Wave Break Review (Xbox Series S)

by Jim Smale · January 5, 2023

For our Wave Break Review, we play an arcade-style SKATEboarding BOATING game, with a splash of guns, kickflips, and explosions – set in the 80s crime-filled Miami Vice-inspired world.

Wave Break Review Pros:

Decent cartoon-like graphics.
7.1GB download size.
1000 Gamerscore.
Skateboarding but in boat gameplay.
Splitscreen settings – vertical or horizontal.
Color blindness support.
Depth of field on/off.
Camera settings – Invert axis and sensitivity sliders, a field of view slider, auto correct, smooth camera, and sliders for grind/air/water/automatic/halfpipe.
Music playlists can be customized.
Controller settings – vibrations, aim assist, aim slow over the target, auto drive, toggle drive, and deadzone sliders.
Multiplayer settings – profanity filter, and auto-rotate down halfpipes.
An opening tutorial section that is also repayable.
Park creator where you can make, share, and download other players’ parks. You can edit an uploaded park.
Shop – spend collected cash on customizing your character and your boat.
Upgrade your player stats with cash.
Harbor is where you change your boat – color, decal color, body, decal, antenna, and side ornaments.
Four characters – Hobo, Axel A Axel, Mchutchenson, and Big Pin. Each has unique starting stats and boats.
Three game modes – campaign, online, and events.
Has all the fluidity of tricks of a Tony Hawk game.
Aside from tricks, you can shoot your gun.
Many goals at each level ala Tony Hawks.
A ton of replayability.
When you crash you fall out of your boat, press the button at the right time to get straight back in otherwise you freely swim around.
Licensed soundtrack events.
Hidden secret coins.
Combo counter.
You get a list of moves and score show as you perform them.
Very playable and entertaining.
You can easily navigate the world on land aswel as the water.
Fast responsive controls.
You can fully edit and customize how the game plays.
Such a robust lenient trick system that includes grinds, manuals, and more.
You don’t need Xbox Live Gold to download and share parks.

Wave Break Review Cons:

Takes a little while to get used to the flow of it all.
Slight performance hits.
Only a handful of locations.
Not the best achievement list.

Related Post: Game Of The Year Awards 2022

Wave Break:

Official website.

Developer: FUNKTRONIC LABS

Publisher: FUNKTRONIC LABS

Store Links –

Xbox

8/10
Graphics - 8/10
8/10
Sound - 8/10
8/10
Accessibility - 8/10
8/10
Length - 8/10
8/10
Fun Factor - 8/10

8/10

Summary

The Tony Hawk games redefined a genre and ever since then devs have been chasing the dream of making a game as accessible and fun as those games. Luckily The Tony Hawk games have not aged that well in their sequels so a small window of opportunity for another game to jump in opened up. We’ve had tiny hawks, and birds on skateboards that were all fun but had limitations. Now we Enter a Tony Hawk-style game on the water! Armed with a gun and a boat Wave Break dares to tread the familiar ground with a few twists. I gotta be honest they have smashed it here for it’s as accessible and deep as any Skateboarding game, it has an extensive park creator that can be freely and easily shared with others. With a multitude of events and campaigns, you have so much to do and you will lose hours racking up high scores and finding the many secrets of a location. Yes it has only a handful of in-game locations and I don’t really care about the customisation stuff but the core gameplay is tight, responsive, and just dam addictive. Wave Break doesn’t have the familiarity of the Tony Hawk games but it does deserve your time.