Tony Hawk's Project 8 Review

By John Walker Published 17 November, 2006

Sick. Er, the good way.

Version tested: Xbox 360

Why would they call the very prettiest thing to have appeared in games for over five hundred years, "Nail The Trick Mode"? It should be called, "Glistening Dew On A Spring Morning Mode", or "Kari Off Of Mythbusters Mode". Not Nail The Trick. The idiots.

It's just sublime. It's breathtaking. You're riding your skateboard through the huge city, and then at any moment, you click both analogue sticks, and you're in. It's bullet time, it's slo-mo, it's the high-def filming of a kingfisher diving into a pond. It makes you just stare and stare, and then inevitably crash into a railing, bail, and smear your face halfway down the street. But all so beautifully. Glistening Dew Mode, as we'll be calling it, is one of the most rewarding and enthralling devices I've ever seen, and I'm in love with it. And so is everyone else who's walked past while I've been playing.

He was a boy

In case you fell out of love with the Tony Hawk games around about the time they went shit, it's time to come back in now. After Pro Skater 4, things went somewhat downhill... down market. Infected with the Jackass crew, the series woefully lost its way, and despite a valiant effort by last year's American Wasteland to rid itself of the cash-in nonsense, it made more mistakes than it fixed. The future of Tony Hawk games was bleak.

No more. Project 8 is a remarkable balance of what made the original Pro Skater games so compulsive, and what the open, sprawling city of Wasteland should have been. It manages to implement one of its silly stories, but without it ever getting in the way. It's bone-deep visceral skating simulation. It... it... oh, it just gets it so right.

She was a girl

'Tony Hawk's Project 8' Screenshot 1

Bob Burnquist avoids touching the dirty streets with his nice clean board.

Rather than the painful hand-holding story of last year, and the excruciating Mindy, this time it's a nice simple concept. Tony's in your home town, looking to recruit skaters for his new team, named Project 8. With him are other skater pros, acting as what might be considered 'talent scouts' but are more realistically 'mission givers'. The only way you'll make it is to ascend through the rankings by constantly completing missions and spot tricks, and winning competitions. Along the way you'll pick up new sponsors increasing your recognition, and opening new areas of the city. Simple. As it should be.

And this time, despite the lies of last year, there really are no load points. The entire town, vast as it is, appears uninterrupted. No ridiculous loading tunnels, but outdoor smoothness, from Fun Park to Slums, School to Capital Building. It's an idyllic skater town, every building featuring at least one quarter-pipe-shaped wall, and conveniently ramp-shaped edifices on their roofs. The streets are lined with grindable curbs, railings, fences, wires, trams, and anything else with a flat edge. The grass is peculiarly skateable, and even ponds won't slow your wheels too badly. It's a giant skaters' playground.

Can I make it any more obvious?

After choosing a character type, you then tweak them in a (surprisingly poor) character creator, before plunging them into the game. You begin in your rural cul-de-sac, where sensibly crafted starter missions can be picked up from the locals, each subtly teaching you an essential beginner's trick. There is a separate training area, but it's actually rather hard, the basics much better learned in-game. The training is best saved for when wanting to study a particular move more carefully, requiring some moves that will likely put a new player off.

'Tony Hawk's Project 8' Screenshot 2

'I can see right up his baggy shorts from here.'

There's still the trademark daft Tony Hawk tasks to do here, like catching your dad's golf balls as he thwacks them over some vert ramps. Of course, it's simply teaching you to spine transfer (jump from one quarter pipe to another behind it, uncool people). But there's also the spot tricks, where markings on the sidewalk or street furniture will indicate local records in various skills. The pavement might say "Manual", and then further on other graffiti will show the Bronze, Silver and Gold distances you'll have to reach. Manual (ride on two wheels) over the line, and it automatically starts. The town is plastered with such challenges, most unachievable until you've ranked up a bit.

