If you love skate boarding, then this game’s just for you. Aspyr and Activision brings to us the latest game in this series — Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland (THAW). The improved gameplay, the addition of bikes, numerous new tricks and completely customisable characters make this game worth the wait.

This installment contains a classic mode and a story mode for single players. In the story mode, you control a character who is learning to both skate and cycle. As the story proceeds, he gets the opportunity to meet expert skaters and become one himself. With this wannabe professional skater, players progress through a neat storyline by completing missions ranging from mastering new tricks to crashing buildings. A few of the missions get boring when you can’t complete them at the first opportunity but, taken as a whole, the missions are full of diversity. Players can also customise the looks and style of their character in game through shops and other places. The venues for skating include different places in the US, including Hollywood and Los Angeles.

The classic mode features gameplay that was present in the previous games — a list of goals, like scoring high combos and treasure hunts, to complete within a time limit. With more than one controller, two players can enjoy the multiplayer co-op classic mode.

You also have the liberty of creating new skaters, graffiti, tricks and even skate parks. Of these, the most interesting is the create-a-trick mode. Here, the players can create tricks as complex and as intriguing as they wish by combining existing tricks and customising the finished product. However, you cannot use the created elements in the story mode. You can use them only in the multiplayer and the classic mode.

The multiplayer modes are great. Up to eight players can connect through the gamespy network and play a variety of games such as highest combo, elimination matches, graffiti, free skate and more. American Wasteland combines all the tricks from the previous games and adds a few of its own like acid drops, wall flips, and a whole set of bike tricks. However, the key combinations for most of the tricks are very tricky and you often end up with huge combinations just by randomly tapping the buttons as fast as you can.

The visuals for THAW are not the best, but they are good enough. The trick animations and terrain graphics offer enough variety but the character models and lip sync require improvement.

THAW combines elements of role playing games and open-ended gameplay. Overall, it’s a good game for both newcomers and hardcore fans.

Minimum system requirements: Operating System: Windows XP, processor: 1.2 GHz or higher, RAM: 256 MB or higher, free hard disk space: 3.5 GB or higher, internet connection: 56K or higher (broadband recommended) for multiplayer, video card: 64 MB or higher.