E3 2002Aggressive Inline impressions

Aggressive Inline is the inline skating game from the team of Acclaim and Z-Axis, the same developers responsible for the Dave Mirra series of BMX games. The game sticks to many of the gameplay mechanics found in the Dave Mirra games, as well as those found in Activision's Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3. Like in Tony Hawk 3, you can link all your tricks together to form huge combos. Manuals can be used on flat ground, and the cess slide lets you continue combos after coming down from a ramp.

The goal system in Aggressive Inline is extremely open-ended. Rather than placing a time limit on each run, the game lets you take things at your own pace. A juice meter sits onscreen and controls both your special meter and your health. As you successfully perform tricks, the meter fills up. If you crash or dilly-dally around, the meter drains, and when it's empty, your game is over. Each level has a ton of different goals that are usually triggered by going up and talking to someone. Dave Mirra 2 originated this sort of "find your goal" concept, and it's improved on here by leaps and bounds.

The GameCube and Xbox versions play just about as well as the PS2 release. The control is responsive and well conceived. Graphically, the Xbox version is a good improvement upon the PS2 release. It has much sharper features, nicer textures, and an overall cleaner look. The GameCube version, however, isn't so clear. The textures are nicer and the game is a bit more colorful, but it also has a soft, blurred look to it that reminds us of the Nintendo 64.

We'll have a review of the PS2 version soon, and we'll bring you more coverage on the other versions of the game as soon as more information is available.