Early Aggresive Inline Xbox observations (1 Viewer)

[Damien]

I just picked this game up the day before and here are some things I've seen
-first thing, the graphics are high-res and smooth, and the glitches from the PS2 version are gone supposidely, but i've had some fishy collision detection incidents. The soundtrack is ok, with notables pod, saliva, hoobastank, and a couple of nice punk songs. Of course you can say screw that and use your own music. The game has an exclusive level, a la tony hawk 3, that is not playable in career mode. i have yet to get it, but it is called the zoo. Next, the 5.1 so far is average, but the music soundtrack seems like it comes from the rears as well. And it also has some nice effects like if you fall on certain objects you'll get a thump from your subwoofer. I'd place it just ahead of th3. things missing so far: no create a skater, no gaps, and only one trick button. I am having a little trouble with the control with the s version, it feels very loose compared to th, and it does have small collision problems.. the layout is intuitive so maybe i'll get used to it. if you played dave mirra it's the same thing here. The game has 7 levels and 8-9 skaters availible. The levels are freaking huge. like 10 cruise stages from th3 ships could fit in it. right now it is overwhelming, as i am trying to get a hang on the new mechanics introduced here. you talk to people like th, but this time they have a lot more funny things to say. you have your high scores, and you can do stuff to trigger cinemas as well. the difference is there is 20-35 objectives per level, so it is bigger. and the goals are unique, i'll fill you in as i go along. the new moves are a pole swing, car skitch, vault, and maybe more. otherwise, manuals, reverts, and lips are all here, but they seem a little more sluggish then that game. also the game is VERY DEEP. you level up your player rpg style, complete with xp points depending on how you skate. also you have no time, and have a juice meter to keep up otherwise it's game over. different power ups can help you and you have a lot of moves at your disposal. you can also bail out of a fall and do a lot of tweaking to grinds. overall i'm pleased but i haven't hit any kind of wow factor, it still seems like i'm playing an extreme sports game with skates. i'll post back soon with more impressions.

 

[Dave F]

I really like this game. The huge levels, zillions of challenges, and almost rpg-like progression of stats make it very addicting. On Saturday I started playing around 7 or 8, and it was 4 am before I knew it. :frowning: Heh, fter all that play I still keep double-tapping up to get a boneless before a trick.
The one fault that I would give the game is that the character models are pretty ugly, and feel almost PS1-ish. I realllly hope this team makes a skateboarding game. I'd leave behind Tony Hawk in a second.
-Dave

 

[BrianB]

The one fault that I would give the game is that the character models are pretty ugly, and feel almost PS1-ish.

Are you playing on the PS2 or the XBox? The character models definitely seem a little "smoother" on the XBox.

 

[Dave F]

I'm playing the Xbox version. The characters are smooth, but they look like they have a pretty low polygon count & the textures are pretty basic. Maybe it's just the characters I've played so far though - I'll have to try a few more. Either way, it's really unnerving how Chrissy's breasts flap around like windsocks.
-Dave

 

[BrianB]

Ah, fair enough. I don't have any real problem with the player models.

Still useless at it though. I've unlocked a couple of levels, done a good number of challenges, but I've still to feel fully "in control" of the character, unlike THPS3. Just cannot master the slides + manual combination (aka THPS3 revert + manual) that's necessary to really link together combos. I can do it fine in THPS3 though. Bah.

Can't find the "keys" to open the "locked" areas on any of the first three levels either. Maybe I should read the manual!

 

[Adam Tyner]

Maybe I should read the manual!

Noooooo....if a game requires reading the manual, then it can't be any good!

 

[Damien]

I've unlocked a couple of levels, done a good number of challenges, but I've still to feel fully "in control" of the character, unlike THPS3. Just cannot master the slides + manual combination (aka THPS3 revert + manual) that's necessary to really link together combos. I can do it fine in THPS3 though. Bah.

yep, i can't get past that industrial plant yet. Actually I have 6 challenge points, so i'm spending most of my time trying to figure out how to get on those gears, because the 3 vault challenge is too hard. I may have to check a PS2 faq if this keeps up. i agree the second i picked up the controller and played it the control felt very strange for this kind of game(i'm using chrissy, who isn't that hot btw). I heard the next level is the best one in the game, so i'll see how that works out when i finally get to it

 

[Dave Falasco]

Whoa, the release date for this slipped right by me. I had been waiting for this one for a while now...glad to hear you are all enjoying it! Looks like a trip to Best Buy is in my very near future...

 

[Dave F]

The way that the keys are implemented is weird. They don't necessarily appear within the same level. For example, the Movie Lot key actually appears in the museum, which is much later in the game.

-Dave

 

[BrianB]

So I've noticed, DaveF. Managed to make a good bit of progress this evening - opened the next two levels:

The Boardwalk & the Cannery

I really like the first of those levels!

 

[Dave F]

I am still playing this game constantly. I finally have all levels and all keys, so now I'm trying to 100% each level. I just polished off the first 2, but the others are going to be quite a challenge. There is sooo much to do in this game - 7 or 8 huge levels (each is the size of 2 or 3 THPS levels) with almost 20 challenges per level. Some challenges are extremely difficult, but never overwhelming. A very well balanced game.

-Dave

 

[BrianB]

Yup, been playing it lots too, Dave. Haven't gotten all the keys yet, though I've got a few. Finding it hard to do some challenges on the

Museum & the Cannery levels.


REALLY enjoying it. Only game diverting away attention is PGR.

 

[Dave F]

Oh god, the key in the museum just about drove me nuts. I must've tried for 2 hours before I accidentally did something differently and realized that I needed to approach it with a totally different strategy. Once I realized that, it took 10 minutes. *d'oh!*

Maybe I'm just a masochist, but the museum is my favorite level. The Zoo is pretty cool too (very diverse), but is only in freestyle skating.

-Dave