MyTungsten Review: Tony Hawk’s Underground

November 1, 2003

Tony Hawk’s Underground is the 5th game in the Tony Hawk series. This new game takes the series in a new direction however. Whereas the first 4 games had no real story, just goals to accomplish to open new levels and characters, Tony Hawk’s Underground (THUG) introduces the story mode for the first time. You start out as a kid in New Jersey, trying to make your way up through the skateboard world to become a pro. The story isn’t going to keep you up nights in suspense, but it is nice to have a reason to move onto the next level as opposed to having completed 12 goals.

Since I own a PS2, I also get all of the added features, including online play and the ability to “put my face into the game.” Although it sounds corny, uploading your face into the game is a neat novelty. The end result isn’t perfect, but with a little work, you can get it to look like you without any problems. The online play is well done again, this time using Gamespy as the backend. The game’s challenges are definately more difficult than the previous games, (although it may be that I am playing on the most difficult level) but that means that the game will definately last for awhile. I would highly recommend this game to both experienced Tony Hawkers and newbies.

• video games
• tony hawk