Xbox Addict

Transworld Surf Preview

You’ll find the controls themselves very similar to Tony Hawk. The bottom A button acts as your jump, allowing you to stand when you’re near a wave, and propelling you up off the wave if you release it near the lip. You can "pre-load" special moves by holding down A and doing commands with the stick while holding down X button as well, or you can do tricks on the fly by pressing X and a direction or combination of directions while in the air. The two triggers activate grab tricks with your board (we didn’t say this was realistic, folks), and the B button allows you to perform "floaters," the surfing equivalent of lip grinds. As you set tricks up and accomplish them, the symbols for them will appear in screens at the lower left, which you can see in the new screens we received today. Finally, the Y button will allow you to bring up the Reef Girls, a group of bikini clad vixens on Jet Skis that can take you to another set of breaks, as long as you’ve unlocked them. While you can actually paddle your way around the level by yourself, there’s no harm in getting a pretty gal to help you along, now is there? One the other side of the oceanic spectrum, if you head out of the game’s boundaries, you’ll have another set of hungry girls ready to give you a lift -- big sharks. They won’t kill you, but they’ll give you a big incentive to keep yourself in the designated surfing areas. The build I had a chance to play had other AI surfers onscreen, but no sharks, boats, or dolphins to play with. There was still activity in the area though, and I could see the symbols for the other surfers popping up while I was heading through a tube, or doing a trick off a wave. The next-generation of games is much more about interaction with other AI competitors, and Surf is no different. You’ll have to pit yourself against a variety of opponents while still trying to focus on just staying afloat -- and I can’t wait. Bring on the competition, I say. I’ll tear any 8 year old kid on a boogie board up.