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Review:

1st August 2002:
Aggressive Inline
With the skateboarding genre dominated by Activision's Tony Hawk games, can rival Acclaim become king of inline skating with Aggressive Inline?
Posted by Marc Hull - PlayStation 2 - UK and Europe

Tony Hawk has a lot to answer for. Not only did his first title on the original PlayStation generate loads of clones that have saturated the skateboarding genre, but it also caused companies to turn their attentions to other extreme sports too. By now it seems that if you name a sport, there's likely to be a game based on it, but the problem is that most aren't very good. However, if you were to mention Inline Skating, then you would be pleasantly surprised, since Acclaim's latest extreme sports offering could well be one of the best games of this year.

While Aggressive Inline follows the same extreme sports formula set down by titles such as Tony Hawk's Pro Skater all those years ago, it's in the execution that the game really shines. You still have to execute tricks to beat certain challenges, which will allow you to progress to the later levels of the game, but unlike other games the challenges you are asked to complete are rarely frustrating. Sure, they get progressively more difficult, and you may be stuck on some for a little while, but you will rarely feel that they are unfair, or that you can't achieve them. This is mostly thanks to the game's excellent control system, and also down to the lack of level timers and limitations that are often over-used in other games to increase difficulty.

When you first start the game and head into the Career mode you'll be presented with an excellent training mode to complete before moving to the first main level (although this is selectable without having completed training for the experts out there). If this is the first time you've played an extreme sports game then I strongly suggest you work through the available tutorials, since they're a good way to learn how to pull off some of the many tricks available. Fortunately, pulling off simple tricks such as grinds is blissfully easy, with a simple tap of the triangle button anywhere near a railing or edge executing the move. However, as with any balancing move, getting into it is just the beginning, since once you're in position a special balance meter will appear on-screen, and you'll need to make sure that the marker stays in the middle by making small adjustments with the analogue stick when it moves out to one edge. Other tricks such as jumps and vaults don't require quite as much skill to pull off, but are more difficult to string together into combos, and you'll need to make sure that you land successfully before the game will grant you any points from them.

Once you've got used to the game's controls, you can start to assault some of the seven levels in the game. Each of the stages is absolutely huge, with most containing many areas and hidden sections that can only be reached by pulling off some tricky grinds or wall-walks. Upon entering a level, you have complete freedom to go where-ever you want to without being hurried along by any sort of timer, which allows you to explore and take in some of the great sights on offer. However, to progress you must complete certain challenges, some of which are outlined in the pause menu and others which need to be unlocked by talking to people. Each challenge is given a point score, and the more you finish the more points you'll accumulate for that level, with a certain number to be reached to unlock the next stage and more required to unlock secret objects in the game. With such large levels, it can sometimes be confusing to know where to go for each challenge, but fortunately position-sensitive tasks come with a nice fly-through allowing you to see the area that you need to go to. While most challenges are simply doing certain tricks to impress photographers, some will trigger neat cut-scenes showing new parts of the level opening up, or new challenges being unlocked.

Aside from the Career mode, the game also contains a level editor that allows you to create your own skate parks and save them to a memory card. Although these custom-built are limited in size, so unfortunately you can't make anything on the scale of the ones in the main game, there are loads of objects available, with some extra ones to be unlocked by getting a certain number of points in the Career mode. The editor is also based very heavily on the one used in Dave Mirra's Freestyle BMX, so anyone who's used that in the past should be creating complex skate parks in no time at all. As if that wasn't enough, the game's developers have also thrown in a neat multiplayer mode, where two players can compete under a time limit in a range of different challenges, including most points, best trick, egg-hunt and animal rescue (?!).

Graphically, the game pushes the PlayStation 2's power pretty hard. Not only are the levels very large, but they are also very detailed, with cars, trams and pedestrians inhabiting them. Each of the game's areas is lushly textured, and the cut-scenes that accompany certain challenges are also very nicely done. As for the skaters themselves, they are all pretty well modelled and very nicely animated right down to being able to see them shift their weight when balancing for a grind or hand-stand. Of course, the game contains a load of real-life professional skaters that have been faithfully recreated in digital form, but they've also put girls into the game to accompany them, and even worked on unique 'Boob Technology' for them. I'll leave the rest up to your imagination. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a 60hz option, and the 50hz mode does seem to drop the occasional frame when there's a lot of action on-screen, but this certainly isn't bad enough to disrupt gameplay.

For sound, the game contains many licensed tracks from 'well-known' bands such as Hoobastank, Black Sheep, Pharcyde, Reel Big Fish and Sublime, and all follow the traditional 'extreme sports' rock-indy style which may not be to everyone's taste. However, the spot effects for each level are pretty excellent, and the voice acting for some of the many characters you'll meet in the game is also very well done and humorous!

Overall, Aggressive Inline is one of the best extreme sports titles I've ever played. It's easy for beginners to get into, and tricky enough at the end for even experts to be amused for days on end. Also, with the multiplayer mode and the park editor there's a lot to do even when you've completed the main game. It seems that, although it's been a long time in coming, the Tony Hawk's games may finally have some tough opposition.

Marc Hull

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Review Summary:

Aggressive Inline looks to set new standards for extreme sports games, with it's simple controls providing great gameplay and some good 'pick-up-and-play' value that other titles have lacked. The game is also strong graphically, and contains loads of features such as a multiplayer mode and park editor as well as many different real-life professional skaters to play as.

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Aggressive Inline
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