Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
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''Tony Hawk's American Wasteland'' is a skateboarding video game developed by
Neversoft Neversoft Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Woodland Hills, California. The studio was founded by Joel Jewett, Mick West and Chris Ward in July 1994 and was acquired by Activision in October 1999. Initially, the st ...
and published by
Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one ...
. It is the seventh entry in the '' Tony Hawk's'' series and was released initially for the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and
Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the ...
in 2005 in North America on October 18 and October 28 in Europe, with several ports for other systems released later. ''American Wasteland'' is the first ''Tony Hawk's'' game to support Xbox Live; online play was previously limited to the PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Windows. The Nintendo DS and
Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, ...
versions were released as '' Tony Hawk's American Sk8land'' on the same day as the console versions. The DS version features Wi-Fi capabilities and was the first third-party DS game to have online support.


Gameplay

''American Wasteland'' is the first game in the ''Tony Hawk's'' franchise that advertised and allowed the possibility for players to play in one vast level via story mode, which actually seamlessly connects a number of levels without loading times in between, along with also being the first game in the series that allows to freely commandeer stray bicycles and perform
freestyle BMX Freestyle BMX is bicycle motocross stunt riding on BMX bikes. It is an extreme sport descended from BMX racing that consists of five disciplines: street, park, vert, trails, and flatland. In June 2017, the International Olympic Committee announced t ...
techniques similar to skateboarding. A new maneuver, the Bert Slide, was added to skateboarding controls. In the September 2005 edition of ''
Game Informer ''Game Informer'' (''GI'', most often stylized ''gameinformer'' from the 2010s onward) is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991 w ...
'', a map was shown displaying ''American Wasteland''s
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
with an insert of an overhead view of the
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
stage from ''Underground 2'' for comparison. The Boston level appeared to be about three quarters the size of one ''American Wasteland'' area, with the exception of the "Vans Skatepark" and "Casino" areas.


Story

The game begins with the protagonist, a male skater, boarding a bus to Los Angeles to leave his delinquent past. Upon arriving in Hollywood, a group of skateboarding punks, led by Joe, punch the player character and steal his bag. The protagonist meets Mindy, a local artist, who helps him fit in through wardrobe changes and a series of skating challenges led by her friends. After, the player confronts Joe and challenges him to a skating contest for his bag, which the player wins. The protagonist observes Mindy drawing a skatepark in her sketchpad; she reveals that it is the "Skate Ranch"; an actual "locals-only" park. After the protagonist stops a local protest, Mindy decides to take the player to Beverly Hills, where he uses his skate skills to impress the inhabitants of the ranch led by Iggy VanZandt. They agree to let him in to the skatepark, and allow him to stay after he gathers wood for a half-pipe. While the player character watches Iggy skate, the group reveals that he was previously a professional skateboarder, but he couldn't handle the publicity and dropped out of the public eye. Mindy suggests that the protagonist obtain pieces for the skate ranch, which he gets throughout the game. The player character participates in the Tony Hawk AmJam in downtown Los Angeles. The protagonist wins and is interviewed by
Tony Hawk Anthony Frank Hawk (born May 12, 1968), nicknamed Birdman, is an American professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, and the owner of the skateboard company Birdhouse. A pioneer of modern vertical skateboarding, Hawk completed the first documen ...
. After the player publicly reveals his association with the presumed-dead Iggy, the LAPD arrests VanZandt for a string of past minor offenses. Seeking amends for landing Iggy in jail, the player character requests help from VanZandt's old friends: the
Z-Boys The Zephyr Competition Team (or Z-Boys) were a group of American skateboarders in the mid-1970s from Santa Monica and Venice, California. Originally consisting of 12 members, the Z-boys were originally sponsored by the Jeff Ho Surfboards and Zeph ...
, including
Tony Alva Tony Alva (born September 2, 1957) is an American skateboarder, entrepreneur, and musician. He was a pioneer of vertical skateboarding and one of the original members of the Zephyr Competition Skateboarding Team, also known as the Z-Boys. The ...
. They agree to do so if he prove his old-school skating skills. After he does so, the Z-Boys show an old photo of "Green Pipes Point": a legendary skate run that the protagonist recognizes as now being the Skate Ranch. The player character decides to have it dug again to make up for getting Iggy arrested. To that effect, the protagonist meets Alva's oil rig worker friend Mega, who decides to help the player after the protagonist completes a series of errands for him. While Mega works on digging up the Green Pipes Point, the player learns from Mindy that Skate Ranch member Boone has been kidnapped by the "Black Widowz", his old street gang, and needs rescuing from East Los Angeles. However, the Black Widowz own the only tunnel leading to the area, leading the protagonist to join the gang to be allowed entry. After he passes the initiation tests, he enters East LA and rescues Boone. After Mega finishes digging up the Green Pipes Point, the protagonist gets a call from Iggy in jail, stating that his bail was posted and he will be leaving shortly. When the player character mentions his restoration of Green Pipes Point, Iggy is furious; he explains that he doesn't own the land that it is on, nor does he have the money to buy it. By the time Iggy leaves jail, the actual owner of the Point sells the land, prompting Iggy to punch the protagonist and snap at Mindy for her and the player character attempting to improve the ranch. The group informs the player character that Tony Hawk is in the area with the belief that if he and other local pros were convinced to record a "Save Green Pipes Point" video and post it online, they could use the proceeds to save the ranch from the auction block. The player rounds up the skaters and begins recording the video, and Iggy apologizes for his past behavior. After trashing a local vacant casino as their finale to the video, the group is met by the police due to trespassing and vandalism. In order to distract the police so the rest of the gang can escape and purchase Green Pipes Point, the player character evades the cops by skating all through LA to get back to the ranch. The player succeeds in distracting the police. Iggy arrives at Green Pipes Point and reveals that he was able to purchase the land. To celebrate, he throws a party, and the protagonist apologies to Mindy for angering VanZandt. Mindy accepts the apology, and she shows that she has just published the first issue of her dream magazine, American Wasteland, which Iggy reveals was funded by the proceeds from the video. The protagonist and Mindy kiss.


