Time travel is real. I know, because the moment I launched the Tony Hawk?s Pro Skater 1 and 2 Warehouse Demo, I was immediately thrust 20 years back in time. The opening is set to the heart-pumping anthem that is Rage Against The Machine?s ?Guerrilla Radio.? I hadn?t even played the game yet and already I was reliving the days of unlocking each skater?s skate videos in the original games. Tony Hawk?s big air. Rodney Mullen?s ground tricks. Kareem Campbell. Steve Caballero. The newly added Nyjah Huston. The whole cast is here (or will be, on September 4th. For this Demo, it?s just Tony). It?s a huge celebration of skate culture before you even hit ?Start Game.?
Then you jump into the game?s quickplay Single Session mode. The two-minute timer starts ticking down and you burst through the wooden barricade and down the ramp into the iconic warehouse that started it all. Just like the Warehouse Demo of old, there?s not much to ?do? in this small level. There?s no secret tapes to collect (it?ll be in the room above the halfpipe, by the way). There are no SKATE letters scattered around. And the only score and combo goals are any artificial ones you impose on yourself, just seeing how high you can get. But it gets right to the heart of the gameplay mechanics, proving that Vicarious Visions recaptured the big air, long grind, enormous combo feel of Tony Hawk past. And that?s what?s key. Tony Hawk?s Pro Skater 5 this is not.
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