Urban skaters - despite the efforts of the authorities to move them on from the town centre every Saturday afternoon, and Daily Mail readers' anguish when they show up on interestingly shaped street corners, they're persistent little buggers and somehow fade away and reappear as soon as a disgruntled back is turned on their experimental antics.

Tony Hawk is a leading evangelist in this concrete church. Not only is he one of the most well known and respected extreme sportsmen of all time, but the phenomenal success of his previous four signature video games has introduced an army of armchair athletes to the four-wheeled wonder of skating.

Tony Hawk's Underground, aka THUG, sees a return of the birdman, but is a huge extension of the previous titles. Skate culture eschews mainstream society for restricting creative freedom, and THUG has capitalised on this by allowing the player freedom to hop off of their board at any time (be it midway through a combo or atop a huge electrical pylon). You can now run around, climb onto roofs, and reach what appear to be completely inaccessible areas. This massively expands the playable environments, and genuinely adds a breath of fresh air to the stagnating series.

There are loads of returning pros to play with - all of Tone's mates, in the game as a favour, and surely not just for the huge licensing fees they get paid. However, this time round the create-a-skater lets you customise your on-screen persona's sex, body shape, facial details and garb. There are tons of different clothing options available for each part of your skater, and you can choose the exact hue, shade and tint of each garment.

Anyway, we digress from the game itself. You can play as a pro, as before, through free skate levels, and post high scores to unlock bits of video and increase your stats. The real meat of things, however, is in the story mode. Use said created skater, and lead your frowzy friend out of the streets of New Jersey. You've got no money, drug barons are after your mates, and all you want to do is skate. Salvation can be found, though, through running errands for local gangsters in return for favours, and hope flourishes when Chad Muska D pays the area a visit. Impress him, and he'll give you your first pro set-up. And so begins an epic journey, whereby impressing cameo pro riders, in various international cities and competitions, will earn you success and pave the way for global superstardom.

The better you get, the more your stats will increase, and the more tricks you'll learn. All the favourite moves are present, and gradually unlock more equipment and decks, eventually culminating in that elusive pro model.

The create-a-park option makes a welcome return too, along with the addition of create-a-trick. Decide what, how and where you grab, bone and spin in the air, in an elaborate and incredibly hard-looking, but stupidly easy executable that'll have your mates going "Whoa, bra!" Or something.

Multiplayer options again make an appearance, and the inclusion of System Link means all the popular cool kids can play together, although criminally there's no Xbox Live play.

As always, the graphics and animation have been given the odd tweak, and the game world is denser than ever. The story mode and free roaming feature genuinely add a bit of flavour to a tried and tested formula, though the car driving sections are a bit lame and frankly unnecessary. Like its real-life counterpart, THUG continues to push the boundaries of what's possible in extreme sports. A real winner.

1. Story mode is very impressive
2. Create-a-trick is ace!
3. Hop off your board and explore

1. Driving sections are quite lame
2. No Xbox Live play

Power
Everything looks and moves fast and fluidly. The character customisation is impressive.

Style
Retains the character of the previous games, complete with a funky new soundtrack.

Immersion
Wide range of challenges means novices and experts alike will have loads to do.

Lifespan
Massive single-player mode - it will take ages to complete all challenges and unlock everything.

Verdict A slight change in direction for the Tony Hawk's series results in a refreshingly different and diverse extreme sports title.