Saturday, October 2, 2010

Tony Hawks Project 8 Review (PS2 also for PS3, Xbox, 360, PSP)


Tony Hawk has been the name in skateboarding for years. Part of the reason I wanted a PS2 was for Tony Hawk 3. I Played games 1-4 and Underground but I felt like the series had run its course. Then I found a copy of Project 8 for two dollars and decided to give it a shot. Did I make the right decision?
           
Story:                        There is more of a story here than in the past games. The first Tony Hawk title basically let you pick a rider, beat the levels, and get experience. Now you are this young talent trying to make your way up the ranks. The only problem is that I don’t care. I bought this game to skate, not to talk about it. The story adds nothing, and it actually detracts from the game.

Gameplay:                         The reason I bought this game was completely for the gameplay, so how did it fair? Honestly, I feel like the controls are less tight than they used to be and the missions aren’t really any fun. Maybe I am the minority here but I used to like the trick attacks, and collecting the hard to reach items. Now everything is about upsetting the cops, “tagging your turf,” or vandalizing the neighborhood. If I wanted to do that stuff I would play a game that does it well like GTA, not some game that pretends but never really crosses the line.

Art Style:                         The game looks dirty. Everything has the grainy look about it and the colors are uninspired. I think it is going after that punk sketch art that has become so popular on T-shirts but it makes the whole thing look unappealing.

Difference:                        This game is the same game you played before but with less enjoyable missions, lacking controls, and a new coat of paint applied by someone without any artist understanding.

Buy it?                        Not unless you hate yourself quite a bit. I paid $2 for my copy. It only took me 3 hours to beat every mission, and I’m not entirely sure I can say I ever experience fun. I guess if you are trying to kill an afternoon and like this style of play then for the price go for it, but if you already own any of the prior games, just replay those instead. I give it a 4/10. Just to give that a reference point since this isn’t my style of game, I would have given the first game in the series an 8/10.  So there you have it, play games 1-4 and then move on with your life, you’ll be happy you did.

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