As well as the pros, there are innumerable other folk about town, wanting to give you tasks. For instance, from the start the local school mascot needs you to help him plaster posters around town (wall-ride on certain spots), then earn some money by publicly performing some freestyle tricks for a crowd. A guy with a camcorder offers to film you performing a complex series of flip and grab tricks, cramming as many as you can into the time limit. Some are silly, some very skate-worthy, and all are splendidly entertaining. Then as if that weren't enough, there are some locals whose tasks reveal the old-skool Hawk's Classic Mode. Pleasingly in context, these are the two-minute modes of yore, with the list of challenges, including the favourites: high scores, collecting SKATE and COMBO, and finding the hidden... disc! Yes, at long last the series has noticed that VHS tapes are a tad dated, replacing them with a hidden DVD. Each of these sections is set in a cordoned off region of the city, revealing the cunning design as each zone becomes an improvised skate park.

Only two more mission types - bear with me. There are the Pro Challenges, where the pros give you significantly harder tasks to complete. These do wonders for your ranking, as well as unlocking video footage of the best skaters in the world. And finally, there are the competitions. First you must qualify in the short starter round, and then it's time to wow the judges with your sick skillz. Rather than the idiotic system of previous games, this time you need only score over a certain amount from the judges, rather than compete against the random AI.

He was a punk

Hopefully this emphasises quite how vast Project 8 is. There are hundreds of missions, uninterrupted by loading, and all instantaneously restartable (if you ever played Trackmania, you'll know how gratifying it is to be able to immediately start over after failing a tough task, and Project 8 nails this too).

The cast of pros is nice and fresh. Lots of the most impressive new talent stand alongside masters like Hawk and Rodney Mullen. The incredible Ryan Scheckler and Daewon Song appear, along with wunderkind Nyjah Huston, underlining the embracing of the next generation in every imaginable sense. Each spent time motion-capturing themselves for their specific moves (unlockable video footage of this is also to be found), adding to the authenticity. There's Bam Margera of course, but this time looking like the odd boy out, offering his stunt-focused brand of challenges as a refreshing alternative, rather than their domineering frustration in Underground 2. And oddly, Jason Lee is a major character, involved in acquiring you sponsorship, and alerting you to new competitions appearing around the town.

And she did ballet

So there you have it: Tony Hawk Project 8 is the best the series has ever been. And that's without Nail The Trick/Glistening Dew mode.

'Tony Hawk's Project 8' Screenshot 3

He's not skating. Someone glued him to the garage wall for messing up their tulips.

At any point while in the air, clicking those analogue sticks slows down time, and zooms in on the skateboard and your feet. At this point, each analogue stick represents one of your feet. Flick down with the left stick, and your left foot will push the board down. Catch the lip with the right stick as it rotates and you'll kick it in a circle. It's incredibly tricky at first, the timing needing to be perfect, and the bailing failure frequent. But then, it clicks. It makes sense. And then it's sheer, crazed bliss. Get enough air and you can pull off the most astonishing moves, and not because you pressed X, but because you moved your foot at the exact right moment to be that awesome. It puts you completely in control, removing the automated cheatery of all action gaming. As you see yourself descending, fast approaching the half-pipe's wooden surface, make sure the board has rotated until it's grip tape up, pointing forward, and let go. And you land it, and you feel like a god.

Now factor in how gob-smackingly beautiful it is. The whole game looks really lovely (but for the character faces - the curse of the Xbox has struck the skating crew, and especially poor old Hawk who looks like an anaemic zombie). The world textures are as detailed and pretty as can be. Except no, it can be that bit prettier, in Nail The Dew Mode. Zoomed in, the world behind is Vaseline-bleary, sight focused on the explicit detail of your board, flakes of wood splintering from the edge, the sponsor logo on the wheels spinning, the grip tape tangible, all shining majestically in the light. It's skateboard porn.

What more can I say?

