Rockstar games, known for games like Smugglers Run and the GTA Series that reward criminal activity, has laid its finger on the pulse of surfing. The result is Surfing H30, a version of which was released months ago in Japan, but stood to benefit from some fleshing out before releasing stateside.

Until recently, surfing has never really lent itself to a 3D arcade-style presentation because of consoles' limited processing power. But Rockstar boasts that it has achieved "next-generation wave modeling physics" on PS2, and it has for the most part succeeded (even though the wave's break unfolds with perfect consistency and is apparently never-ending). However, in negotiating the forces of gravity and wave curvature, there are few options available to surfers - basic carving, aerial tricks off the waves's crest, and slipping into the pipeline - and these don't make for many variation in gameplay. H30 is there fore forced to apply a complex scoring system, which tabulated points for aerials, tube-riding, collecting multi-colored orbs, and traversing a certain distance in the allotted time. While the pint system is designed to improve your skill and is the sole means of unlocking stuff, it forces you to keep doing the same thing over and over, only better. Contrary to whatever the Artist formerly known as Prince may have told you, there is not that much joy in repetition.