While the Playstation 3 and XBOX 360 versions of Tony Hawk’s Project 8 are nearly the same there are some significant drawbacks to owning the PS3 release. First and foremost there is slowdown that truly affects gameplay. You may sit a little framerate hit here and there in the 360 version, as was also noticeable in the demo on Live, but on the PS3 it slowdown so much it will make you screw up tricks. Next-gen here we come! Also, the entire online component has been completely omitted thus the 360 version is the only version to own. Oh and if you’re wondering about the motion sensing controller support, it’s there and it’s crap. Yes you can use it for balancing and such but you’ll never pull off big tricks using it.

The rest of the game is identical so at this time we return to our regularly scheduled programming.

Are we really on Tony Hawk 8, has it really been that long since I first fell in love with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater on the N64? Time sure does fly by when you’re grinding rails, and while Tony aged well for the first few sequels, the past few years have been a bit rough. Heck I didn’t even touch last year’s American Wasteland for fear of ruining my memories of Tony Hawk 2 on the Dreamcast. That being said, Neversoft is back once again to try and reinvent the series like any pop star with staying power.


We can rebuild him...
With its back to basics approach, Tony is searching for eight new skaters to recruit this time around and he has of course set up a plethora of competitions to root out the best. In some grand bout of bad luck you seem to be #200 out of 200 on the list of skaters vying for a spot on the Project 8 team so you’ll have a lot of judge wowing to do. The first sign of bad things to come appears just as you start your campaign in the character creation screen. You only have the option to select from five pre-made skaters who can then have some of their clothing and bodily features tweaked to kind of make him or her your own. Gone is the robust Create-A-Skater of Hawk’s past and in is the next-gen half-assed thing I’m going to call Tweak-A-Skater (no drugs involved).


The water it's so... wet!
Once you’re actually in the game you’ll stay in the game. Like last year’s Hawk, the entire world of Project 8 is one big streaming world. Once you complete enough things in one area, another opens and you can skate right to it without loading screens. What’s incredibly cool about this is that you can actually trick your way through the entire game once you unlock all the areas. In these areas you’ll be talking to people to get missions, participating in the many challenges, and doing all this over and over to get all the proficiency levels accomplished.


Master T himself.
As you do all this you’ll increase in skill and for the first time you won’t be distributing skill points. The game actually adjusts things as you skate around town. Do more vert work and the associated skills will likely increase. On the trick side of things you can actually impress the locals of each area to earn Tony’s new currency known as Stokens which can then be used to purchase new tricks. Also, in order to move your way up the chain from 200 to 1 you’ll be able to gain sponsors. Perform well, get a sponsor, do what the sponsors ask, and you’ll get their stamp of approval. Oh and don’t forget that you can enter classic mode on a whim now. No more loading into everyone’s favorite two minute ordeal, just select an option and away you go. The seamless presentation is truly amazing.