And there's no narrative unfolding from level to level, like there was in Tony Hawk's Underground. Skaters don't show up inside the stages to assign you tasks, like they did in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4. The 10 professional skateboarders Activision paid to appear in THPS 5 are oddly absent from the career mode. The objectives aren't even level-specific, as Robomodo recycles the same seven or eight of goals throughout the entire game. Apart from the good old high score targets, most mission types in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 are either painfully tedious or annoyingly stupid. Collecting the letters S-K-A-T-E and searching for hidden VHS tapes is a concept that's still somewhat fun, but without the extra adrenaline rush or the added pressure of a two-minute time limit, those pastimes also feel largely unsatisfying. Kickflipping fireworks into floating bulls-eye targets and delivering lunch pail icons to a construction site simply aren't ways that I'd like to spend my time in a skateboarding videogame. Current developer Robomodo hasn't brought the franchise's gameplay any closer to resembling the intense competitions and stylish video clips that fans of the sport like to see. ![]() The gradual decline of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series began as its original developer (Neversoft) started making the game's mechanics and objectives feel less and less like actual skateboarding with each annual sequel. Completely removing the risk/reward factor in holding onto a lengthy grind/manual is just one of many terrible design decisions that Robomodo has made for THPS 5. Really, the only time you'll wreck in THPS 5 is when the collision detection gets glitchy, which is something that happens far too frequently. THPS 5 also automatically stops you from bailing whenever the balance meter is tilted too far in one direction, as your skater will now safely reset into an upright riding stance if he/she loses balance during a grind or manual. The slam is a cheap, fail-safe method of escaping potential crashes, since it will produce a flawless landing every single time, even if your body or board is turned crooked before you hit triangle. Regardless of how high up you are in the air, or whether or not your body/board has stopped spinning, you can now instantly drop straight down onto a rail or right into a manual by pressing the triangle button to make a clean landing at any time. One huge control change that is certain to throw-off THPS veterans is the new landing command called “slamming,” which has totally noobified the game's rules for grinding objects and sticking tricks. I did not think I'd ever play a game on this console that was worse than NBA Live 14, but Activision and developer Robomodo have somehow managed to score lower than EA Tiburon's own disastrous comeback attempt. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 would be a disgraceful piece of software to ship on the PlayStation 4's launch day, much less coming 22 months into the system's life. ![]() ![]() ![]() The entire package is missing many essential options and features from the first six Tony Hawk games that rightfully belong in any modern revival.Įven if future patches miraculously resolve THPS 5's numerous mechanical and technical malfunctions, the game still won't be worth buying, due to unpatchable problems like blasé skate parks, unbalanced level designs, repetitive single-player missions, an inefficient matchmaking system, and a lack of compelling multiplayer modes. Its 20-person multiplayer sessions contain more ghosting and warping than an original Pac-Man cabinet. Its framerate is choppier than most extreme sports titles on the PlayStation 2. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 looks, runs, and plays like a pre-alpha build of a game that might have been ready to release sometime in the spring or summer of 2016.
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