Gravity Games is the worst game I have had the displeasure of reviewing since such abysmal titles as WWF RAW and New Legends. With sloppy gameplay mechanics, a subpar soundtrack, and level design that makes Espn's X-Games Skateboarding look good, PS2 owners will envy their cube owning brethrens' luck…the Nintendo port has recently been canceled, and the world is a better place for it.
From the opening screen where you hear Disturbed's "Down with the Sickness", you know that this game is going to be subpar at best, and miserable at worst. Beginning with the sound, Gravity Games offers one of, if not THE worst soundtracks in Extreme Sports gaming history. And while your appreciation for GG's sound will come down to your appreciation for nu metal, it's been proven over and over that when done properly, nu metal can bring the house down within the confines of a video game. (See memo: RE:The 02 series, Aggressive Inline) Alas, Midway didn't get the memo, and they dropped the ball completely. Aside from a Disturbed track and an Adema track, we get a lame as hell rap dummy telling us over and over again that he's a "ryder". Ha ha…get it? Ryder? Bmx? Yeah…moving on…
Things don't get much better on the visual front. While things may seem alright when you watch the goal movies at the start of each level, once you get in game, textures become blurry, character models look like something one may spit up as a result of food poisoning, and the camera…oh my GOD the camera…the camera doesn't play nice with others. In fact, the camera doesn't play at all. It manages to screw up every trick you make.
That is…if you could make a trick in the first place. See, the fundamental problem with GG lies not in its horribly subpar graphics and sound, nor in its flawed camera. The problem GG faces that makes it the 4th inductee of the "George Smith Bash Club", is the fact that the control was developed in all of five minutes. I've said it before, and apparently, it bears repeating: Extreme sports games live and die by their control schemes. Tony Hawk, Aggressive Inline, and their ilk all made big splashes because they flowed nicely, and you could link tricks as long as your skill, and your thumbs, could hold. In GG, you'd be lucky to pull off ONE TRICK aside from a basic grind or handstand. What's more, is that when you grind, oftentimes you will stand still on the rail, prompting you to just bunny hop, "grind", and so on, while staying in position till you hit your score target. I realize that developers don't want to copy Tony Hawk and Matt Hoffman, but if this is the alternative, then just give me the tried-and-true.
For all the complaining about Dave Mirra XXX, one go with GG would shut everyone the hell up. At least Acclaim is promising a decent game underneath the smut. Here, we have nothing but a prime example of a license gone to waste by a company that should stick to making "on steroids" versions of sports ending in "-ball".
-George
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