When Activision first unveiled Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5, the Internet was not kind to the game. Initial trailers showed a game with subpar graphics and highlighted a new “slam” gameplay technique that many labeled as awkward and unnecessary. But even then, hardcore fans held out hope that THPS 5 would bring the series back to its roots. Unfortunately, when the game finally hit shelves, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 proved to be less of a “return to form” for the series and more of a “bug riddled blight” on the series' name.

Gamers proceeded to rip Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 to shreds online, posting videos of the myriad bugs and issues that were encountered while playing the game. Activision even opted not to send out a large number of review copies for the game, suggesting the publisher knew critics would ravage it. The mockery of the game came to a head when Activision was forced to issue an official statement on the current state of the game, promising that developer Robomodo was hard at work on fixing THPS 5.

Perhaps realizing the debacle the company had on its hands, Activision followed the apology with an announcement that Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 would be getting free DLC. The publisher has stated that the upcoming DLC will add two additional stages and five new skaters to the game, but Activision has not yet revealed the expected release date of the DLC.

This DLC will join the eight stages and ten skaters that came standard with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5, but it remains to be seen if the additional content will offer any improvements. In Activision's statement concerning the game's issues, the publisher admitted that one of the foremost problems with THPS 5 was “bad level design,” perhaps suggesting that Robomodo will actively work on improving level layout with the DLC stages.

Fan reaction to the Activision apology and DLC announcement has been resoundingly negative, with many labeling THPS 5 a lost cause. Much skepticism has been directed at the promises of “improvements,” as the game launched with a Day 1 patch that weighed in at 7.7 gigs, which proved ineffective for fixing the bugs and issues the game had. Activision has explained that this patch was necessary to fully integrate server support for the game, the publisher also stated that the patch contained numerous tweaks intended to fix the game somewhat.

Speculation has raged as to what caused Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 to turn out the way it did, with many citing an ending license agreement and upcoming holiday season as prime candidates for the game’s buggy release. While THPS 5 is having plenty of issues, the promise of free DLC may be enough to keep die-hard Tony Hawk fans hanging on. But with no release date revealed for a game-fixing patch, gamers are left wondering when Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 will actually be bug free.

Source: VG247