Wakeboarding Unleashed featuring Shaun Murray

Okay, so Shaun Murray might not be a household name to extreme sports fans in the same vein as Tony Hawk, Kelly Slater or even Mat Hoffman, but you can always count on Activision O2 to take a particular extreme sport and make it both ultra cool and really fun.  In Wakeboarding Unleashed, you will not only be introduced to Shaun Murray but also to the fast-paced aquatic sport of wakeboarding . . . and love every minute of it.     

Serious extreme sports fans and wakeboarding enthusiasts will tell you that Shaun Murray is a three-time wakeboard world champion and practically the pioneer of the freeride progression.  He also does things on a wakeboard that truly have to be seen to believe.  Unleashed allows you to play either Murray or any of the six other real-life champions such as Cobe Mikacich, Darin Shapiro or Tara Hamilton.  Wakeboarding, for those of you who don’t know the extreme sport, involves what looks like a snowboard, a speedboat and a lengthy rope and the ability to pull off some spectacular tricks at high speeds.

As always, you can’t get very far in the extreme sports genre without bringing up the brilliant Tony Hawk Pro Skater series and I do so because Unleashed practically feels like the Tony Hawk games in many ways.  For one thing, it follows the same basic complete-and-unlock-new-objectives formula that offers up some unique challenges collecting stars, matching certain tricks when they’re called out or performing one long combo.  The more challenges you successfully complete, newer challenges are unlocked as well as stat points you can use to upgrade your wakeboarder’s balance, hang time or even jump height.   The only thing missing is the interaction with characters scattered throughout the many locations.

Secondly, the controls and many of the tricks are similar to the Tony Hawk games.  You can perform a number of rail tricks, manuals, invert tricks and grab tricks.  There are plenty of things to grind and you can also do wallrides.  However, since the main feature here is water, many of the tricks are performed off the wake or off the various ramps you’ll encounter.  You can even let go of the rope for some extra hang-time up in the air and by pressing the Left Trigger, you’ll get the rope tossed back at you.  All of these things leave enough room for you to be as creative as you want with the many tricks.  It really doesn’t get any better than this when it comes to ultra smooth and responsive controls.

What sets this game apart from many of the extreme sports titles out there, though, is the co-op mode.  If you’re tired of being the one that is being dragged around by the boat, you can drive it yourself while a friend does the honor of performing the tricks as the wakeboarder . . . or vice versa.  There are also some split-screen multiplayer games that have been seen before in many of Activision O2’s other titles such as Trick Attack, H.O.R.S.E. and Tug-O-War (which replaces the Push game).

Just about my only complaint is that the game didn’t include a Create-A-Wakeboarder or a Create-A-Water Park feature while they’re at it.  Although these things might seem insignificant to others, it would have added a little something extra to the mix.  The Groove Meter, although keeps the game going since running out of groove ends your run, can be a little unforgiving unlike the Juice Meter in Aggressive Inline.  Still, the game does offer a large number of locations (eleven in total) such as Hong Kong, Venice and even Belize.

Graphically speaking, Unleashed manages to present a pretty decent-looking game with water being the most amazingly realistic and prominent feature.  Not only does the water ripple, wave and reflect most of what is all around you, but also it’s the best seen in a game so far.  Each location has its own little charms as well, although there are some pretty plain spots scattered throughout and the color scheme in locations like the bayou make the area look, well, kind of drab.  Still, the locations are filled with plenty of eye-catching details and the wakeboarding champions are rendered wonderfully.

As for the sound, the game wins big points for it’s plentiful and eclectic soundtrack filled with tunes by artists like the Flaming Lips, The Pixies and Molly Hatchet just to name a few.  Of course, many of the tunes might not be everyone’s cup of tea so you can always use your own soundtrack--ah, the beauty of the Xbox hard drive.  Still, even with a decent soundtrack, the game seldom throws a variety of sound effects to the mix.  While the boat’s motor and the splashing water sounds great, it would have been fantastic to hear more from your wakeboarder than the occasional oomph when he or she slams into something or the sounds of the board scrape a surface when sliding.

Wakeboarding Unleashed follows in the very footsteps of the Tony Hawk series and delivers a game that’s both fresh and addictive.  With some rough spots here and there, it’s far from perfect but it comes really close . . . close enough that gamers might even overlook these imperfections to enjoy all the fun and challenging objectives.  And with a co-op feature, this just makes this game worthy of the purchase price.  Go out and get this if you’re looking for an enjoyable extreme sports title.   

Gameplay: 9.0
Wakeboarding Unleashed is an addictive game.  Yes, you’ll be hooked the second you start launching off a wake and start pulling off a number of manuals or invert tricks and yes you’ll love every second of it.  Thanks to the great controls, you’ll be performing some really complex tricks in no time--although I still recommend you go through the training tutorial.  This is a game will keep really occupied due to the demanding Groove Meter.

Graphics: 8.2
Although there’s no real special exclusive Xbox enhanced visuals here, this is still one great looking game.  The water effects are the best seen in a game so far and it literally draws most of your attention away from the other visual details.  Each location is nicely detailed, although you’ll encounter some rather plain-looking textures on certain buildings and objects.  The riders, though, look wonderful out there and their movements are both natural and realistic.

Sound: 8.0
The soundtrack is composed of a decent amount of tunes from artists such as The Pixies (remember them?), Pavement and Mountain (I’m sure not a lot of gamers know “Mississippi Queen”).  And even though there’s an option to customize the playlist with your own songs, I see gamers sticking to the soundtrack found here since it is got everything for everyone.  Of course, indie rock or classic rock tunes might not tickle every gamer’s fancy so you’re free to come up with your own.

The sound’s biggest disappointment comes from the sound effects.  Here they are barely noticeable with the exception of a few grunts of pain here and there and the sound of the speedboat’s motor as it speeds across the body of water.  It would have been great to hear the few characters you encounter shout back at you as you splash them or even heckle you while performing.

Difficulty: Medium
While the many challenges are fun, the majority of them are also quite tricky and difficult to complete without trying it seven or eight times.  The hardest challenges--like the dueling banjos challenge in the Bayou level or numbers challenges in the first level--will keep gamers very busy and just a tad frustrated.  But then again you can always return to any of the levels and complete the difficult challenges with plenty of rider upgrades.

Concept: 9.0
Wakeboarding Unleashed has a lot of things going for it in the challenges and objectives department and many of them are actually creative and amusing.  While looking for your own challenges in the true Tony Hawk Pro Skater fashion would have been way cool, you can select any of the available challenges through the Options menu.  There are also objectives that allow you to leave the wakeboarding aside for a minute and drive the boar.  My biggest complaint--and this affect the game or take anything away from it--is that there is no Create-A-Wakeboarder or no Create-A-Park feature.

Multiplayer: 9.0
You have to love a game that tries something different with its multiplayer options and this game certainly offers something completely different.  The co-op feature gives you and a friend a chance to work together as a speedboat driver and rider.  If that doesn’t grab your attention, the game also includes your usual multiplayer fun. The two-player split-screen fun offers the option to choose from a horizontal or vertical view of the action, although I highly recommend horizontal since it gives a clearer view of the environment around you.

Overall: 8.9
Slightly innovative and very addictive, Wakeboarding Unleashed seriously scratches our extreme sport itch and brings us a game filled to the brim with unique challenges and perfect controls.   Aside from the ample number of levels available and all the amusing challenges the game throws at you, sports gamers will get a kick out of being as creative as they want with the tricks.  Consider this one highly recommended.