This game improves upon old Tony Hawk games. Buy iit, your hours won't be wasted.
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland (THAW) is a fresh new title that does add quite a bit to Tony Hawk titles but you won't see most of the features for a while. This started me on my Tony Hawk addiction I mean this games a pain but it's still full of Tony Hawk's Underground 2 undeniable charm.
The campaign starts with you choosing a group of skaters he'll be your customizable skater, from then on you progress through a highly varied campaign that without spoiling too much will have you busting things up to haul to your skate ranch, meeting a cast of amusing characters and seeing more pros now including Mat Hoffman. There are now BMXs that are a feature in this game and are rather unwelcome in a skateboarding game. The new BMX can leave you very frustrated as your bike will frequently cause you to crash and ride backwards.
The new idea of having to bust things up so they can be taken to the Skate Ranch becomes compulsory to getting progress in campaign. Like the campaign everything can quickly flash by you leaving you in the dust if you're not in a rush but they put plenty of so hard you have to cheat bits in there for dawdlers. The cheats themselves aren't very unique but things like Moon Gravity can be rather handy.
Among other things a hobo pays you to carry out the things that he tells you to do like do this combo but if you're in a rush he isn't useful. The other ways of earning cash is by going to a graffiti artist who will tell you go this spot and will leave you confused at times. Learning the tricks of the BMX will also earn you money but you can easily complete most of the campaign without his help. There is times when certain people will require you to do the graffiti artist's chores to unlock the tags and a few BMX lessons need to be completed as well.
There are also shops but that will be explained when you play the game at the start of the campaign, any way next to skate shop is another new thing a list that by doing the things on it you will gain stats. Personally I don't get any point in this as you probably won't notice anything different about your character.
The levels themselves are part of this new generation of Tony Hawk, this game will boast free roaming environments that will have a lot to explore depending on area. The Classic Mode is also great but levels like in campaign will range in size and some will be hideously small.
Now the bad side of the game should also be revealed, the fact is it's incredibly glitch and you'll find yourself in places you shouldn't if you explore too much. The graphics are all right I guess, but explorers will see otherwise. Things like skitching a car, when looked at from a different angle will look like the person isn't holding onto the car. The unlockable characters are just people you see in levels, but after unlocking graffiti artist you'll notice he looks like that hobo. This can be a serious shame; I mean no Spiderman or any other randoms! The unlockable videos are pretty good but if you've played previous skate boarding games I think you'll notice that there are no professional girls.
The Spine Transfers, levels, online, multiplayer, Classic Mode and gaps leave a lot to do giving it an average replayability. Almost forgot the music is as always awesome, a 9.0 from me for its added freshness to Tony Hawk games.