'Tony Hawk's Project 8' Screenshot 4

There are a few proper skate parks in town, as well as the re-interpreted streets.

The Live aspect is less overwhelming, offering mini-games, rather than my mad desire for Test Drive Unlimited on skateboards. Perhaps that's for the next iteration - are you listening, Neversoft? More entertaining is the sharing of records across the world, where each in-game challenge is recorded, meaning you can attempt to beat the best grind distance of not only the designers' whim, but also some weird kid in Texas.

A fool would see this as more of the same Tony Hawk skating. It's the perfection of Tony Hawk skating. It's ridiculously big, completely lovely looking, and perfect arcade gaming. It's ideal for filling a quick half hour, which then mysteriously lasts until quarter to four in the morning when you've got loads of work to do the next day, but you had to wall-plant that table from the school buses because it would open up the Slums, which would then give you access to the incredible factory, see? Quarter to four in the morning - it's been so long since a game did that to me.

Oh, and the authenticity argument: No, of course it's not. But yet, while exaggerated and impossible, it's all executed properly. Every wobble, every turn, all motion-captured. The ragdoll on the bails is barking mad, even allowing you to augment its lunacy by extending the skeleton-destroying impacts, but that just makes the boring bit - falling off your skateboard - more fun. So hurrah! And as a final test, I got my friend Jo who runs a charity youth skate park to check it out (www.one-eighty.org.uk plug plug). She said, "You can't ollie a vert at that speed!" or something, but then wouldn't give me the controller back for the rest of the evening. Which is about as strong a recommendation as I'm able to offer.

9 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of John.

About John Walker

Read more articles from John by visiting the John Walker archive page.

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Comments (78) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Xerx3s #1 5 years ago

    Better than GoW then?

    /coat

  • effinjamie #2 5 years ago

    No mention of the reported framerate problems then?

  • petebritish #3 5 years ago

    Too many games too little money. Euromillion jackpot needed to fund gaming habit.

    It would be cheaper to be on the white stuff..
    Edited by 1 at 17/11/06 @ 08:46

  • lambtron #4 5 years ago

    What is the deal with all these reports of some people having framerate issues on next-gen games and others saying it never happens? I mean on the previous gen a game either had framerate problems or it didn't. Is it just to do with what resolution you run at or whether its widescreen or not?

  • asphaltcowboy #5 5 years ago

    Awesome! Too much money to spend! :(

  • Ceatlan #6 5 years ago

    Is this game any good for a somebody new to the franchise, and or with no knowledge of skate boarding etc.

    I've tried the demos of almost all the games in the series (including this one) but never really worked out what was supposed to grab you. Everybody always raves about them so I assume I must be missing something. I have no idea what any of the move names mean, no idea what you are supposed to be trying to do, and none of the games seem to have any kind of tutorial that leads you into the game.

  • Yossarian #7 5 years ago

    godddamn you Xbox 360 what is with all these good games coming out at once

  • moggsy #8 5 years ago

    What is the deal with all these reports of some people having framerate issues on next-gen games and others saying it never happens?

    That puzzles me as well as I've never really experienced it on my 360. Could it be down to the resolution you play it at? I play all my games at 720p.

  • Tonka #9 5 years ago

    Brilliant use of Captions

  • Nige #10 5 years ago

    I might wait for a reader's average on this one... the general review consensus I got was... 'almost - but not quite.'
    Edited by 1 at 17/11/06 @ 08:51

  • Vroom #11 5 years ago

    Yay! I knew this would be great from the demo :o)

  • Steroyd #12 5 years ago

    It's your typical November get used to it. :)

    Sounds like a return to form just as well then because EA is planning to start a lil competition with their new Skate game.

  • Scimarad #13 5 years ago

    Have you tried the PS3 version yet? From what I hear it's the laziest of lazy ports:-(

  • BremXJones #14 5 years ago

    WE ARE IN LOVE! HAVEN'T YOU HEARD! HOW WE ROCK EACH OTHER'S WORLD!?!?!?!?!?!

