Aggressive Inline Review (no fat)

Game Description

When Neversoft and Activision teamed up to release Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series, the skateboarding genre took a reviving slap and produced some addicts of extreme sports. Similarly, developers Z-Axis collaborated with Acclaim, to release yet another extreme sports title: Aggressive Inline.

Aggressive Inline Gameplay

Options are aplenty as you start Aggressive Inline. You can race against time in the Time Runs or start your own extreme sports career with the Career Mode. In addition, you can single out an unlocked level and have multiple goes at it in the Freeskate option or take on other wannabe skate addicts in the Multiplayer aspect of the game.

Also, Aggressive Inline has nine different playing environments to complement the playing options, and anyone with a creative itch can design his own track and environment as well.

A Career in Aggressive Inline

No game can be considered complete with at least a slight touch of role-play, so developers Z-Axis included a skill improvement element for each character. You can pick a real-life extreme sports star or go with one of the two created characters.

Whichever character you choose to play, you will start out with the progress bars almost empty. As you advance through the levels your skills will rise according to the tricks you pull off and the skills you display. You will have progress bars like: speed, grinding, wall riding, fakie, etc to show your prowess. The more you use one of these skills, the more your progress bars fill up. For instance, if you are a fast skater, your speed category will increase rapidly. Or if you like to practice wall riding a lot, you will notice the wall riding skill improving as you train.

Aggressive Inline Interface and Tricks

Aggressive Inline follows the same gameplay as the Tony Hawk Series or Z-Axis’ former hit: Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX. However, the user interface is much more simplified and easy to navigate.

Unlike the complicated trick-systems from the other two similar games, performing an air-trick in Aggressive Inline only requires the touch of a single button. Using your D-pad however, you can perform dozens of beautifully designed trick combinations, including grips, flips, rollovers, grind tricks or balancing. The most intense tricks come while combining some of these basic moves and tying them to one another in a blazing super-combo.

Aggressive Inline - Time and Juice Meters

The developers have experimented with the idea of doing away with time in some parts of the game. It has been replaced by the juice factor which is a sort of a countdown timer. It is present all the time and it is recharged when you perform a successful trick. So in effect, if you just stand around and doing nothing, skate without performing tricks or simply mess up to many tricks, the juice meter will go down. Running out of juice means the end of the game. However it’s so easy to fill up your juice meter that you won’t really have any problems with it.

Having said that, the time variable is not completely stashed away either. Unlike former skating games, it is not a factor at all times, but it shows up only in time-based trials. It would have not been a tough task to implement a continuous time system to the game; the levels are huge and, from time to time, you will need serious exploring of valuable trick areas before you can complete the tasks assigned to progress to the next level.

Aggressive Inline - The Goals and Levels

Within each level you will find different NPCs that will either give you goals or tips on how to handle your skateboard better. Completing goals will unlock more levels and allow more NPCs to give you goals.

The level goals tend to be quite rigid, offering both time-trials and standard point goals. You will be required to perform a specific trick in a particular area of the level and as the levels pile up under you, the trick-goals become harder and harder (some times even frustratingly difficult).

Aggressive Inline Graphics

When it comes to graphics and sound, Aggressive Inline really manages to please quite a few. Not necessarily offering eye-candy, the game’s graphics engine renders some nice environments, the big levels actually giving you the impression that you can find a good trick opportunity everywhere you go. Character models can look blocky at times, but the animation is up to the standards, offering realistic moves and physics.

However, don’t flatter yourself if an NPC falls over even while you are at a distance from him, it has nothing to do with your tricks… nor your looks.

Aggressive Inline Audio

The game also offers a great sound environment. Besides the game effects, which are of good quality, the game’s sound track is very good as well. While it offers licensed tracks from P.O.D., Rakim, Sublime and a number of other well-known artists from the American hip-hop and rock industry, listening to them for the umpteenth time can bore anyone.

Aggressive Inline - 2 Cent

Even if you are not a skating fan, Aggressive Inline will prove to be an excellent buy, as it offers hours upon hours of relaxing, fun gameplay. And as for Tony Hawk fans, the game provides ample originality to be picked as a game distinct from the Tony Hawk title. The environments, player designed tracks, the juice meter, and the role playing career mode, all add to Aggressive Inline’s value as an entertainer…and an addiction.

Aggressive Inline - Cost

The game currently retails for $14.99.