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90%
PROS
Great graphics, unique, cool moves, fun.
LOWS
A little tricky at first, the water sounds a little fake.
OVERALL
Surfing on your computer may sound weird at first, but Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer is a great game to buy for people who like any type of genre.
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Gnarly rip dude. Killer Indy. Actually, I don't know what that means, but I feel more like a blonde haired California surfer more then ever since my experience with Aspyr's Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer. A surfing game may sound like a stupid or pointless game, but believe it or not, surfing on your computer is a lot of fun.
Just like the Tony Hawk series, Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer has you choose your favorite surfer from a bunch of professionals and then go hit the waves all over the world. In Tony Hawk, there are different skate parks that have different jumps and pits. Since surfing by nature only takes place in the water, there isn't that much of a variety in your environments. Even so, you will travel from California to Hawaii in order to go to some of the coolest surfing locations in the world.
One thing I didn't like about beach selections was that each beach had two full goal sets. Instead of making double the amount of beaches, each beach has double the amount of goals.
None the less, there are tons of beaches to surf at. Antarctica is very cool, with the incoming icebergs, while Hawaii always looks like a tropical paradise. When you go out in the middle of the ocean, wave types are much more different then on a beach closer to the coast of California. Australia is also a lot of fun, with huge waves and tubes. Surfing in Asia is beautiful just like Hawaii, but in my opinion, Hawaii is better. Depending on the beach that you are surfing at, there will be different wave types and different water colors. In one particular beach, there is a crimson sunset. When you start off surfing, the water looks dark, but as you get higher up on the wave, the water turns to a beautiful blue color. Some beaches have extremely big waves that are hard to get on top of. Others have a variety, while some are small and easy to handle. As you progress through the career, the new beaches you unlock will become harder to surf at.
Learning to be a virtual surfer is a lot harder then it looks. Since the camera angle is a little weird, you need to get used to looking at yourself from the top. Instead of being like the Tony Hawk series where your character is right in front of you, your surfer just sort of moves all over the screen as the camera follows. The camera angle is not bad; you just need to get used to it. You can map a button to have a rear view camera and another to switch the camera angle to a more traditional one. This camera mode, however, makes it hard to see when you need to stop your trick. If you jump into the air and hold your board in a 'mute grab,' you need to see the water in order to determine when to let go and get ready to land. For the most part, it just takes practice to become a good surfer and be able to use the camera angles. Hey, its better then actually learning how to surf...
You can do a career mode and play for points. Similar to the Tony Hawk series, you need to complete certain goals in order to unlock new tricks, boards, stats, and beaches. Goals will vary, but for the most part, they center around getting a certain amount of points.
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Some more interesting goals include splashing tubers, jumping over a pier, and other more comical jokes. Some goals require you to get into a cool photographic pose so when a photographer comes, you will get on the front page of his magazine. These goals are really cool because you can see a camera frame and hear a snapshot countdown so you can get ready for your pose. You can do any type of trick, and the harder your trick is, the more points you will rack in for your photograph.
