Everyone is starting to recognise Tony Hawk’s Project 8 as a true next-generational stage in the series’ development. At Leipzig we’ve seen and believed; the Birdman truly soars. Back to its Pro Skater roots, with the power of Xbox 360 and the inventive minds of Neversoft in the zone, you bet Project 8 is impressive.
Any semblance of a story takes a back seat to the mind blowing next-generation action of Project 8. The real drama takes place between you and your deck, mastering the skills that will transform a ‘nobody’ into a ‘somebody’ ranking in the world’s top eight. To achieve this every statistic counts; every detail of your performance means something to your status – air time, distances travelled performing a manual, you’re going to be willing yourself to go further every time.
At the heart of everyone’s fascination with Project 8 is Nail the Trick mode. While maintaining full control of the board, the viewpoint zooms close to your feet and the action is slowed down, demanding the utmost in precision to ‘Nail the Trick’. Since the board now has its own physics you can now control it to the finest degree using both analogue sticks as a skater uses his feet. Real skaters will instantly fall in love with this feature, trying to imitate their best moves on Xbox 360. Those who’ve never skated, and thought it looked easy, will appreciate more of what’s involved. And, just like in real life, you could end up breaking some bones if you go for broke without the skills to back it up! Nail the Trick is a monumental addition to the Hawk’s series and could even influence sports games in general.
By incorporating elements of Create-a-Park into the open-world scenario, and with Create-a-Skater allowing for even greater personalisation, Tony Hawk’s Project 8 is looking like a winner for Xbox 360 in autumn this year.
