reTHAWed 5.0 Drops: Ambitious Tony Hawk Mod Ports THUG2’s Entire World Destruction Tour, Xbox 360 HD Assets, and Online Create-A-Graphic

For nearly two decades, the dedicated Neversoft modding community has kept the golden age of arcade skateboarding not just alive, but thriving far beyond what Activision ever envisioned. Alongside competitive hubs like THUG Pro, the team at 10K Rising has spent years turning Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland (2005) into the ultimate sandbox with reTHAWed—adding modern widescreen resolutions, uncapped frame rates, extensive controller mapping, cross-game level ports, and restored cut content.

Today, the team has dropped what is easily their most colossal update to date: reTHAWed version 5.0.0.0 is officially live. Far more than a routine patch, version 5.0 is a monumental expansion that ports the entire campaign from Tony Hawk’s Underground 2, imports high-resolution "next-gen" Xbox 360 assets, overhauls the Create-a-Graphic system with online multiplayer support, introduces the classic Burnside park, and somehow even squeezes in a full-blown fishing minigame.

10K Rising's official launch trailer for reTHAWed 5.0, showcasing the THUG2 World Destruction Tour campaign, graphical overhauls, and new skate parks.

The Headline Act: THUG2's World Destruction Tour Ported in Full

The centerpiece of reTHAWed 5.0 is a technical feat that once seemed impossible within the THAW scripting engine: the complete, authentic port of the World Destruction Tour from 2004’s Tony Hawk’s Underground 2.

Rather than merely importing the level geometry, the 10K Rising team has brought over the entire narrative experience:

Every Goal & Objective: All classic goals from THUG2 have been faithfully ported and scripted into the THAW engine.
Every Cutscene with Full CAS Support: All story cinematics are fully functional, now supporting both male and female Create-A-Skater models from THAW (bypassing the restrictive character limitations of original THUG2).
Fully Functional Level Vehicles: From the motorized Segway to Steve-O’s mechanical bull and Paulie’s wheelchair, every level-specific gimmick vehicle is fully controllable with native physics.
Guest Skaters & Historical Figures: Track down Benjamin Franklin, Jesse James, and the rest of THUG2’s wacky cast across international stops from Boston to Barcelona and Australia.
Difficulty Scaling & Hardcore Mode: Play through on Easy, Normal, or Sick difficulty—with a brand-new Hardcore toggle available across both THUG2 and THAW campaigns.

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Dual Story Mode Select: reTHAWed 5.0 introduces a brand new dynamic Story Mode launcher menu, allowing you to seamlessly hop between the gritty Los Angeles skate park construction of THAW and the worldwide chaos of Bam Margera and Tony Hawk's World Destruction Tour, complete with difficulty-tiered unlockable rewards.

Pixel Pushin’: Xbox 360 "Next-Gen" Assets Arrive on PC

When Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland launched in late 2005, it spanned console generations—arriving on PS2, Xbox, GameCube, PC, and as a launch title on the brand-new Xbox 360. While the PC port inherited the lower-detail assets of the sixth-generation console builds, the Xbox 360 version featured noticeably cleaner textures, sharper pedestrian geometry, and upgraded cutscene models.

Under the "Pixel Pushin’" initiative, reTHAWed 5.0 extracts and merges those premium assets into the PC version:

High-Resolution Cutscene Characters: Cleaned-up models with dramatically increased texture fidelity.
High-Resolution Los Angeles Pedestrians: Upgraded geometry and textures for locals across every district, from Beverly Hills to East LA.
Skateable NPCs in Free Skate: Pedestrians selected as playable skaters now benefit from the same high-detail assets.
Fixed Cutscene Lighting: Fully corrected lighting panels throughout the THAW story mode to resolve long-standing visual bugs.

Create-a-Graphic Overhaul: Broadcastable Tags in Multiplayer

Graffiti tagging and custom deck graphics have always been an integral part of THAW's identity, but low resolution and local-only restrictions previously limited self-expression. In 5.0, the Create-a-Graphic suite gets a massive technical upgrade:

Networked Multiplayer Sync: Created graphics are now fully broadcastable online. When you spray a piece or join a lobby, other players in multiplayer see your custom designs in real time.
High-Resolution Canvas: The canvas resolution has been significantly bumped up, eliminating blurry, pixelated tags and logos.
THUG2 Graphic Archive: Every single Create-a-Graphic element and sprite from THUG2 has been ported over.
Board & Hat Application: Custom graphics can now be slapped directly onto your skateboard deck or embroidered onto supported hats, with real-time previewing in the menus.

