excellent

Any series that lasts through eight iterations is certain to have creative peaks and valleys. For Neversoft's Tony Hawk series, the best of times were represented in THPS 2 & 3 with its roughest patch coming during the THUG years. With Undergound a thing of the past and with the promise shown in last year's American Wasteland, it appeared the Tony Hawk series was back on the upswing. Tony Hawk's Project 8 features a brand new engine, built from the ground up specifically for next-gen consoles, and, unfortunately, proves that while the series has plenty of potential, Neversoft may have run out of gas.

Join Project 8
Set in an expansive city that features no in-game load times and the ability to trick a line through all ten zones (should you have the skill), this is the first truly open skating city. Once each area is unlocked, you can go anywhere, anytime and pick any objective your heart desires.

Your goal is to rise from your sad #200 ranking among amateur skaters and crack the top eight. Every secret token found, gap crossed, and challenge beaten propels your created skater up the rankings. Complete enough challenges and you'll enter the Birdman's elite Project 8.

Size Matters
The large cityscape is seamless in its construction and every goal is well-integrated into the level design. Skate up to any highlighted character to engage in specific challenges, including the re-modeled Classic Mode, which now works within the structure of the Career Mode. That's right, instead of having to play classic two-minute Tony Hawk challenges in a separate mode, you can now do so in the middle of the city. In fact, completing the ten challenges in each Classic zone can go a long way to boosting your rankings.

You'll also come across plenty of graffiti in the streets. This isn't just worthless scrawl. There are "Owned" graffiti tags from rival skaters which, when touched, initiate an instant challenge. Follow the illuminated trick line as long as possible to take back ownership of the area. More interesting are the numerous spot challenges. You can't skate more than a few yards without seeing a spot challenge spray-painted on the ground or on a wall. Some require a grind to see how far you can make it without bailing. Others test your manual skills and, more importantly, your (wo)manhood. Finding and mastering these challenges is almost as intense as hunting down gaps. The majority of skill contests have three possible rankings: Amateur, Pro and Sick. You can get to Project 8 by mastering the Amateur level of difficulty on challenges. This is a cake walk and even the Pro difficulty is pretty easy. The only real test of your skating prowess is nabbing Sick ratings. Some of these are incredibly difficult and may even push true T-Hawk vets to the limit.

The only time a ranking is not involved is when you face one of the ten Pro Challenges. Some of the best vert and street skaters have specific skill tests. While a few of the old guard come into play, including fan-fave Bob Burnquist, the majority of the pros are newer stars. The young (and ridiculously talented) Ryan Sheckler heads up a list that includes Paul Rodriguez, Jr., Nyjah Huston and Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins. Bam Margera shows up in the Slums. Fitting.

Not only are there challenges all around, but every grind, manual and big air matters. Instead of spending stat points, this year all stats are improved based on your gameplay. The more feet you grind, the faster your stat improves. This provides

half assed tony hawk game.

I have been playing The tony hawk series since it first came out, and this game was more of an undone project than an actual game. They stripped away so much of the game that was in the old Tony Hawk games in order to give a more serious tone that there wasn't really much in the game. I feel the the people of Neversoft have lost sight of some of the things that made these games a success. The developers did a great job on the game play, and trying to make things real, but that was just about all they did with this game. I really enjoyed the aspect of controlling your feet in the game with the analog controls. It really bothered me that you couldn't also turn your body as you were doing the trick because it took away from making tricks more realistic, and if I'm not mistaken that was the focus of this game, and in some respects they've captured the essense of skateboarding, but there could've been so much more in this game. Don't get me wrong this game is definately a step up from Thug 2, and THAW, but hopefully the next Tony Hawk wont be nearly as sub par as this game was.

Tony Hawk's Project 8

I love that the disk was bran new never been open and was exactly what I was looking for. It far well over proceeded my thoughts of what I was bidding on. I love the game and its features of trying to make it as realistic as possible for the gamers. Recomended game to all those who are fans of the Tony Hawk Games.

A Favorite!

My favorite part of playing any tony hawk games would be showing off to your friends your sick moves. This game has so many sick moves that you can do in slow motion. This is the best skateboarding game that there is out there. You can do a lot of cool missions and get really good stats, PLUS beat everyone that you go against. Very addicting!

Awesome game!

Just as the videos on the game state this is a great game that alot of technology went into using. Who cares if they don't look like real people??? What do you expect when its on PS2?? Get a PS3 if you want better graphics, the gameplay is amazing though!! All the skaters movements are really based off their real life movments, overall great game! Score another one for Tony Hawk.