Project 8 takes X06!

But first, some honesty – individually Tony Hawk games may be excellent, but thanks to unchanging gameplay mechanics it was getting hard to distinguish one title from another. Which, we guess, is why Neversoft have decided to rewrite the rulebook with Project 8. And they’ve certainly succeeded too…

So apart from next-gen good looks, what’s new here? Well, first is the departure of the convoluted (and increasingly contrived) plotlines that were beginning to plague the series. Here things are mercifully simpler: Hawk is assembling a crew of the world’s best eight skaters – the Project 8 – and it’s the player’s task to make the team, and eventually attain the number one spot. This takes the form of a challenging Career mode, in much the same way as the classic Pro Skater games used to work. It’s great for single players, but did we mention that the game supports eight player online skate-offs too?

Next up Project 8 junks the finger-twisting joypad-and-button control method of, er, pretty much the entire Tony Hawk series, and makes effective use of the analogue sticks instead. Sure it takes time to learn (and longer to really master), but the end result is a more precise and, dare we say, natural, control system.

But the final word really does belong to those visuals. The lavishly detailed backdrops stream effortlessly throughout the game (no hefty loading times here!), but the hyper-realistic skaters are the true joy. Motion-captured and faithfully modelled to within a pixel of reality these dudes set the absolute benchmark for this and other generations to come – FACT! See them in amazing slow motion for absolute proof.

In short, if you think you know Tony Hawk games prepare to be very, very dazzled!

• Xbox Live
• Xbox Live Marketplace
• Tony Hawk’s Project 8
• Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3