Burnside Returns, Fishing, and a Mountain of New Content

Beyond the headline campaign and graphics revamps, reTHAWed 5.0 is overflowing with community contributions and wild new gameplay systems:

1. Burnside (THPS / THPS3)

Portland's iconic Burnside skatepark makes a triumphant return in its authentic classic form. Built with uncompressed, polished textures, full graffiti tagging support, native pedestrians, and multiplayer team modes (Capture the Flag, King of the Hill)—plus a hidden easter egg for eagle-eyed skaters to uncover.

2. Cast n' Catch: Yes, Actual Fishing in Tony Hawk

In one of the most delightfully unexpected additions, developer 10K Rising has added a complete fishing minigame into Neversoft's engine. Players can locate dedicated fishing spots across Manhattan, Shipyard, The Triangle, Skater Island, and San Francisco. Approach the water, cast your line, wait for the bite, and mash to reel in a wide variety of marine life—or bizarre secret inventory items.

3. Tony Hawk: Shred & Downhill Jam Exclusives

Contributors @pndawz and @bebnkarnate have ported an unprecedented batch of obscure spin-off assets:

Tony Hawk: Shred: Every character, pro style variant, and deck from Tony Hawk: Shred has been integrated into the engine.
Downhill Jam PS2 Exclusives: Outfits and three exclusive playable skaters from the PS2 version of Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam (Skylar, Fang, and Victor) have been unlocked for the first time on PC.
"Here's Your Controller Bro": The infamous plastic motion-sensing board controller from Tony Hawk: Ride and Shred has been painstakingly recreated as a playable Create-A-Deck option, complete with griptape styles, stickers, and trucks.

4. FemCAS Wardrobe Expansion: Threads for Her

Modder @lakitu__ has delivered a massive wardrobe expansion for female skaters, converting pro pants, Bam’s Heartagram jeans, Muska’s jersey, Koston’s jersey, DC shoes, and stage apparel from Guitar Hero World Tour and Band Hero. For fans of classic Volition grit, the pack even ports over iconic DLC clothing from Saints Row 2—including baggy jeans, the Freckle Bitch’s shirt, and Saints Row 1 platinum weapons as hand items.

5. In-Game Store Revamp & THUG2 Pause Screen

Storefront CAS Menu: The clunky text lists in THAW’s Los Angeles skate shops have been replaced with the full Create-a-Skater interface, complete with restored console lip-sync for shop owners.
Dynamic Pause Menu & Album Art: The pause screen now features an optional real-time album art display with a full-screen sleeve viewer, alongside a faithful THUG2 pause menu skin with dynamic location signage.
SPECIAL Item Customization: Players can now choose alternate prop variations (such as distinct guitars or radios) during SPECIAL tricks, which synchronize across online multiplayer.

How to Download and Update

reTHAWed 5.0.0.0 is available right now for PC players. Because of the sheer volume of new assets, updating through the official updater tool is strongly recommended:

Download the Updater: Grab version 4.1 of the NX Mod Updater from the official website at rethawed.com or via the GitGud releases repository.
First-Time Installs: Place the updater executable alongside your clean THAW.exe inside your Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland PC installation directory and run it.

Existing reTHAWed Users: If you experience connection throttling during the update rush, you can switch to the GitGud fallback server by adding the following line to your rethawed.ini:

[Updater]
Repository=https://gitgud.io/10k-rising/rethawed-release-repository/-/raw/master/reTHAWed/

The Verdict: A Golden-Era Celebration

While official arcade skateboarding releases have remained scarce, projects like reTHAWed demonstrate the incredible power of a community united by passion, reverse engineering, and creative ambition. By bringing the golden era of THUG2 directly into the fluid movement and expanded mechanics of American Wasteland, 10K Rising has created the definitive tribute to Neversoft's skateboarding legacy.

Grab your board, fire up the updater, and head over to rethawed.com to start shredding.