    KG

  • Santino #15 5 years ago

    i havent played a hawk game since underground 1 because they are too easy once you've nailed the skate model and each far too similar, but i feel weirdly 'pulled' to try this one, maybe its cos i havent played a new one for so long.

  • Super_Zee #16 5 years ago

    Best in the series? After letting the perfection of Hawks 3 take over my life for months, that's a claim I'd love to find correct. Bring it!

  • krudster #17 5 years ago

    I can't speak for John directly, but I suspect he ran it on a SDTV, which may account for why he didn't experience frame rate issues.

  • Lionheart #18 5 years ago

    @ Santino
    Agreed.... I think i'll buy this when i get paid next Friday
    AND Dustin Dollin is in it =D

  • Super_Zee #19 5 years ago

    Help me. I have a voucher for Gamestation. Just one. Hawks or Gears?

    I have F.E.A.R. on the go too.

    Enough is never enough.

  • BadDevotions #20 5 years ago

    too much is never enough!

  • chupachups #21 5 years ago

    "It would be cheaper to be on the white stuff.."

    [link url=http://www.thisisnotmy.co.uk/images/sherbet_dib_dab.jpg
    ]    http://ww w.thisisnotmy.co.uk/images/sher...[/link]

    Yum yum yum!

  • Tiiti #22 5 years ago

    The series just went downhill after 3 or maybe 4. Reading this review has got me interested again... cmon' euromillions!

    Tonights winning numbers will be 1,2,3,4,5-6,7


  • masterson #23 5 years ago

    I picked up this and GoW yesterday - love both. GoW I'm intent on going thru co-op (which is fantastic by the way) so this gets played during the day while I wait for my girlfriend and/or mates to get back from work. :D
    I played the first 3 THPS religously - yet as with many others my interest dwindled from 4 onwards. I still got them in the hope they'd recapture the "old magic" but they never really did. This is a real return to form - focussing on what it's all about - when feet meet a bit of wood on wheels. The focus is back on the board - quite literally with the very cool (and not really at all gimmicky) nail-the-trick mode.
    For the first time since 3 it looks and plays far better than the previous installments. As the review so eloquently put's it - "It's skateboard porn."

    BTW - I'm running it at 720P - haven't noticed any framerate issues yet.
    Edited by 2 at 17/11/06 @ 09:19

  • gizmo #24 5 years ago

    @effinjamie

    Apparantly its the PS3 version which has the framerate problems, according to other sites.

  • Pastici #25 5 years ago

    Any differences between the 360 and PS2 versions?

  • Rambaldi #26 5 years ago

    I could be wrong here, but I think that the VGA input is more prone to framerate issues that Compnent is as is playing on 1080 as opposed to 720.

    Also, playing it on a PS3 gives you a much worse framerate (according to the reviews) and no online play. TH3 R3AL N3XT G3N!

    Anyhoo: am I the only person who likes framerates around 25? I've got this thingy on my Philips TV that smooths out framerate and, when watching a movie, it looks plain wrong. It's like watching some sickly glossy american sitcom.
    Edited by 1 at 17/11/06 @ 09:19

  • Rodster #27 5 years ago

    Framerate issues are most prevalent on the PS3. The 360 version is fine for the most part.

  • Rambaldi #28 5 years ago

    P.S. Got GOW yesterday and as a die-hard shooter fan I can say...

    ..that the 8 is about right. Perhaps even generous. It looks amazing, granted, but popping in and out of cover wears a bit thin after a while. It feels almost like a shooting gallery at the fair rather than an absorbing firefight. Enemy AI is a joke compared to FEAR and Halo and yes, all the macho marine stuff wears a bit thin after a while. The controls feel a bit off too: using the green buttin for dashing to cover is a good idea but often you stick to the wrong damn surface: just pushing in the right direction would've been nice insead of the 'auto-cover' that's implememted. I've also had trouble connecting to online games, but I've not tried it yet today. Hopefuly a few more Brits online will resolve that issue. Looking forward to a bit of co-op though.

