Tony Hawk's Project 8

There was once a time when a new Tony Hawk game was a huge day in anyone’s gaming calendar. The series gave gamers several playgrounds to mess about in doing what they pleased, challenging challenges, and the series marked the first time that the spirit of skateboarding had truly been brought to life digitally. Unfortunately after the third game in the series (or the second or forth for other people), for me the series started to lose direction. The new gameplay elements were not fun and the rest of the game seemed a bit ‘same old same old’.

Tony Hawk’s Project 8 looks to reinvent the series somewhat for the next generation of game consoles. The game engine has been completely rebuilt from the ground up, which will mean much more realistic physics than before. Of course, the graphics will be taking a big step up as well, meaning the game should be more realistic and believable in every possible way. Project 8 should be the most realistic virtual skateboarding game on the market - not that there is much competition. Either way, fans that have been away from the series - such as me - will definitely be giving this a blast to see if it regains our faith in the series.

Other features set for the game are more objectives than ever before, including the task of keeping up with a cameraman, pulling off the stunts he tells you to do. When attempting these missions, a small feed of the footage captured by the cameraman is displayed in the corner of your screen, which is a pretty nice touch. Players will also be able to move ramps around the maps, enabling custom lines and access for those tricky to reach areas.

Pedestrians will be a lot more onto it this time around as well. They will cheer at your tricks, laugh at your bails and punch you in the gut if you skate into them. Hopefully there aren’t too many of the pesky critters around, though, leaving us to skate in relative peace.

The PlayStation 3 version of the game will feature SixAxis support for improved control interactivity, letting you balance with the tilt-sensor.