The troubled Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 receives its first batch of free DLC, and it includes patches, new levels, rapper Tyler the Creator, and the heroes in a half shell.

When Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 launched, instead of the tight, polished gameplay that the franchise had built its reputation on, gamers found a game riddled with bugs, float-y physics, humdrum challenges, and was just plain old not good. Fans of the long running skateboarding series and critic reviews were quick to criticize the game, with many labeling Tony Hawk’s fifth outing as a mere cash grab.

Publisher Activision quickly promised game fixing patches, and offered free DLC as a sign of goodwill. The first wave of free DLC has arrived, and while the patches haven’t fully fixed the game, it also features some surprising celebrity cameos that Activision hopes will get fans to give the game another chance.

The 7.8GB patch features fixes aplenty, as well as new playable characters in the form of shock rapper Tyler the Creator and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Both the former Odd Future frontman and the heroes in a half shell are immediately available for play, and can be customized with tricks and board art.

THPS5 Raphael

Joining the new characters are two new levels, the Underground and the Wild West. Both levels are brand new to the series, and allow gamers to shred and grind across train tracks and subway platforms. The new levels are also littered with new challenges for players to undertake, though they are simply rehashes of challenges found in previous levels.

The DLC also features a laundry list of fixes and tweaks for the notoriously buggy game, as well as general updates for outdated sponsorship deals. The complete list of patch updates is as follows:

Content

Additional levels have been added (Underground, Wild West)

Additional character campaigns have been added (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Tyler the Creator)

Lighting and visuals have been improved for several levels

Ability to regain Special Meter during a single combo has been added

Per-Mission Leaderboards have been added

Added option to “Return to Freeskate” while in a Mission or Mode

Added option to “Return to Freeskate” while search for the other player for Co-op Missions or Modes

Tutorial has been updated

Many Pro Skaters’ Textures have been updated

Several Pro Skaters have recived Sponsor update

Create-a-Park Levels have been updated

Increased the total number of Stat points a Campaign can earn from 128 to 150

Gameplay

Several gameplay mechanics within the levels have been updated

Grinds were updated in several of the levels

Networking

The User Generated Content Rating System has been updated

Added Likes/Dislikes to the User Generated Levels

New Challenge UI Flow for matching during FreeSkate has been added

Leaderboard functionality was updated

Several multiplayer modes have been added and updated

Modes added include “Daily Grind,” “Skate Hoarding” and “Manual Mayhem”

UI

More options for user preference have been added including:

Double tapping grind button to activate slam

Opt in/out of Global Voice Chat

Several UI audio effects have been added

Misc – minor UI fixes and improvements have been made

While the free DLC and long promised patches are certainly a step in the right direction, it remains to be seen if Activision and Robomodo can convince fans to give the troubled Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 another shot.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 is available now for PS4 and Xbox One.

Source: VG24/7