    My personal rank order of recent shooters (offline): FEAR, COD3, GOW. I'm guessing, based on the demo, that R63 will squeeze in between FEAR and COD3.

    Either way, 4 cool new shooters can't be bad! Way to go 360:)
    Edited by 1 at 17/11/06 @ 09:27

  • Nova5lag #29 5 years ago

    Wow an extra GoW review for free... :S Thanks I think.

  • kuwagata #30 5 years ago

    nowt odd about Jason Lee being in the game, he were a right good skater back in the day

  • Super_Zee #31 5 years ago

    @Rambaldi

    Cheers, That's alot of help and I'm reading loads of similar things from other players. Hawks today then and trade in F.E.A.R. for GoW when I finish it (not really playing multi).

    Although I do tend to change my mind every ten minutes.

    And am I the only one who doesn't play on Live at all? I have Gold but never really got into playing with people I don't know. Maybe I had too many bad experiences with mad foreigners during my first games of Halo 2...

  • botherer #32 5 years ago

    Ceatlan - I'd say yes. A friend of mine who'd not played the previous games was immediately grinding and leaping about. Certainly familiarity with the franchise means it's all instinctive, but for Dew Mode, but this is completely accessible.

  • space_ace #33 5 years ago

    "glistening" is quite a stretch for us, non-native speakers, i'll admit that

  • sickpuppysoftware #34 5 years ago

    Any differences between the 360 and PS2 versions?

    From what I've read, the game is split into levels rather than one big one, the fancy new trick thing is made easier as it prompts you when to kick and there's no online.

  • Zomoniac #35 5 years ago

    It's region-free, so all you non-pikey PAL dudes wanting a cheap copy can get one for around £23 from here, when they get some stock in. Cheap FEAR as well :)

  • sharpfish #36 5 years ago

    Wasn't that impressed with the demo (technically), though the skateboard action felt decent. I like the dynamics of these games but i'm NOT into the culture/lingo/image so I don't buy all that hypey-stuff.

    As a game though the demo was fun, as skateboard games usually are.

    However, it wasn't overly impressive compared to previous skateboard games so maybe a buy when on budget (or rental).

    And PS3 version is inferior, go figure, like we didn't warn everyone this would happen! Hopefully by the time the PS3 is in plentiful supply, the game reviews for it will have saved some players ££££ of wasted cash.

  • botherer #37 5 years ago

    Oi, no 360 vs PS3 fights in MY comments threads!

    Because obviously the Wii will be best.

  • sn3jk #38 5 years ago

    Ive played the US import for awhile on my PAL 360 @ 1080i res. have not experienced any framerate issues.

  • Baz_Dude #39 5 years ago

    Your headings are of a song i hate. But it does suit skateboarding of which i also hate.

    MEH!

  • jlaakso #40 5 years ago

    I want this game so bad. The review perfectly reflects how I felt after playing the demo.

    The 360 has some seriously good games available right now.

  • neuroniky #41 5 years ago

    Tony Hawk.
    Again.
    Every time I get one of these... I end up playing 8 hour or more straight for 3-4 days. Then I put down the pad, grab my skate, crash my sorry butt somewhere, and then I come back at home bruised and satisfied. And then the Tony Hawk game is put away somewhere, never to be touched again.
    So, what I'm going to do. Oh, f**k
    /me places order.

  • mentat #42 5 years ago

    Another Kari fan \o/

    Still fondly remember the episode where she gets covered in silver paint from head to toe.

    /dreams

  • OllyJ #43 5 years ago

    got to admit I'm lovin it so far, I know i'm nay a regular as some people here but I posted a pretty scathing review of THAW in that reviews comments, I basically returned it the next morning, I hated it.


