Poor Port but Still Shines
I'm sure we all remember playing the original Tony Hawk Games on N64 or Playstation and I am pretty happy that Activision has decided to bring this game in HD and on PC with Xbox 360 Controller support. My first impressions of this game started out with the game starting in 720 resolution with borders around my monitor.
* There are NO in game video options. So you can't adjust resolution, Vsync, Anti-aliasing, etc. in game. You have to do this in the .ini file located in My Documents -> My Games -> Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD. After upping the ingame resolution to 1920x1080 I was satisfied enough and didn't fool with the antialiasing.
So, playing the game I notice that they have darkened the edge of the screen to give the game a feel to it that I don't like which distracted me from the game play. I'm sure there is some solution in the .ini file but after screwing around with it, I just made the game worse so I would search for solutions if this sort of thing bothers you.
The music in the game gives a kind of classic feel that the earlier games had even though the original sound track isn't in the game. Also, there are quite a few levels to choose from in the career mode that will keep you occupied with each skater. The set up for the levels is pretty much the same as the original games in which there are objectives for you to complete to unlock the next levels. The actual levels however feel small and cramped to me while playing but that may be due to my poor skills at skating games.
Overall, the game is decent if you want to get your Tony Hawk fix. You can plug an Xbox 360 controller into your PC and play away. The good is in the graphics and the classic feel to the game that you may remember from 10 years ago. Also, the amount of levels is excellent with more DLC coming out to keep the amount of levels satisfying. However, the game lacks multiplayer which detracts from the value as it would be awesome to play with friends. Also, the poor PC optimization with video settings really shows how much effort went into bringing this game to PC. The level design isn't as good as it could be so watch for the new DLC's coming out. If you have any questions let me know!
Recommended buying price- ~$5 or below
