Tony Hawk's Underground
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| Tony Hawk's Underground | |
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| Developer(s) | Neversoft |
| Publisher(s) | Activision |
| Engine | RenderWare |
| Release date(s) | October 27, 2003 |
| Genre(s) | Extreme sports |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | America:ESRB Teen (T) = Australia: M15+ PEGI: 16+ |
| Platform(s) | Xbox, GameCube, PS2, PC(Australia only), Game Boy Advance, Mobile Phone |
Tony Hawk's Underground, also called THUG and released in 2003, is a skateboarding video game available for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, GBA and Xbox platforms. A PC version was released, exclusively to Australia, in 2004 by Beenox. It is the fifth console game in the Tony Hawk's Series. It features the ability to create a custom character, and is playable online on the PS2 version. Unlike its predecessors, THUG focuses heavily on its story mode, and to this extent includes a large number of in-game cutscenes. THUG was also the first game in the series to introduce the ability to travel around levels on foot. Many fans of the Tony Hawk games consider this to be the pinnacle of the series.
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[edit] Game mechanics
A constantly changing mechanic in the Tony Hawk Pro Skater series is the gaining of skill. In other games, this was accomplished by either earning money which went toward unlocking levels, buying skateboard gear, and improving skills; or by finding floating tokens in each level which were worth one skill point each. In THUG, specific (usually skill-related) achievements increase the player's skill in each of 10 categories. For example, doing at least a certain number of tricks while in the air after launching off a quarter- or half-pipe can increase the player's Air rating, giving them more airtime. Holding a rail grind or slide (or manual) for a length of time increases the player's balance on those moves. The set of moves is harder in higher difficulty settings; a rail grind of twenty seconds is one of the final accomplishments in Normal difficulty, but one of the first in Sick difficulty.
For the first time in the series, the player can walk around, rather than skateboard. This is necessary to reach some locations and challenges. This is linked to the Caveman move; the player is now able to leave his skateboard in the middle of a combo of moves, and continue his combo elsewhere, as long as he or she continues within a time limit. This time limit is another skill that can be improved. Added to the moves in THUG is the wall push (skating toward, then pushing off of a wall).
[edit] Game plot
In the "career mode" setting of THUG, the player must choose a character created in the in-game Skater editor. Professional skaters (including Tony Hawk, the game series' eponym) and unlockable skaters are only available for play in the other modes of the game. The player takes the role of a largely nameless skater from a New Jersey town, who aspires to make a name for himself (or if you chose to make your avatar female, herself) in the world of professional skateboarding.
To this end, he receives some help from childhood friend Eric Sparrow and skateshop owner Stacy Peralta, as well as a skateboard from skateboard pro Chad Muska, whom the character impresses during his time in New Jersey. As the game progresses, the character gains recognition, first as an amateur team skater, then as a professional. However, Sparrow's selfishness gets the better of him time and again, and he always seems to steal the spotlight...
The initial culmination of the player's efforts results in one of the most memorable cutscenes in the game; the player must jump off of one building, perform a grab trick (specifically, a McTwist) over the spinning blades of a helicopter, and land in (or near) a half-pipe a number of stories down on another building. Note: Even if the player does not land the trick correctly in game, the cutscene will show the player landing perfectly on the hotel roof.
The game takes place in a number of levels based on various real cities, most in North America. These levels include:
- New Jersey
- Manhattan
- Tampa
- San Diego
- Hawaii (the location of the helicopter cutscene)
- Vancouver
- Slam City Jam skateboarding tournament
- Moscow
The game also has four unlockable levels:
- Hotter Than Hell, a KISS concert in the Australian outback
- The School 2, Venice and Hangar levels ported from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
In THUG after getting out of Moscow you must make your own team and complete a series of difficult stunts. For your last challenge you face Eric where you must hit all of his lines within a set time limit. Because it is considered to a be a frustrating and tiresome goal no matter the difficulty setting, players only need to complete the goal once. On any subsequent plays through the game, the player will punch Eric when he challenges you to the goal, knocking him out and catching the tape in one motion.
[edit] Pro Skaters
- Tony Hawk
- Bob Burnquist
- Steve Caballero
- Kareem Campbell
- Rune Glifberg
- Eric Koston
- Bucky Lasek
- Bam Margera
- Rodney Mullen
- Chad Muska
- Andrew Reynolds
- Paul Rodriguez
- Geoff Rowley
- Arto Saari
- Elissa Steamer
- Jamie Thomas
- Mike Vallely
[edit] Secret Characters
If all Gaps are collected you can also unlock:
- Eric Sparrow
- Stacy Peralta
- Neversoft chef
- Todd the Manager
- Jersey bum
- The Addict
- The Dealer
- Factory worker
- Security guard
- Street warrior
- Headstone Harry
- Business man (Stacy's cousin)
- Manhattan cop
- Construction worker
- State trooper
- Hotel desk clerk
- Hotel doorman
- DJ Qbert
- Team Filmer
- Leaf Blower
- gardener
- KGB member
- Tank guard
- Paul Stanley
- Peter Criss
- Ace Frehley
[edit] Unlockable Levels
There are a few unlockable levels hidden as "tokens" in game. In New Jersey, behind the Train Station, there is token to unlock "School II" from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2. In Hawaii, there is a token to unlock another level in a tiki head's mouth on the street. A third token is located inside the main building in Moscow.
Also, if you beat any mode of story, you can unlock Hotter Than Hell, a level that features a KISS concert.
[edit] Soundtrack
There is a total of 77 songs in the game. They are listed below, alphabetically by Artist and with the track names and the groups into which the tracks are sorted; Punk, Hip-Hop and Rock/Other.
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[edit] Trivia
- In the New Jersey level, the modified car that Johnny Turbo lets you drive is a Honda CRX.
- In the New York City level, near the police station, there is a Leeds United logo in graffiti on the wall.
- When your newly created character slams the drawer shut at the beginning of the game, a copy of the previous Tony Hawk game, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, can be seen lying on the desk.
- When creating your character, Daisy, a character from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, can be seen on a poster. She is also available as a template when creating your character.
- The costume worn by the chef in front of the McDonalds on the New York level is somewhat similar to the uniform worn by Hiroyuki Sakai as Iron Chef French on the Japanese TV show Iron Chef.
- In the Venice level where the "v8 skinny gap" is, if you go to the other side there is a wall that has the Club America Mexican team on it.
- The difficulty level "hard" is replaced by "SICK" in this game.
- If you created a girl with the coconut bra, you could position the camera to where you could see through the bra. Her nipples, however, are replaced by stars. This was a fix to prevent "accidental game nudity".
- T.H.U.G. is the only Tony Hawk game to use "shit" uncensored. It is possible there was controversy over it, as it is not heard unless censored in future games. It is used by both Element members, Mike Vallely and Bam Margera. Strangely, the word "bitch" is both censored and uncensored on different occasions.
- In the Manhattan level, there are four different subway entrance locations. These entrances have signs identical to ones in New York. They also feature subway trains that exist in reality (J, M, Z, 4, 5, 6), and the name of the station is an actual subway station in lower Manhattan (Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall Station).
[edit] Awards
E3 2003 Game Critics Awards: Best Sports Game
