that the tony hawk games bring. I hope that the second one is a bit longer or something like that and they need to add more teams to it also... like the darkstar team and enjoi and anti hero...all the other great teams there are.