Since its inception in 1999, the Tony Hawk series has seen a series of evolutions. From the steps taken in regards to customizable players and upgraded gameplay to the leap from last-gen to this-gen, it has, if nothing else, been a highly consistent series. And here's the part where I throw away what's now become a clichéd introduction to a Tony Hawk review. Alright, Tony Hawk fans seem split into two camps: veterans who played Pro Skater and hated the Hot Topic mallrat vibe of Underground, and the people who liked THUG whether they were newcomers to the series or not. Yeah, there's some in between, too. I personally didn't like the first Underground, but admittedly logged in quite a bit of THUG 2 to satisfy my Hawk jones, even if the Jackass motif and pseudo-anarchist storyline should have come at least a game prior to be timely.

Obviously, someone at Neversoft realized that milking a THUG 3 would have spelled disaster for their sacred/cash cow, so they went back to the drawing board (and hired Jimbo Philips to do all the drawing). Basically, they threw the "Thug" in the slammer and "Thawed Out" the dormant pro skater that's been cryogenically frozen since some point between 2002 and 2003. For better or for worse, Tony Hawk's American Wasteland feels like a point of maturity and compromise for a series that, in spite of its title changes, is on its seventh game. And it's going to be a point at which long-time fans will probably decide to stick with the series or put it into the past tense (i.e.: "I used to play Tony Hawk.")


It's a hybrid of everything the series has built up to since the first game on PlayStation. It's got all of the skate-oriented missions that created the core fanbase. It's got the storyline that made some people love the THUG series. The classic mode doesn't just take the levels from the storyline and make them palatable for a two-minute time limit; it gives classic levels a major facelift that should leave old-schoolers smiling. Yet, strangely, there's a pall that's cast over the game that, in spite of the fact that it's the best Tony Hawk game since Pro Skater 4 (my personal favorite in the series), that it's gotten exceptionally long in the tooth. Seven exceptional games in six years is an incredible release feat that seems matched only by EA and their sports lineups. Yet, at the same time, the "been there, done that" looms over the entire THAW experience, for better or for worse.

Storyline mode puts you in the role of a country bumpkin kid from somewhere in the Midwest (or somewhere East; the derogatory nickname "Kensucky" might not be an accurate descriptor) who comes out to LA to become a skating legend, which beats being an aspiring actor who comes to LA to wait tables or do Skinemax After Dark flicks for a living. Along the way in Hollywood, you meet Mindy, a girl who's so cool and hot in that Suicide Girls way that it still remains to be seen outside of the plotline why she'd be caught dead kicking it with you. But that's beside the point.