Aggressive Inline

Let me start off by saying that this is NOT Tony Hawk's Pro Skater with inline skates.  This is not a shadow, or a clone of Activision's awesome extreme sports games, but rather a unique title all its own.  Yes, the basic mechanics are the same.  But nothing else is.  With that said, I'm going to skip all of the repetitive back story jargon and get right to the point.  If you know how to jump, grind, flip, etc., in other games, then you already know how to perform those moves in Aggressive Inline.

One of Aggressive Inline's most appealing aspects is the simplest (yet most brilliant) of them all: zero time limit.  I could go on and on about how wonderful this is, but I don't think I have to.  Everyone knows what a pain it is to fail a challenge multiple times in a row just because you couldn't complete it in two minutes.  That is never a problem in this game.  Although there are a few timed challenges, you can play each level for as long as you want without ever stopping.  To prevent gamers from being lazy, Z-Axis implemented a unique juice bar system.  When the game starts, the bar is full, but it slowly depletes.  To fill it back up, simply perform any number of tricks.  However, if you crash, large chunks of your juice bar will be taken away.  This not a problem though.  Like an RPG, all of your stats can be raised, including your juice bar.  The more you grind, the faster your grind statistics will rise. 

From the very start, these are the things that attracted me to Aggressive Inline the most.  Once I started playing, I realized that is not only a game with great features, but it is also a game with virtually nothing to complain about. 

Precision is a big part of any extreme sports game, as is skill.  But you don't have to be Jaren Grob to grind a dozen rails in Aggressive Inline.  Grinding is actually very easy, at least for me, someone who has had trouble grinding in other extreme sports titles.  I also had an easier time performing numerous trick combinations.

Of course, the game itself is not easy.  More than a dozen challenges must be completed in each level and several juice items must be collected to unlock all of the game's secrets (and get 100% complete rating).  Only a handful of challenges are available at the start of each level; the rest must be found/unlocked as you go along.  When you find a new challenge (by locating a red skate icon and pressing the Event button), it will be added to your list of challenges, complete with a brief explanation of what you have to do, as well as a brief video showing you where you have to do it.  Some of the challenges were simple -- grind over this, jump over that.  Others were much more difficult, requiring lots of time and patience to complete them.  One of the more difficult challenges required you to grind a cable car wire, jump over a bridge and land on the wire, continuing the grind.  While in the air, jumping over the bridge, you MUST perform a Look Back Judo grab.  This is actually more challenging than it is difficult, as difficult implies "frustration," and this particular challenge is fun.  All of them are!

The seven courses (or should I say seven worlds?) are enormous, each of which features several hidden areas.  There are a ton of surprises to be found as well, such as multi-tiered half-pipes, gigantic dinosaur bones and....well, should I really spoil the rest of the game for you?  I think not.  As usual, I tried to go into this game knowing as little as possible.  I didn't even read the booklet until after I beat the first level.  Because of this, everything was new and exciting.  Really though, no matter how many screenshots you look at, you're still going to enjoy this game, whether the areas are familiar or not.  It's so much fun to play.

Z-Axis managed to eliminate the stress that comes along with trying to perform too many tricks too quickly by adding a "bail" feature.  If you're not angled properly to land, press the bail button (X) to reorient yourself.  You won't get any points because you failed to complete the trick, but you'll land safely (assuming you bail before getting too close to the ground), preventing your juice bar from depleting.

Aggressive Inline is a must-have game.  I know that fall is just around the corner, and that most of you will be going back to school soon, but before most of your free time is taken away, buy Aggressive Inline.  Anyone who likes Tony Hawk or any of its clones will love this game.  Even if you've never played an extreme sports game before, give this one a shot.

Gameplay: 9.5
Smooth, easy-to-learn controls; superb level design; unique challenges and an excellent soundtrack make for one memorable game.

Graphics: 8.8 
Everywhere you look in Aggressive Inline, you'll find beautiful backgrounds with absolutely no fog or pop-up.  No graininess, no pixilation, or any other graphical mishaps.  The framerate is perfect, staying consistently smooth throughout the whole game.

Sound: 9
I can still hear some of the songs, even though I'm not playing right now.  That's because they're great, easy-to-enjoy songs that you have actually heard of.  Hoobastank's "Crawling in the Dark" and P.O.D.'s "Youth of the Nation" are just two of this soundtrack's great lineup.  I could've done without the two repetitive rap songs though...

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 9
The design and the structure of Aggressive Inline are mere inches away from perfection.  Even Tony Hawk's most loyal fans (and perhaps Tony Hawk himself) will be impressed by the amazing job that Z-Axis has done.

Multiplayer: 8.5
Aggressive Inline's two-player mode is really fun.  Hopefully some online multiplayer features will be implemented in the sequel.

Overall: 9.5
Everyone likes Tony Hawk, so I am certain that everyone will love Aggressive Inline.  Don't delay, buy/rent it today.  This is not a game that can be missed.