Tony Hawk's Underground

Tony Hawk's Underground
"You own the underground."
Protagonist(s): Custom Skater Genre(s): Extreme Sports Skateboarding Platform(s): PlayStation 2 Xbox Nintendo GameCube Microsoft Windows Game Boy Advance Mobile Release: Game Boy Advance GameCube PlayStation 2 Xbox NA: October 27, 2003 EU: November 21, 2003 Mobile NA: November 20, 2003 Microsoft Windows AU, NZ: 2004 Developer(s): Neversoft Beenox Shift (Microsoft Windows) Vicarious Visions (Game Boy Advance) Jamdat (Mobile) Publisher(s): Activision Series: Tony Hawk's Predecessor: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 Successor: Tony Hawk's Underground 2

Tony Hawk's Underground is a 2003 skateboarding video game and the fifth entry in the Tony Hawk's series after Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4. It was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision in 2003 for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Game Boy Advance and Mobile. In 2004, it was published for Microsoft Windows by Beenox but only saw release in Australia and New Zealand.

The game was developed with a theme of individuality which was manifested in the extensive character customization options, the presence of a narrative, and the product's characterization as an adventure game. Real world professional skateboarders contributed their experiences to the plot. Upon release, the game was a major critical and commercial success, with reviewers praising its wide appeal, soundtrack, customization, multiplayer, and storyline. The graphics and the controls for driving vehicles and walking were less well received. Underground's PlayStation 2 version had sold 2.11 million copies in the United States by December 2007. A sequel, Tony Hawk's Underground 2, followed in 2004.

Plot

The game's story follows the player's custom skater and his/her best friend Eric Sparrow as the two aim to become well-known professionals, with their differing ambitions eventually driving them apart.

Why It's Above Ground

1. Amazing and fluent controls that are a huge improvement over the previous games.
2. There are tons of in-game content.
3. Highly improved customization of your custom skaters and parks, just like the previous games.
4. You can create your own special tricks using the 'Create-A-Trick' feature.
5. You now have the ability to get off of your skateboard and explore on foot, it is also useful for chaining combo tricks.
6. This is the very first game in the series to feature an original story that focuses on your custom skater trying to become a pro.
7. You can customize your interface and HUD themes, there are lots of variations on it.
8. Great and interesting locations to explore such as Hawaii, Tampa, Moscow, New Jersey and Slam City Jam.
9. Incredible and great soundtrack.
10. Out of all the games in the series, this one is more gritty and dark as it is more down to earth than other games in the series.
11. You could download created stuff via online play in the PS2 version.
12. The game introduced diagonal double-tap grinds.
13. The PS2 version has online play where you can share your created content with others and do multiplayer with up to eight players.
14. Great graphics for 2003 standards that still looks great to this day.

Bad Qualities

1. Eric Sparrow, the main antagonist, is widely seen as one of the most annoying villains in video game history. Thankfully, the Neversoft logo boot-up sequence "spoils his comeuppance" with him getting eaten alive by a T.H.U.D. which is supposed to take place after the main campaign of both this game and Underground 2, a monster that is similar to the 1984 movie C.H.U.D.
   • Speaking of the Neversoft logo, it is very scary and nightmare fuel, especially when watching this at night.
2. The online services are no longer working as the game uses the GameSpy services, luckily there are alternative ways to play online on PC.

Reception

Tony Hawk's Underground received "universal acclaim", according to review aggregator Metacritic. GameZone's Michael Knutson wrote that Underground is "one of the best skating games around" and that players of every skill level would enjoy it. Eurogamer's Tom Bramwell concurred: "As a 'pick-up-and-play' sort of game, THUG is endlessly rewarding once you get your head around the basics, and it's the best entry point for the series to date".

The story was well received. Joe Rybicki of Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine celebrated that "for the first time I can remember, an extreme-sports game actually has a real story with honest-to-goodness characters". Knutson called the story "unique" and stated: "I really like that Neversoft had the guts to try something this radical and ditch the formula that they know works so well". Ben Silverman of Game Revolution described the game's plot as a "silly" cross between those of the 1980s films North Shore and Gleaming the Cube, but he praised it for giving context to the level goals and keeping distance between the skill unlocks. Bramwell called it "hackneyed". Rybicki found that the plot hurt the game's replay value and caused missions to be overly simplistic. By contrast, Game Informer's Justin Leeper thought that "it serves to make some of the less-entertaining goals tolerable, because there's a reason for doing them".

Trivia

• If the story has been completed more than once, an alternate ending occurs, where the protagonist knocks Eric unconscious, taking the tape back instead of holding the skate-off.

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