Ah, Tony Hawk… How do I love thee? Let me count the ways:

...One...
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Okay. I guess I have to admit it. I'm not the world's biggest Tony Hawk fan. I used to have a passion for the series, but that faded quite some time ago. From sequels that sort of went nowhere, to "reinventions" that went in all kinds of directions that no one wanted, the series has had a difficult time justifying its longevity. That's not really surprising, maybe. Neversoft's signature gameplay was essentially perfected in the first sequel-a full seven games ago-and there have only been incremental changes since that time (aside from weird and unnecessary additions that are best left forgotten). With Tony Hawk's Project 8 for the 360 and PlayStation 3, Neversoft set out to design its first Tony Hawk game for next-generation consoles from the ground up. The effort was very successful in some ways, and not so much in others. The setup for the game is pretty standard fare: Tony Hawk wants to build a mythical team of eight skaters (hence the game's title), and players are tasked with earning a spot on the team. Basically, the top eight ranked skaters will comprise the team and new players begin the game at rank 200. By completing various challenges and goals, players increase in rank and eventually qualify for the team. The goals in the game are delivered via bystanders in the environment or pro skaters themselves, and most will be familiar to fans of the series. There are some new varieties thrown into the mix-most notably the new chalk challenges-but nothing revolutionary. After all, there's only so much you can do on a skateboard. The good news is all of the challenges are divided into three levels of difficulty, so beginners and pros alike should have no problem diving in and having some fun.

Neversoft has previously promised seamless, continuous worlds in the Tony Hawk series. Project 8 is the first time the studio has pulled it off. There really is zero loading in this game once your wheels hit the pavement, and the size of the city is impressive. Tony Hawk has always had a vague "sandbox" mentality, and the wide-open city environment really drives this point home. It's completely possible to skate from one side of the map to the other with no load times, and that's a nice accomplishment. On the downside, while there are plenty of great areas for tricks and opportunities for impressive lines, all of the open space has hampered the level design to a small degree. Few areas feel as packed with opportunity as some of the best discrete levels from previous games, and-making matters worse-multiplayer games online can sometimes feel like ghost towns due to the distance between players. Luckily, there are options to mitigate this problem, such as limiting players online to a certain area of the city.

While not much new is going on with the game mechanics overall, Neversoft has included a few small tweaks and one major addition that up the ante. In the tweaks department, the developer has altered the score system slightly, resulting in the fact that insanely high point combinations are no longer possible. Specifically, the ability to abuse grinding and manuals to manipulate the system has been curtailed, and the resulting point values are less outrageous as a result. The major addition to the gameplay is the "Nail the Trick" mode. By clicking both analog sticks while in the air, players can trigger a slow-motion effect that allows each of the skater's feet to be controlled close-up and with great precision. The timing constraints in this mode are very, very specific, but it's a great addition, nonetheless. As always, practice makes perfect, and seasoned players should master the new feature in short order.

Visually, Tony Hawk has never looked better. For the first time ever, Neversoft has ditched all of the canned, hand-animated tricks and movements in favor of completely new motion-captured animation routines. The results are very pleasing. The game is incredibly fluid, and the skaters seem to respond more realistically than ever before. Additionally, the entire graphics engine has been overhauled, resulting in the sharpest, cleanest game in the series. Aurally, the game has also been given a bit of an overhaul, with new sound samples and environmental effects combining for a robust and convincing atmosphere. The licensed music is the typical bag of licensed genre nonsense, but that's pretty much to be expected.

The differences between both the Xbox 360 version and that of the PlayStation 3 are few, but hardly insignificant. For one, the Xbox 360 version benefits from the console's robust multiplayer faculties, including seven different online modes. The PlayStation 3 has nothing. This is not face plant for the game by any means, but it does certainly count as a strike against the version for Sony's latest platform. Granted the PlayStation 3 version does let players interact with the console's new Sixaxis controller, but the implementation feels more than a little tacked on.

Overall, Project 8 doesn't push very far beyond its previous boundaries. Most of the gameplay is very similar, and players familiar with the series will not find many surprises. However, the new coat of paint and the "Nail the Trick" mode help make the game seem at home on the next-gen consoles. There are some nice multiplayer options for 360 owners, and the promise of a completely seamless environment has finally been realized. Plus, it would be difficult to understate the importance of Project 8's reliance on tried-and-true Hawk gameplay, as opposed to some of the silliness seen in other recent sequels to the franchise. There is enough new here to keep old fans interested, and new fans won't feel as if they've unearthed a dinosaur, thanks to the modern improvements to the engine. At the end of the day, Project 8 is a modest success.

Score: 77%

Nov 20, 2006 | 0 comments
David Tolin