    This is back to the good stuff, I'm only an hour in but so far very very good.

    Anyone fancy a game online add me : Goatmaster12

  • Carlo #44 5 years ago

    Better than.... Well better than most 360 games frankly!

  • Wobble #45 5 years ago

    My first proper skateboard was one of Jason Lee's vision decks :)
    Well first pro deck anyway, first real one was that green face epic(?) one.

    /googles to see if he can find it

  • Mordum #46 5 years ago

    For gods sake. My list was full for the next two months... I already had games that were going to have to wait untill after christmas, and now this Viva Pinata and FEAR are trying to gatecrash their way into my 'must buy' list. How the hell am I expected to get through these games before Lost Planet, etc arrive early next year? It's a problem, but a good problem I suppose. Here was me moaning about the desolate summer period of gaming on my 360, now I'd give anything for a couple of quiet months, so I can get back on track.

    Anyway, back on topic, I only played the first three Tony Hawks games, and have never really had the urge to return to the series, but after reading the review it sounds like its definately worth a look.

  • Jheronimus #47 5 years ago

    This one might bring me back to the series I abandoned after TH:pS4. Couldn't care for Wasteland, but this looks pretty interesting :)

    So much games, so little time, so little money. What a shame!

  • s33r #48 5 years ago

    cracking game love it I do love it

  • MrFlintBlackman #49 5 years ago

    Skate boarding games suck ass. Period.

  • Have_to_Speak_Up #50 5 years ago

    Well I've got GOW and this (and COD3 but lets forget that). I have a feeling when i get home I'll be ejecting GOW... hum

  • Penguinzoot #51 5 years ago

    THPS3 was the highpoint in the series for me, but I may be tempted to give this one a look. Problem is, there are too many great games around at the moment, and not enough money :-(. After GOW, FEAR, SC:DA. And still R6:Vegas and Viva Pin(with the quiggly thing)ata to come!

    Argh! Curse you Microsoft! Why couldn't these be spread out over the summer!

    /shakes fist

  • mingster #52 5 years ago

    so better than the PS3 version then

  • Santino #53 5 years ago

    much better than the PS3 version obviously, frame rate is all important especially in a game like this

  • Eighthours #54 5 years ago

    What happened to EG's uber-strict scoring policy they keep telling us about? ;)

    Nah, I do really rate this game. Not as good as GOW though, in my opinion.

  • Zuiyo #55 5 years ago

    "Skate boarding games suck ass. Period."

    Then endure in the noble practice of removing crabs from your balls. After all, that's a fine sport you might be quite good at after having spent all your life training.

  • Santino #56 5 years ago

    Zuiyo
    i would like to applaud you for the greatest posted comment in the history of the universe! haha

  • jimbob101 #57 5 years ago

    Why no screenshots of 'Glistening Dew mode' to go the review? Very odd.

    Just got Skateland on the DS from swapgame, very impressed by the graphics. Can I have 2X on it please!

    My THPS history.

    THPS Demo that came with girlfirend's PS (Probably my most played demo)
    THPS (PS)
    THPS 2 (PS) on launch
    THPS 3 (PS) on launch (Draw distance of about 5 meters but still manged about 90% complete)
    THPS 3 (GC) 2003
    THPS 2X (XB) earlier this year

  • Der_tolle_Emil #58 5 years ago

    Finally! A good game that I am not interested at all. There would not be that strong feeling of saving money if it was crap anyway.
    Edited by 1 at 17/11/06 @ 12:00

  • bonker #59 5 years ago

    Blimey, another stormer for the 360 - looks like MS's plan (I assume) of nuking the PS3's November launch with a ton of top quality games is coming together nicely ...

    Who needs GOW or H3?!

  • skybluesam86 #60 5 years ago

    And oddly, Jason Lee is a major character, involved in acquiring you sponsorship, and alerting you to new competitions appearing around the town.

    Why is that odd?

