Reviews

Tony Hawk: Shred Review

By Ron Burke

Posted on November 11, 2010

I remember the first time I tried out Tony Hawk Pro Skater was on the Dreamcast. At first it was fun to ride around on the skateboard, but I had a tough time doing tricks. Eventually I figured out the timing of the game and had a lot of fun grinding my way along the stages. I have played every single incarnation of Tony Hawk since, except for last year

Three modes are available to play on Shred. In the single player game you play through different sessions to score point and earn stars. As you earn stars you

Since it takes a while to get used to the controls, the game has four different navigation settings to help you play through the game. The easiest is the Casual where you are set on a specific path. This allows you to performing tricks without worrying about steering the board. The Casual Plus setting still gives you a path, but you are able to move a bit off the path to get to different lines. When you are up to it, you can graduate to Confident. You no longer have the yellow path and you can go wherever you want, but the game will give some small nudges to line up your tricks. If you

The areas are varied, but they feel like something from Tony Hawk

In a way, Shred plays a lot like some fighting games. Some fighting games are friendly to button-mashers, but those who are able to play the game for long periods of time will be able to detect the subtleties of the game. While you can try to flail your arms all over the place and get high scores, learning to Shred with all of its tricks is a much more satisfying experience. It will take some practice, but eventually it will become second nature.

When they say that you should have plenty of room around the board when playing Shred, they aren

Graphically Shred is cel shaded, giving it a bit of a comic look. With all the big air and crazy tricks you can perform, this style matches the gameplay well. It helps the game look real enough that you are boarding without looking too real with the number of big tricks you can do. For instance, grinding in the middle of circus attractions or on bowed rope to get past some water obstacles matches the level of realism of the game.

On the Xbox 360, you can put your Xbox Live avatar into the game. It blends into the scenery well, but you can tell that it isn

Ron Burke

Executive Director and Editor-in-Chief | [email protected]

Ron Burke is the Editor in Chief for Gaming Trend. Currently living in Fort Worth, Texas, Ron is an old-school gamer who enjoys CRPGs, action/adventure, platformers, music games, and has recently gotten into tabletop gaming.

Ron is also a fourth degree black belt, with a Master's rank in Matsumura Seito Shōrin-ryū, Moo Duk Kwan Tang Soo Do, Universal Tang Soo Do Alliance, and International Tang Soo Do Federation. He also holds ranks in several other styles in his search to be a well-rounded fighter.

Ron has been married to Gaming Trend Editor, Laura Burke, for 28 years. They have three dogs - Pazuzu (Irish Terrier), Atë, and Calliope (both Australian Kelpie/Pit Bull mixes), and an Axolotl named Dagon!