Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 continues to be the strangest of games. Activision's clearly coveting nostalgia with this long-awaited sequel, and that's evident in everything from the name to the actual arcade gameplay. But with the game's soundtrack, it seems like it's trying to introduce people to a bunch of new bands, which strikes us as odd considering its evident intentions.
Look, we stopped reading Absolute Punk the day that we were old enough to understand that music doesn't actually mend broken hearts, so forgive us if the likes of Crass Mammoth are alien to us. Hey, the official video for their song All 149 – which will be in Robomodo's forthcoming release – has 5,349 views on YouTube, so it looks like a hit.
To be fair, we have heard of the likes of Anti-Flag, Death from Above 1979, and Four Year Strong, but we were expecting a bunch of old Drive-Thru Records bands to make the set-list – where are New Found Glory and The Starting Line? Even more worrying is the absence of Goldfinger, a band that defined the franchise with their iconic late 90s anthem Superman.
We suppose that the good news is that the game itself is looking moderately better these days. The footage coming out of Gamescom 2015 still isn't exactly inspiring, but it doesn't look like a total turd anymore – the revised artstyle actually works okay in motion and the physics look slightly better than at E3 2015, if still a little odd.
Are you happy with the soundtrack, though, or were you expecting some old-fashioned pop punk rather than the more modern tunes that seem to have made the cut? Perform a pick slide in the comments section below.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 16
Hahaha, Goldfinger played in Cardiff a few months ago, in a wee club in my suburbs! They were good sports, and I'll always love them for Superman!
I suppose in these days of custom soundtracks (well, they've been around for a long time now, especially on PC) there's little impetus to have an amazing soundtrack. Well, at least for this kind of thing where it's taking pre-existing music anyway. It's different from Final Fantasy, for example, because the music is both original and directly designed to fit the current area or scene. With this we can just a punk playlist on with Spotify or something.
Anyway, this game does sometimes look like a hoax, especially that screenshot with a load of skaters going down the hill. It looks like a really bad cut and paste job. Despite all that, it'll be a good test of the general gaming mantra that graphics don't matter and that modern games have bad gameplay compared to "the good old days".
Give me a good "create a skater" mode and I'll be happy.
@Matroska That's actually a good point about the custom soundtracks. I guess on PS4 you can just make a playlist of 'suitable' music and be done with it. I still think there's something to be said for a developer curating a great soundtrack that captures the mood of their game, though.
I'm not saying that these songs don't by the way, I just think it's a bit odd to be trying to play tastemaker when your game's being sold on nostalgia alone. And I can't imagine bands like Goldfinger or even Blink-182 being expensive to license these days.
"...the revised artstyle actually works okay in motion and the physics look slightly better..."
Who are you and what have you done to Sammy Barker?
It needs Powerman 5000
@Tulio517
I can barely read that text. I've heard of Anti-Flag and New Politics, but only because they've had songs in other games. Family Force 5 I've also heard of but actually never bothered to listen to.
Honestly it would've been more shocking if this game didn't have obscure bands if you ask me.
@DerMeister Click the image and a bigger version will pop up.
@get2sammyb Probably shoulda thought of that Thanks.
Yeah....the three I mentioned are the only ones I know. But it's skating, underground music is practically part of the package.
I know a few of these but even then I'm confused. With Killer be Killed, why not just use songs from the members' other bands like Sepultura or Dillenger Escape Plan instead?
I've never heard of anyone mentioned in the article. Might have heard a song at some point, but the names mean nothing to me.
Family force five are okay, skrillex does some okay stuff too, know no one else.
Maybe some Get Up Kids or some Alkaline Trio???
No Superman, no buy.
Superman, super game. This tony hawk looks worst each passing day.
It feels like they're making this game on a budget of £10
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