    He was a pretty highly rated pro-skater before he turned to acting.

  • spongebob #61 5 years ago

    But how's it on the old Xbox? (Which is what I have. And I don't have the money to buy X360 right now.)
    Edited by 1 at 17/11/06 @ 13:13

  • Vin #62 5 years ago

    Holy shitballs.

    SOLD.

  • crazyhorse174 #63 5 years ago

    Did I read something about "nailing a Dew" in that review...?

    Thank God there was a D in there...

  • pjmaybe #64 5 years ago

    Not one mention of slowdown?

    Not one?

    Peej

  • krudster #65 5 years ago

    Presumably, Peej, because he didn't experience any.

  • pjmaybe #66 5 years ago

    "Presumably, Peej, because he didn't experience any."

    Perhaps some sort of hint to what setups were used to test games might be in order then? No?

    Peej

  • botherer #67 5 years ago

    I had no idea Jason Lee was a pro skater. No! My uncoolness revealed!

    Erm, quick, er, I'm going to do a kick-flip into manual and then pop shove-it! Phew, coolness restored.

    Thank goodness I removed the tasteless "Nail Kari" joke.

  • spongebob #68 5 years ago

    Seriously, is this game ok on the older generation consoles?

  • Les #69 5 years ago

    Wow, this game gets bashed everywhere. One of the few times EG rates a game higher than Americans do...

  • Pho-Zoon #70 5 years ago

    To be perfectly honest, I thought that review was pretty badly written.

  • bloodflowers #71 5 years ago

    I used to play the old games quite a bit - found the demo controls to be nearly impenetrable now! Spent most of my time doing a single trick, poorly, and falling off a lot. Like riding a 5 bikes at once.

    As for people who can/can't see frame rate issues - I'd kind of expect 720P to be the smoothest as there's no scaling involved. On the other hand, I thought there was a dedicated scaler so this shouldn't happen. So, I talked to my friends. Ones with SDTVs, like me. Some claim certain games are smooth, and I know they aren't. It's all down to perception in the end, I think. Some people are dumb as rocks, visually.

  • titaniumapple #72 5 years ago

    WHERE ARE THE 'CREATE A...' MODES??????!!!!!!!!!!!!





    I WANT TO BUILD MY OWN SKATEPARK GODDAMMIT!!


    !

  • botherer #73 5 years ago

    Oh, you can reshuffle loads of the areas when you see a floaty hammer. It lets you design your own parks, etc. It's just a bit boring, so I didn't mention it.

  • JackB #74 5 years ago

    Do people actually make a purchasing decision based upon Eurogamer reviews? I feel sorry for those that do, but then again it's like gaming Darwinism. Anybody dumb enough to believe Tony Hawk is a better product than Gears of War and Resistance deserves what they get.

    This is the only European review site I visit. Are there any other decent choices?

  • Escape #75 5 years ago

    "The Live aspect is less overwhelming, offering mini-games, rather than my mad desire for Test Drive Unlimited on skateboards."

    Mad reads obvious to me.
    Did you know Jason Lee is a long-time Scientologist?

    krudster: what with the Double Agent disgruntlement, is there no chance of using a uniform 360 review setup?
    Suppose the SDTV thing is because John's freelance?

    Why don't tags work by the way?

  • krudster #76 5 years ago

    We'll try and offer transparancy with review set-ups, and test games on both SDTVs and HDTVs where possible, but you can only go so far. We don't do this in a lab, thank goodness.

  • Les #77 5 years ago

    "Better than GoW then?"

    Would have been amazed if it had turned out to be worse...

  • ali-uk #78 5 years ago

    I'm really digging this installment. Feels kinda 'new', but also reminds me of THPS3/4 (level design is pretty damn good this time around). Characters all look good, mocapped tricks are pretty nice, and the game is genuinely challenging to do - at least on the sick level. It bodes well, as long as they add in a Create a park and make the Create skater not suck.