Transworld Surf captures the spirit of surfing like none other.
Boy do I feel right at home with this review. Playing the recent SeeDoo and JetSki games are one thing, but surfing is huge in my life. I remember playing California Games on the Commodore 64 just for the surfing competition, same for T&C Surf Designs on the NES. They were simple renditions of the sport of surfing back then, but it didn't seem like there was a whole lot you could do with a stand alone surfing game.
That was then. Fast-forward a decade to a place where "extreme" sports are all the rage in video games, and there is a whole new realm of possibilities. At least that's what Angel Studios is out to prove with Transworld Surf. And prove it they have! I have to tell you up front, that above all else, they have done an amazing job of re-creating the intense thrill of being out in the ocean in large surf. I know from experience. The very first time I started a session with the game I got butterflies in my stomach looking up at the wave that was coming towards my on-screen character. It's the same feeling any natural human being would feel when an 8-foot+ wave was rolling toward them.
Starting from the beginning, there are multiple modes of play such as single session, free surf, multiplayer, and career. Of course the first thing I usually jump on is career. You can pick from a host of real life professional surfers including Shane Dorian and "Ratboy" Collins each with their own strengths and weaknesses. From there it's off to complete the requirements for each of the breaks (also taken from real spots around the globe). Much like the innovator Tony Hawk Pro Skater, Transworld Surf uses the proven formula of completing objectives to pass a stage. Each stage in this game is composed of a couple of breaks at different times of the day and finished with a competition. The different times of the day actually have an affect on the waves as well as the objectives due to the changes in tides, which changes the waves' form. You take the bad with the good with the mini-missions. The ones based on high scores, completing combos, or riding insane tubes (basically surfing skill based) are great while running over jellyfish and hopping over boats is useless filler and usually very frustrating. Winning competitions earns you new boards, and the boards come in different shapes that are for use with different wave types and sizes as in real life.
The modes are all well and good, but it's the feel of this game that really pushes it to the head of its class. You don't start off paddling on a wave. You really are out in the ocean with waves breaking at different intervals, and each one is little different than the one before. There is a JetSki girl who will tow you to the wave that you want to be on, which stretches the realism but allows for getting in enough runs before time runs out. What I really like when you have the time is you can paddle around, duck dive, and pick out the wave that looks right to you from your perspective. And like I said, the perspective while paddling really conveys that sense of raw power that a 12-foot wave should have as it's making its way to shore.
Once you paddle onto and drop in on a wave the carving is effortless. I love the feeling of pumping up and down on a wave to generate speed and then slashing off the lip for a big trick score. Equally as impressive is barreling down the line, peeling off a huge cutback in front of the shoulder, and then dragging you hand in the face of the wave to slow down and settling into the pit of the tube. It all comes off so true to form. The camera angles they chose are perfect and always seem to be in the right spot, even if you are in the tube. This facilitates intuitive controls while on the wave where left always carves to your surfer's left and right to his right.
The premise of the trick system is fairly simple, but the combos that you can create can become very difficult. On one hand you are fighting for a high score, which means you need to combine different tricks to increase the multiplier (performing the same trick will net you points but not a multiplying bonus). On the other hand you are fighting against the wave and what it might do next. You slow down too much if you get out in front of the shoulder, and you also lose a lot of speed when you land a trick fakie and need to turn around. All the while, the wave may generate another peak while you doing a floater on the lip, which will most likely cause you to bail, or it could close out all together leaving you picking the coral out of your back.
There are a few minor complaints that I have that I look forward to seeing addressed in the next release. While the waves and the ocean and the surrounding environments are truly stunning and life-like, I can still see room for improvement. The wave faces and barrels are nearly perfect; it's mainly the visual interaction between the surfboard and the wave that needs some help. It feels right, but half the time the board is visually submerged in the water. The only thing that doesn't feel right in the game is the takeoff/drop-in. It plays such a small role in the whole ride that it doesn't matter much, but unlike the rest of the ride, the challenge and sensation of speed isn't there at all. Half the time you can stand up at the bottom of the wave and wait for it to pick you up. If you did that in real life, assuming you could keep your balance, you would end up getting sucked up to the lip and pitched all the way back to the bottom and then to the ocean floor beneath. It wouldn't be pretty is all I'm saying. One could potentially levy a difficulty penalty against the game as well. Some of the tasks as well as competitions can be down right frustratingly hard, but oh-so rewarding when they are completed. I spent two straight hours in the beginning trying to pass the first competition, albeit my skills weren't so honed back then. The air tricks and special tricks could use some refinement as well. It says to hold the "A" button to crouch in preparation for big air, but crouching disallows pumping which is used to build speed. So, you end up with less air off the lip by holding "A" then you do if you just tap it at the peak, and if you don't have a surfer with big air skills, pulling off a trick before landing can be a bit of a pain.
I could go on and on about how Angel Studios captured the essence and spirit of surfing, but I'd probably just be talking to myself. To wrap up, Transworld Surf epitomizes surfing in almost every way. It seems like it is going to go along on store shelves largely unnoticed, which is completely unwarranted. Maybe it's because surfing is often overlooked as a viable video game option. If that truly was the case, then Transworld Surf has shown us differently. I urge you to check it out and give it a chance. Surfer or not, I'll wager that you'll find this to be an enjoyable and highly replayable game.
