Video Games : Tony Hawk's Proving Ground (Xbox 360)

Rating: - Shame
I found this game second hand for a fiver so i thought I'd buy it and try it compared to SKATE instead of taking peoples word for it. Now, after playing SKATE for 9 months and being a skateboarder myself, I know what I expect from a skateboarding game, and for the past 6 years Tony Hawk has delivered. Unfortunately in the old games I got sick of lowering my stats to try and make it more realistic, such as having like 2 stats for ollie height so it looked nice when I kickflip, even though I could still ollie a bus with it......Although some of the level design is nice in THPG thats about all it has to offer, this game has nothing on SKATE and I had to turn it off after 10 seconds. Literally. I did a 360 flip and just didnt like the feel of diagonal down + double tap flip. its so much smoother on SKATE. Wanna kickflip to grab on THPG? Try Left+flip+left+grab. Want to do the same on SKATE? Flick your foot off the side of the board and when the griptape comes round, grab that sucker with your hand! It couldnt be more real. If you are a skater dont buy this game, it just sucks and within like 3 missions you are required to clear a 40ft gap just by pushing, no ramp, no drop in, no skitching, just your feet......real huh? Sorry Tony, your games are just too unrealistic and lame now, they dont feel like you're on a skateboard anymore, you just tap buttons, theres no technique......SKATE requires skill and practise to get tricks and gaps and combos nice, not an ollie+down+down+left+flip+up+grab etc.

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Rating: - skate-worthy
The TH series is in its tenth year now, and this si the ninth installment. American Wasteland, brought in the revoluntionary "no loading" of an open ended world to skat in. In P8 Activision and NS re-built the game from the ground up, and it was a slight dissapointment. Then skate. arrived on the scene withs its flick-it controls, and became top dog. Although many people say skate is better, there realy isnt that much difference between these two games. PG has most of the features skate does, if not more. Skate and PG, both, beleive it or not, share the paralell goal challenges, and what i mean by that is, in PG u can be a career skater, hardcore, or riger, and in skate. u can get coverage from thrasher (hardcore) and the skateboard mag (career). PG's nail the trick is pretty mcuh flickit, but simpler, and more creative. The idea of boh games is to get sponsors. They both have open ended worlds, they both share the smae graphics quality. They are both good games.


now about PG

Pros

Fun
Easy to pick-up-and-play
controls are the same as always
customisation is ok, big bands, textures are awesome
other things i cba to mention

cons

controls are the same-still the Th trademark button mashing, and unrealistic airs and grinds and combos
not much change-except in "story" mode


overall...

skate. and THPG are both good games, and i own both, skate is probably okay for a bit, but if, like me, you cant use the flickit very wel, and it is hard to get used to, then get PG

i think we can say, we have to wiat for Tony Hawks 10 (and there is going to be a 10th one) and skate. 2 (and there is going to be thataswell!!)

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Rating: - good game but gets old to quick
one of my first games i got for my 360 and i loved it,
but its time for something new from tony hawks, it gets old to quick for me.
but this is still a good game

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Rating: - Tony Hawks...again
Plenty of people look at skate games as the pinnacle of urban sport gaming on todays consoles, lets face it, free-running never quite made it and Tony Hawks' has been around long enough to kick most imitators into touch.
However, with a string of successes under its belt, the series is starting to grind a little.
Tony Hawks' Proving ground opens up the game world to your character, allowing you to traverse 3 entirely playable real world cities. Skate, run and ride across them picking up challenges and points as you go, earning points for your character and discovering more about life as one of three new "classes" of skater. Career, rigger or hardcore are your options and each choice you make unlocks new areas of the story and content for you to play with.
All sounding good so far, but Hawks isnt without its problems. The environment you play in is often a little lacking of the "next-gen" title thats been bandied about by much of the games' publicity material. The characters are odd looking, some are badly modelled, and at times the facial animations are laughable. Cars, trucks and other traffic you encounter all seem to have been placed on a lower priority, with less definition and a certain "PS2" feel to them. Maybe this wont bother you if the gameplay alone is what youre after, but spending £40 on a title that doesnt match up to the performance offered by the console is a little to stiff for me.



Good:
The gameplay is good, there are lots of new additions here.
The environments are huge, plenty of space to keep you exploring for a while.
Character developments and contributions from some of skatings biggest names keep the franchise moving.

Bad:
The environments have a really "last gen" feel to them, and there isnt any easy way to traverse them with any speed.. its all skating or walking.
If youre looking for something new in terms of skating gameplay, this isnt it.
The slew of challenges and goals can get tiresome after a while... but Tony Hawks' was always like that..right?

Final:
Good overall, ok if youre not willing to put much effort in, good in bursts. If youre a fan of the series buy this, because youll probably hate "skate" and spend most of your time griping at the camera angles. Alternatively, if youre fed up with Hawks, buy skate and go try something a little different.

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Rating: - jebend
you gave it 3 stars even though you aint played it you total jebend i already played it and its better than sgayte.