Besides getting missions from actual people you can actually get short trick quests from paint on the wall and ground. When it’s on the wall you’ll have to complete a long trick that is highlighted by a blue glow to take back the area from a rival skater. When it’s on the ground or wall and not put there by a skater it’s a challenge to see how long you can do some kind of trick in a certain area. These feel much like the new version of gap completion for Project 8.


Smooth shadows make lots of appearances.
Then of course there is the necessary new trick component that every Tony Hawk game needs to have and this time around it’s called “Nail The Trick.” It essentially takes your time in the air and turns it into a mini version of Pro Skater. You click down on both analog sticks to activate it and once inside time will slow down allowing you to move both of your feet independently with each of the analog sticks. With feet in uh hand I guess your mission should you choose to accept it is to flip that board around as much as possible before you land. It’s a whole new mechanic that takes time to learn but is ultimately extremely satisfying.


High flying fun.
You can also slow down time using the Focus Mode but that’s all it does, making the act of tricking extremely easy and herein lies some of the problems with Project 8. With Focus and the nearly endless grind surfaces it’s really easy to pull off some insane tricks unlike Tony of the past. It feels like the whole focus thing was put in to show off the new engine but it ultimately makes the much harder challenges accessible to nearly everyone. I guess this could be good for sales but it would have been nice to see that some things can’t be accomplished with focus.


Next-Gen Tony is here!
Seeing as this is the first truly next-gen Tony, what would the game be without a completely new graphics engine? There are fully motion captured tricks from all skaters, little if any pop-in, and incredibly high polygon characters and environments. The lighting is superb, and all the motion blur during different player induced slowdown tricks is great as well.

Tony Hawk 8 is an incredible upgrade for the series but at the same time it lacks in some areas. Create-A-Park is gone, Create-A-Skate has been downplayed a lot, some things are a bit too easy, and finally the whole world feels a bit stale. If you want Tony’s latest upgrade then go for it, but if you’re looking for complete reinvention of the series you might want to hold out until next year.

• Totally new engine
  
• Motion capture
  
• High poly heaven
  
• Nail The Trick
  
• Tony Hawk’s loveable mug

• Level design doesn’t feel all that fresh
  
• Create-A-Nerf
  
• Horrible slowdown
  
• No online