Last week was my birthday, so I’m now the proud owner of the new Tony Hawk game – “Ride”.
I’d seen some really bad reviews on-line, so I wasn’t 100% sure what to expect, but having played it quite a bit now I’ve got to give it great marks – and for anyone considering buying it I thought I’d post my feedback.
Several other reviews have cited difficulty in using the controller (a life-size skateboard), and a steep learning curve; I certainly haven’t found either any greater than a normal console game.
In fact, I can only assume that the poor reviews have come from gamers who have been playing with game controllers for so long that they can’t remember what it’s like to learn to control a game from scratch – Yeah, at first I had to think really carefully about how to perform moves – but I have to stop and think whenever another game says “press triangle” – so I can’t say it has a tougher learning curve than any other game.
Another problem I’ve read about is a couple of physics bugs – here I’ll admit I have had a couple of moments where the camera has got stuck in a weird position somehow (I’m assuming its’ a problem with the normal on a couple of objects), although it’s fixed itself within a few seconds. In many hours of playing I’ve only seen this happen twice though – and I’m not sure I’d want a skateboarding game with absolutely perfect physics – it would be far too depressing 
All in all, I think the controller works great – and I feel like I’ve had a thorough workout after a long skate session. I haven’t found any time yet… but I’m hoping I can get the controller wired up to my laptop – Tux Racer could get a lot more fun
With all that said, I’ll leave you with a video :
The best bit about the game was its Viral. Tillman the Dog given a go on the game before the rest of the gaming world – they must be barking!
See it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdgO3cEYYTw