| Airblade Sounded good on paper, looked good on screen, how does the story end? Read on! Extreme sports? Skateboarding, snowboarding, BMX etc.....oh and airblading? What the hell is airblading!? I hear you cry, well all I can say is it's like skateboarding but just above the ground, so in other words it's like a skateboard minus the gravity and of course the wheels, but never in my many years of gaming, have I seen a Hoverboard game, anyone else? And the simple question is why hasn't there been such a game? The hoverboard is a false reality, but had plenty of potential to carry a game, well finally....... I'll might as well start with how the board in question handles.... At first things seem a little bit too tricky, later on you still will be missing turns, and crying out in utter frustration at the severe sight of how the board hovers slowly over the ground, and how the analog control still can't stop it from rubbing against railings, when you are supposed to be flying up the steps next to the railing, although this is an occasional frustration, other frustrations come thick and fast, but more about that later. Otherwise Criterion Studios have done a good job, with plenty of tricks yelling out to be mastered, and by tricks I mean spectacular tricks. A lot of the tricks will be familiar to fans of the Tony Hawks series, but there�s a lot of tricks that couldn't be done in real life and that includes the hoverboard in the year 2045, I'm not claiming that as a flaw, as it's a game based loosely on fantasy, and the outrageous stunts will amaze you, and you even get a trick list during your games to tell you how to do the many tricks on offer, some easy, others hard, usual story, but must mention again, SPECTACULAR!!!!! Before I begin mouthing out about the levels (few levels) let me tell you why all this airblading is going on, yes, there is a reason, do we really need one? NO! Airblade creator is kidnapped, you get the Airblade, a mega corporation wants the airblade, and you use the Airblade to stop their plans, simple enough? Yeah but very pointless! So on to the levels, lets start with some are fun while others are very frustrating. The game starts off fairly straight forward, and beautiful to play, but midway through (3rd level, yeah only 6 levels) it starts to take a nosedive towards Airblade Wreckage. The 3rd level was so frustrating, I was looking for hours and hours to try and get on to a satellite to grind and destroy it, by the time I was finished, I was about to give up on the story mode. So that�s what the story mode is all about, the destruction of stuff in your way, and the finding of the spectacular exit. But lucky for us, the story mode isn't the only mode on the disc, as there is multiplayer games for up to 8 people (few beers in, and you'll be thinking you are playing Tony Hawk, with your eyes failing you, with the loss of the wheels, which aren�t really there anyways) to play, So there is a knockout tournament for up to 8 people, (or drunks) it's all about tricks, and the one (or the 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)with the highest score at the end of the round is the winner, while the one with the lowest score(low points always spell the end, a disaster or a little bit of a lot of swearing) is eliminated from the game, and this goes on, until only one remains. But the multiplayer mainly caters for two people, but here the game certainly doesn't disappoint, let's just say head to head trick modes and more, but plenty to see and do for the multiplayer gangs!!! I'll finish off with a mention of those beautiful graphics, which certainly look the part for the next generation party. Throughout the game you will see magnificent lighting and smoother then smooth textures, but it is the lighting out of those 2 features that you really will notice, different on each level, with clouds either looking drifty red, or colourless and purple, all these colours reflect on the look of the game, good stuff! So the verdict is good but rather average, while the game certainly has the looks, Criterion could have given the game a little more scope in the story mode, good rental, and maybe a good buy if you love multiplayer games, me? I'll be waiting for it to hit the bargain bins!!!Chris Wigham 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 |