If you haven't enjoyed a Hawk game since THPS3, don't bother with American Wasteland.
But why am I talking about something that happened 3 games ago? What does that have to do with American Wasteland?
Everything.
Neversoft has had 4 games to take this new formula, fix the issues that many of us have had, and run with a good product. But they haven't. All they've done is put on a band-aid called "classic mode," which plays like the earlier games but features fairly uninspired level design and hopelessly uninteresting goals. It lacks all of the charm, variety, and intensity of the originals.
And so, the only option for a new and refreshing experience is the meat and potatoes of this title, the story mode. Unfortunately it is neither new nor refreshing, and shows all the glaring problems that the series has had since THPS4. The main complaint? Due to the "story," there are certain challenges that must be completed to progress through the title, and if you can't get through them, tough scat. The earlier games never had this sort of a problem - they understood that many of ther goals were too difficult for some people to complete, so only a certain number of goals needed to be completed to advance. Ever since the change, the Hawk series has been ruined for the casual player. I honestly couldn't get past the firstarea due to one of these "challenges." Limiting the variety of tricks I can do until someone teaches them to me doesn't help either. I've been pulling off wallrides with ease since THPS2. Why I have to wait for some random to "teach me" how to do something I've been doing for 6 years is beyond me.
And so, gamers like myself are left with a soulless classic mode, broken online play, and the most poorly thought out set of achievements to date on the 360. Unless you're a fan of the past few entries, avoid this title at all costs and join me in praying that Neversoft never repeats these attrocities (and in expecting that prayer to fall on deaf ears.)