 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
- PlayStation 2, Xbox
- Price: $49.99
- Genre: Sports
Common Sense Media says
Amazing skating game, amazingly bad behavior.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this game has a strong anti-establishment attitude. Players steal signature items from places around L.A. to build the ultimate skate park, running from the cops and security in order to do so. Players make cash by spray painting graffiti on walls. In addition, players can hit each other with skateboards, and the game's outrageous moves lead to spectacular crashes, complete with blood. Players can deck themselves out with name-brand skate boarding clothes and equipment, such as Vans. Finally, the game is online enabled (except for GameCube version), which means players can run into unpredictable language and behavior.
What's it about?
TONY HAWK: AMERICAN WASTELAND offers players several modes of play. In story mode, players take on the role of a country bumpkin, just arrived in L.A. and attempting to make it big on the skateboarding circuit. To fit in, players have to develop a pretty serious attitude. Although the game has a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor, players often finds themselves on the wrong side of the law -- from stealing random objects for their skate park to tagging walls with graffiti in order to make some cash, to even running from the cops.
In classic mode, players face challenges, such as achieving a high score within a set amount of time. And a multiplayer mode allows players to face off against one another in variety of small games, such as trick attack and king of the hill. There are several BMX bike missions mixing things up. And a map editor is included so players can make their own skate park designs.
Is it any good?
A long string of successes propelled the Tony Hawk series of skateboarding games into a mega-franchise. Packed to the half-pipe with goodies, Tony Hawk: American Wasteland is perhaps the best effort in years. The skating is fantastic, and several modes of play keep players engaged, from a solid story mode to exciting online play.
Overall the game proves, hands down, it is the best skateboarding game out there. Parents may cringe over some of the bad behavior, but teens will love the outrageous tricks, the wide-open world to explore, and the first-class gameplay that they have come to expect from Tony Hawk games.
Explore, discuss, enjoy
Families can talk about why many games put the player on the other side of the law. Does this increase the appeal? Do you think this glamorizes bad behavior? Do you think games like this increase real-life pranks and vandalism?
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Teen, 13 years old
April 9, 2008
AGE
Tony hawk games are player to do tricks not be a punk.
Tony Hakw AW (american wasteland) is a great funny, wierd game. The steal the naked lady thing, gamers don't even pay atention to that. The statue is hard if anything to see. Also i know it premotes being a punk but they do it in a funny way. Knowck down the sign, they something totally wierd happens. That game had me playing non-stop. Great game.
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Adult
April 9, 2008
AGE
Cool but glitchy.
The game is fun but can get very cutty and glitchy sometimes, which is very unlike Neversoft. Unlike other Tony Hawk games, you will feel like this one was rushed. But it was still fun.
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Teen, 17 years old
November 24, 2010
AGE
decent skateboarding game
i played it through in 5 hours or so and never played it again. This one is a bit worse than the others too
What other families should know:
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Teen, 14 years old
February 19, 2011
AGE
Really this isn't bad at all.
The online is like the best tons of people play and they all just have tons of fun some are serious and have clans yet some just play for fun and to chat so safety MAY be a problem if you have a online for your system "I do cause i have xbox 360" also the graphics for the time are good its very fun but remember if you look on youtube and see a video about a glitch where you get in a secret shop DONT buy the bling there it freezes your system.
What other families should know:
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Teen, 16 years old
April 9, 2008
AGE
Don't Kid Yourself, Buy Underground 2
I got his game as one of my first games for the 360 launch, and I was a bit dissapointed. The reason I am just now reviewing it is because I feel that the other reviews are misleading. This is not the best game in the series, that would be T.H.U.G. 2 (Tony Hawk's Underground 2). The much anticipated open world, doesn't feel as open as it could be, and the story mode isn;t nearly as fun as T.H.U.G. 2's. I could tell that the story was directed more to noobs to the game, rather than others who have been playing since the franchise started. However, Clasic Mode is much better than the story mode, and gives you something worth playing through, not to mention it gives you more gamer points for the 360. The only other good thing I can say about his is that I can finally play online with other people on the 360 (the other Tony Hawk games didn't have online for the original Xbox). So overall, it was alright, but the really the reason to play it is because of classic, online, and trying out the new tricks, like the Bert Slide.
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Kid, 12 years old
April 9, 2008
AGE
A Good Game
I can't say this is the best Tony Hawk game because It's the only one i've played. There are some hard parts but still It's a good game.
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| Topics: | sports and martial arts |
| Platforms: | PlayStation 2, Xbox |
| Available online? | Not available online |
| Genre: | Sports |
| Developer: | Activision |
| Release date: | December 1, 2005 |
| Price: | $49.99 |
| ESRB rating: | T for (PlayStation 2, Xbox) |
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