Tony Hawk's American Wasteland Critic Reviews

It's the best Tony Hawk game yet, and as someone who's played them all to death, that's no passing comment. Better level design, better presentation and better overall polish, this is THE game to buy if you're a Tony Hawk fan.

The best reinvention of the Tony Hawk franchise to date. The game makes skating fun to learn and addictive like you cannot imagine.

I may miss the absolute insanity that was "Underground 2," but American Wasteland is still a beautiful, unpredictable trickfest that's every bit as fun in its seventh iteration as it was back in the first.

There’s still room for improvement – THAW isn’t quite as wide open as we’d hoped – and it will be interesting to see where Neversoft takes the series on the next-generation consoles. For now, though, THAW is plenty hot.

It tries really hard to please both jaded vets and exuberant fanboys, and for the most part, it succeeds, even if the story mode's a little short and on the easy side.

The tweaks to the core gameplay, the addition of the BMX moves, and the inclusion of a massive city to skate around in are definitely appreciated.

I can see the series getting a little tired, and it doesn't quite have that magical "aura" that the first couple did. But nonetheless there's plenty to keep you busy.

We love this one too, though it's more out of loyalty than out and out lust.

As a whole, the story, attitude and overall focus of the game is much better this time around than what we've seen from the two "THUG" games.

I’m not blown away, I’m merely shackled to my PS2 with unheard-of addictiveness.

Sure, you can choose BMX bikes instead of traditional boards, and the soundtrack of punk covers is the best freaking Tony Hawk soundtrack yet, bar none, but whether or not you'll love this game completely depends on how full your Hawk tank already is.

With the camera and control issues of THUG2 corrected, a fresh, compelling story mode, and the highlights of the series up to this point in tow, Tony Hawk's American Wasteland stands as the best game to bear his name thus far.

The story mode is fun, funny and yet not absurd enough to wonder what drugs were abused during development time.

A great step back to the series' roots.

Home to some of the greatest gameplay that you'll ever encounter, but unless you compete online, it mostly goes to waste.

A definite step up from the Underground brand, but make no mistake: It's still yet another Tony Hawk game.

It should come as no surprise that THAW is well endowed with generously sized, multilayered domains for which to carry out all your skating aggression--half-pipes, quarter-pipes, pools, wires, rails, and so much more are in abundant supply.

You still won't bother with the walking bits, but with two-player cooperative Classic levels, online play and a smart new version of LA to open up and tear apart, this is a return to form for the Hawkster.

Sure, things could be much prettier, smoother and at times could make more sense, but one of the finest control systems in all of gaming, mixed with just the right amount of attitude means that the game is right up there with the best.

An old game in new clothing.