Tony Hawk should be ashamed. He should have thought twice before signing a contract to put his name on a video game that, knowing the series, could end up like Wasteland. The title is appropriate not because it's tied into the story, but because the game is a wasteland of stupid, unfunny, and irritating challenges. The $60 price doesn't help matters either.

It's hard to imagine what the thought process comes up with concepts like skating on an oil rig to destroy portions of it. Yes, it all makes sense given the overall goofy nature of the game, but when these challenges occur in every single forced mission that it begins to wear thin. The game’s initial humor, because of the absurdity, wears off in the first few hours.

The story is a simple one, following a group of destructive skaters who dismantle a city piece by piece to use in the "ultimate skate park." Wasteland is definitely more accessible than what the series was moving towards, makings sure all the needed moves are displayed on screen when the challenges are given. Gamers who have dumped hours into the series will probably be offended by the hand-holding and simple nature of this entry. Those who only spent a few minutes before becoming frustrated in previous Hawk titles will rejoice.

Wasteland promised no loading times for its open-ended environment. It's not hard to figure out what's going on even if you have a basic knowledge of game design. Long, bland hallways lead into a new area, and the stuttering of the frame rate is obviously the game beginning to load. The lack of purpose or challenges to the adjoining hallways makes it apparent that they have no purpose other than to load in the background.

Getting off the board to run is a way to compensate for the loose and annoying controls. It's brutally difficult to make any kind of a sudden stop when on the board. Running feels almost exactly the same, and to consider getting off the board to do a trick is ridiculous.