I'm not sure why the "Chris Edwards" in "Chris Edward's Aggressive Inline" was dropped, but the game no longer features Mr. Edwards as it's top spokesman. Unless you are into Inline, you probably wouldn't know any of the people in this game, but don't let the non-recognition factor fool you into thinking this is a nothing game. Aggressive Inline is a frenetic Xtreme game that takes all of the elements that made Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2 popular and fixes up the loose parts, making it one of the best of the genre. No kidding.

Z-Axis, known for the past Dave Mirra games pulls no punches with Aggressive Inline. Like Mirra, the game is not for whiners. It often requires you to pull off the unthinkable and really put your skills to the test. But that's the fun of it. Each level features a whack of challenges, that you can choose to do, or not, but getting to the next level or opening up secret areas within might be dependent on it. Challenges are located everywhere and new ones can be discovered by interacting with pedestrians or inanimate objects. Some challenges that might have you scratching your head as to what they might even mean, have been given a "fly-through" option in the pause menu, which is pure brilliance on the part of Z-Axis. I don't know how many times I've been playing a game like this and wondered exactly what the hell was required of me. This takes the guess work out of it. Thank you for this Z-Axis.

The nicest feature is the absense of a time limit within the game. This allows for a more seamless play experience, with not having to restart every 2-3 minutes. All you have to do to ensure you are still in the game is to pull of tricks and fill your juice meter, which is very easy to do thanks to the control scheme. If you've played any of the Xtreme sports games you'll find the control quite comfortable, although it has been altered. Essentially there is only one trick button (square) which combined with various controller inputs will net you grabs (one direction and square), flips/spins (two directions and square) and modified flips/spins (3 directions and square). The R2 allows Cess Slide which is a Revert move used to chain combos from ramps. The Circle button is the Action button which allows some cool moves of it's own. With it, your skater can do vertical or horizontal pole spins, vaults, skitching (grabbing vehicles) or interact with the environment or passerby. The Triangle in conjunction with the directional or analog pad will provide grinds and the X button is used for acceleration and jumps.

Agg's graphics are bright and crisp without a hint of sputter, just the way I like 'em. As in Mirra the levels are astoundingly huge and fun to explore and trick lines are literally everywhere. I'd say you are only limited by your imagination, but that would be cliche, so pretend I didn't say it.

In the end, Agg Inline is a lot like the games that have come before it, but it's the little changes that set it apart, actually improving the entire genre. There are aspects of Agg Inline that I'd like to see adopted in every Xtreme sports game, but of course, that would be stealing; unless of course it was a Z-Axis game. If you think Agg Inline might not be your cup of tea because it doesn't feature BMX bikes or skateboards, think again. This is simply a great game that you won't beat in a weekend.