Ladies and gentlemen its time once again to grab your wood and slam it on the pavement!

Hurts doesn’t it?

Wait. That doesn’t work. Women don’t get wood. Hold on. Ok…

Ladies and gentlemen its time once again to grab your testicles and/or ovaries and throw them against a wall!!

Shit. That doesn’t relate to skateboarding does it. Ehh, forget this. Anyways.

I’ve been a fan of skateboarding games since the release of Skate or Die! in 1988. Having played most games in this genre over the last twenty years, I have to say the I was most impressed by Tony Hawk Pro Skater in 1999. It brought a level of realism that was unheard of at the time. It didn’t need an online mode or downloadable content. It was simply so much fun to play that you couldn’t put it down. Now eight years and multiple sequels later, Tony Hawk returns with his newest brainchild: Proving Grounds. The release boasts ‘lifestyle’ choices with branching storylines and a control scheme implementing some new ideas. Read on to see how this all comes together.

Presentation & Graphics: Graphically, This game is nearly the same as Project Eight. The areas look a tad more grungy though I’m guessing its because Neversoft was going for the more serious urban setting (which is in the East Coast). The skaters look very close to their real life counterparts. Of course thats expected nowadays. My gripes are few: create-a-character is really shallow and offers only a few pre-made faces to choose from (and those choices are butt ugly). I did have fun with skin tone options though and made a rock-a-billy version of Nightcrawler, which was pretty cool. Playing with traffic reveals some serious problems with hit detection as well as some clipping issues. Sometimes I get the feeling that some of the graphic are used from PS2 iterations of the series- my body should not go halfway into a building I just slammed into. My arm should not become part of a car I landed next to. Its 2007 boys. Shit like that shouldn’t happen anymore. Call it a small issue. But I believe it reflects the effort and attention to detail the developers have for their craft. 3.5of 5

Sound & Music: The usual fanfare. Lots of different musical artists from different genres mashed together to form the soundtrack. I think it’s getting a tad formulaic personally. Voices are as good as they should be. Though your character sounds like a date rapist. Sound effects are spot on as they always are. If not REALLY familiar. 3.5of 5

Gameplay: Sixty percent of this game is the Tony Hawk skateboarding you know and love. Twenty percent is dealing with the addition of the god-damned ‘rigging’ system (which I’ll tell you right now sucks balls). Ten percent is the lifestyle paths with storylines. And the last ten percent is the addition of the ‘nail the’ system (an extension of the ‘nail the trick’ in Project Eight) the ‘aggro kick/push/skitch boost’ , bowl carving, and ’slash grinds’. The bowl carving and slash grinds are going to be summed up with a ‘meh’. Thats all they get and deserve. Moving along. The ‘nail the’ system goes into slo-mo when a player performs a grab, manual or a trick. Basically, during the slow motion, the player can tweak the move for style and points. The tricks are fun, as are the grabs. The manuals, however, not so much. The camera stays fixed when you really, really, really need a 360 angle. ‘Hey I have the ability to land and run on one wheel’! ‘Hey, I can’t see my wheel! Awesome!!’

The Aggro system proved to be a nice addition to the game. Using it to complete goals was a good idea as it get players accustomed to using them. This should be in future entries.

The lifestyle paths define how you complete goals in the game. There are three options: Career, Hardcore and ‘Rigger’. Each of these paths have a number of episodes which have their own goals given to you by a Pro Skater rated in that category-so it gives you plenty to do (Bam Margera’s are fun but odd for a skating game). Some of the goals given to you are really fun and make you want to play on-as they should. But many of them seem more like a chore you have to do to get to the more entertaining segments. Which is lame. I suppose I could go into further details, but I think anyone interested enough to read this enjoys the genre enough to check this game out in one way or another and see for themselves.

Just thinking about typing this next section make me edgy. Mainly because I don’t think it should have to be typed, because the problem shouldn’t exist.

Let me ask you a question. If you are involved in programming a game in a popular series that has sold millions worldwide, why would you add a system that has a huge part in said game without making sure it works? I’m speaking of the rigging system. Thats not to say that its not innovative. Its just that it was innovative in 1995.

A whole branch of the storyline depends on the ability to rig together objects in order to complete your goals. Like a large puzzle. The problem is that the system controls like it was made for a NES pad in the late eighties. Its even worse when you realize you’ve actually had the good fortune to complete the goal-and the goal sucks.

Don’t even get me started on the camera aspect of things. Jesus. Lets just say that this end of the gameplay is broken. 3of 5

Multiplayer: This is online’s territory. There are multiple modes for you to play such as Graffiti, Trick Attack, combo mambo and Walls. Players can enter the online world at anytime from the main game and up to eight players can play. All of which is very cool. The one aspect I like the best is that the player can choose the size of the level to be played. The Online Multiplayer is easily one of the best parts of this game. The ease in which the player can get into the online modes should be a blueprint for other games in any genre. 4of 5

Lasting Appeal: The base game is as fun as it always is. Tooling around the streets and skating as you please is what makes these games what they are. The online is great will hold onto you for quite some time. It certainly ate up many of my hours. However, many of you will be turned off by sloppy implementation of the rigging system and the boring goals you are forced to accomplish. I suggest renting first to see if this version is for you. 3of 5

Final Word: If you enjoyed project 8 this release will either excite you or annoy you depending on how well you respond to the additions. I have to give Neversoft credit for trying new things. I also have to shoot them a look of disdain for not building up their new ideas to their full potential. Doing things half-assed like this have a way of destroying a series. Especially when competition from games like EA’s ’skate.’ pop up with new and interesting innovations.

Get your shit together people.

Overall:3.5 of 5