A better game than the original but feels like something you've played before.

Many companies have tried to take a stab at the extreme sports genre but still not one game has come close to accomplishing the quality that the Tony Hawk series has been known for. Neversoft once again brings the latest sequel to the six year running series by continuing the Underground format introduced last year. As you can expect, Neversoft has created another top notch game, but have they done enough?

There are a variety of new features this year in every department. In the core gameplay, you will be able to add spins and flips to your moves in mid air by double tapping in any direction. Also new is the ability to "flip out" after you bail during a trick. The more you build up this meter, the worse your character will react to screwing up. This will also start you out with some points and a beginning multiplier for a new combo so it does have some benefits to take advantage of flipping out. Sticker slapping is another addition that lets you jump into a surface and bounce off of it by placing a sticker against it. Doing so can help extend your combos if you get caught running towards something like a wall. For those who had trouble pulling off some of the tougher tricks, a new focus mode will slow down time so that you can gain better precision in landing you tricks. You will have to have your special meter full before executing the focus mode though. Finally, the last new addition is the natas spin that lets you spin on top of fire hydrants, poles and other similar objects. The natas spin, while looking neat, seems more like a gimmick than anything else as it's not useful in extending combos.

This year the levels have been designed with a larger emphasis on vertical height. Because of the introduction of being able to hop off your board at any time last year, Neversoft has used that advantage when creating the designs of their levels this time. You can expect that there will be many areas that you will have to climb to in order to explore new areas to skate on. However, don't think that climbing is the only way to get there. With some creativity, you can bet you'll find ways to skate there instead. Also new to the design is the interactivity and destruction of the level. There are a lot more objects that you can interact with laid out through the levels so feel free to experiment by jumping into and off of things. With regards to destruction, each level now has a major destructible environment to it that will typically open a new area to explore. Think back to the Los Angeles stage in which an Earthquake changed the layout of the level. Expect to trigger something like that in each of the levels. Also, you can expect to find a number of older levels from previous Tony Hawk games to skate in. An example is the Warehouse from the first Tony Hawk is the training level at the beginning of the Story Mode.

What's probably the biggest difference in this year's version is the structure of the game itself. Last year, Underground brought forth a story mode that would bring your character from amateur to pro. This year you take part on a world tour of two teams competing against each other. What's different here is instead of having the need to talk to people in order to start a task, a lot of the tasks are simply open at all times meaning you just start the task as you please. Secret characters are also unlocked in a similar fashion as a few will be hidden throughout each of the levels. As soon as you find them, they are unlocked and they will have their own goals within the level. While this was designed to help the flow of the game, you also may find yourself bringing up the menu to find out what goals there are to do and where to do them. It still is a nice touch from moving from task to task if you know what you're doing. However, the story itself this time is far less interesting than the first Underground. While it's often comical, it just seems attached to the game rather than you playing a role in it.

When Neversoft changed formats last year with the first Underground, there were many who didn't like the new direction the series was taking. This year, to appease those fans, a new classic mode has been included along with the story mode. This classic mode represents the same style of game that the first four Tony Hawk games had been designed. For those unfamiliar with the older structure, you have two minutes to accomplish as many tasks as you can. Anything you accomplish will be marked off and then you can go at it again trying to finish the remaining tasks. Tasks include scoring a certain number of points, finding all the letters that spell skate and so forth. As an added incentive to play both modes though, each mode has their own set of secrets to unlock.

When playing multiplayer, you will find all the familiar modes available plus two new ones: Elimiskate and Scavenger Hunt. Elimiskate lets people skate for the highest score through a series of rounds. At the end of each round, the skater with the lowest score is eliminated. This continues until one person is left skating and is determined as the winner. Elimiskate isn't available in the Xbox version though since it's meant to be played with three or more players. Scavenger Hunt gives each player a limited amount of time to place five tokens around the level. Once this setup phase is over, everyone is competing to find the most amount of tokens before time is over. Both new modes are a lot of fun, especially Elimiskate.

Graphically the series has taken a new direction that some people may think as more cartoon-like. This style puts a bit more exaggeration on some proportions of the character models. As a result, many characters come off as more expressive in their animation and style. It's a nice change of pace that gives the series a new look. Some will prefer the older more realistic look to the graphics, but I personally enjoy the new direction the game has taken.

For you multi-platform owners out there, each version has their own advantage. The PlayStation 2 version is still the only one that support online play. Still no Xbox Live support in sight. To make things a bit worse, even the System Link feature has disappeared meaning there's not even a way to take it online through other means. Because of this the lack of network support, the PS2 version is also the only console version that support a way to import your face into the game for your own character design. New to the PlayStation 2 version is support of the EyeToy which makes adding your picture to the game really easy. When it comes to graphics, the PS2 and Xbox versions both support widescreen, but the Xbox has the advantage of displaying up to 720p for that extra crisp look. Interestingly enough, the control scheme between the two differ more than you would think. The biggest change is where the focus button is placed on each version. On the PS2, you have to push in on the left analog stick, but on the Xbox you have to press the white button. Why there is such a difference is unknown, but overall I feel that the PS2 controller tends to fit the game a bit more than the Xbox's. While it's up to your own preference, be sure to keep this in mind when choosing which version you end up with.

While the PC version supports the highest resolution of all the versions, I can't help but to think that the Xbox version actually look cleaner on my TV in 720p than it did on my monitor at 1280 x 1024. On top of that I had the occasional hiccup interrupting me from hard drive access on some occasions. This I'm sure will vary from PC to PC, but there is that possibility to keep in mind. Despite those issues with the PC version, the game acts just like the console counterparts right down to what kind of options to choose from.

Speaking of options, the typical settings for a PC title are only available before the game loads up. Once in the game, it is the same exact interface. While you can use a keyboard, a control pad is highly recommended to give it that console feel. The response felt just like playing the PS2 or Xbox version. In the case of this review, we used the Logitech Dual Action Gamepad and was quite pleased at how well the game played. Be aware though that depending on the controller, the labels on the buttons themselves might not map the way that you have configured it in the configuration screen. This can be a problem when there are instructions on what to do, and specific buttons are mentioned. Simply looking down at the pad will be meaningless in comparison to the console versions.

While the console versions of Tony Hawk's Underground 2 may be a better game than the original Underground, you can't help but feel that the game is something you've already played before. In a way, that's indicative of the quality that Neversoft has produced over the years as the core gameplay has remain unchanged because of its quality. However, if you haven't played the original Underground, or even fourth game, you can easily pick up both of those for about $15 each now, and even combined you're going to get a better bang for your buck than this latest installment. Underground 2 is great for those fans of the series that are looking for all new levels, and more Tony Hawk to play, or even for those who didn't like the structure of the first Underground and prefer the Classic style that has returned in the sequel. However, it's hard to recommend paying full price for this sequel.

Since Tony Hawk's Underground never made its way to the PC and THPS4 was the last version to be seen, PC owners should be quite pleased with the latest installment of the game. Given all the improvements between Underground 2 and THPS4, fans of the series should be quite happy with the end result. However, if you also own either a PlayStation 2 or Xbox, you might want to consider getting the first Underground which can be had for around $15 now as it can be considered a being a better bang for your buck given how much has changed between last year's version and now.