Re-releases

''American Wasteland'' was also released on the
Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...
in 2005 on November 22 in North America and December 2 in Europe as a
launch title This list includes terms used in video games and the video game industry, as well as slang used by players. 0–9 A ...
, and a Microsoft Windows port was issued by
Aspyr Aspyr Media, Inc. (pronounced " aspire") is an American video game developer and publisher founded by Michael Rogers and Ted Staloch in Austin, Texas. Originally founded to bring top gaming titles to macOS, the company, since 2005, has become ...
in 2006 on February 6 in North America and April 7 in Europe. An additional 'Collector's Edition' was also released for the PlayStation 2 in North America, which added two exclusive characters and two exclusive levels, including a documentary titled "Making of Tony Hawk's American Wasteland".


Soundtrack album

The ''American Wasteland'' soundtrack features a lineup of punk-based bands, each covering a song from a classic punk rock or
hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier p ...
group. The album features all 14 previously-unreleased covers that were recorded for the game. The soundtrack reached number 148 on the
Billboard Top 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artis ...
, number 4 on Billboard
Top Soundtracks The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...
, and number 10 on Billboard
Top Independent Albums The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by ''Billboard'' magaz ...
. The cover art is a homage to the cover of the 1979 album ''
London Calling ''London Calling'' is the third studio album by English rock band the Clash. It was originally released as a double album in the United Kingdom on 14 December 1979 by CBS Records, and in the United States in January 1980 by Epic Records. T ...
'' by
The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the w ...
which, in turn, is a homage to the cover of Elvis Presley's first album. The back cover art is a homage to the back cover art of self-titled album of The Clash.
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
gave the soundtrack a 4.1/10, stating that the soundtrack is aimed towards
emo Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...
-lovers instead of punk, given that most of the participating bands play in the genre.


Reception

The game received generally positive reviews. The general consensus, however, was that the advertisement of Los Angeles being "one big level", as opposed to the previous games' series of levels, was false, since the "one level" was a series of levels accessible from one another via bland corridors that simply masked the necessary loading times.
Jeff Gerstmann Jeff Gerstmann (born August 1, 1975) is an American video game journalist. Former editorial director of the gaming website ''GameSpot'' and the co-founder/editor of the gaming website ''Giant Bomb'', Gerstmann began working at ''GameSpot'' in t ...
of
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
took note of how "shockingly easy" the game was compared to previous entries in the series, and how "most of the game feels like a tutorial", adding that "the game really seems bent on holding your hand every step of the way", although others have viewed this in a light that showcased the game's hefty amount of possibilities, tricks, and techniques that the player can perform in comparison to previous games. Many critics also noted the general lack of evolution in the series, although many saw this as a good thing since the original gameplay was so popular to begin with and didn't need unnecessary tampering. Many critics praised the game on its story. Chris Roper of
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
praised Neversoft's decision to "go back to its roots and make a game about skating" as opposed to "the chaos and destruction of the ''
Underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground ...
'' games". Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot wrote that "the saving grace of the story mode is that the story it tells is actually pretty good. It follows the standard 'ragtag group of misfits' struggles to save the place they call home from evil real estate moguls' plot that drove such classic films as '' Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo''. Adding that "along the way, the characters become a little endearing".


Notes


References

{{Tony Hawk games 2005 video games Activision games Multiplayer and single-player video games Multiplayer online games GameCube games Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection games Neversoft games PlayStation 2 games Skateboarding video games American Wasteland Video games set in the United States Video games set in Los Angeles Video games set in California Video games set in Chicago Video games set in Kyoto Video games set in Japan Video games with custom soundtrack support Windows games Xbox games Xbox 360 games Tony Hawk's American Wasteland (soundtrack) Tony Hawk's American Wasteland (soundtrack) Tony Hawk's American Wasteland (soundtrack) Punk rock soundtracks Hard rock soundtracks Hip hop soundtracks Covers albums Vicarious Visions games Aspyr games Video games developed in the United States