Tony Hawk is no dummy.  He knew long ago that while he may be able to take down most competitors with his death-defying air grabs on the half-pipe, there was one nemesis he’d never be able to defeat – age.  So he did what a handful of shrewd, business savvy athletes have done to ensure longevity after the physical ability has begun to wind down – he turned himself into a brand.  And the Tony Hawk brand is a powerful one covering market opportunities from skate accessories to clothing to videogames to theme-park rides!?!  His last title alone – Project 8 – cleared over 713K units by December of last year and that’s just one title in a line-up that goes back to ’99 with the release of the original Tony Hawk Pro Skater for PS1.  Let’s just say Tony’s retirement situation is looking pretty robust.

Straight Outta Philly

The latest entry in the franchise, Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground, is no slouch either. The ‘Freedom to Play Your Way’ is the mantra behind the design goals the guys at Neversoft set for Proving Ground. Players are offered the chance to explore three skater classes (no, Tony Hawk hasn’t become an MMORPG…yet) including Career Athlete, Hardcore Skater or Rigger.  Those who live for the fame, and the chance to be chatted up by Perez Hilton, will trend toward Career Athlete while those who just wanna shred for the fun of it will find the Hardcore Skater class more to their liking.  For the tinkerers in the bunch, the Rigger class will fit the bill as you learn to transform the game world into your own personal skatepark.

Each storyline kicks off training that will unveil new and improved moves as you delve ever deeper into one of Tony Hawk’s largest game world’s ever, spanning the streets of Baltimore, Philadelphia and Washington D.C.  Each storyline is tied in with a pro including Stevie Williams who will give Career Athletes one of their first chances at fame – the cover spot on Skate Magazine.

Video Killed the Radio Star

Goals are back from Project 8 and they’re everywhere.  One new example is the Photo Goal which allows you to set up a camera just about anywhere in the game world.  You control the position and the angle so you can then capture all those ‘killer shreds’ you’ve just learned.  

And when you tire of shooting stills, give the new in-game video editor a try. Sponsors will be searching for the best video footage (another goal) so here’s your chance to be a star.  Set up all your cams, capture your shreds and then edit away with tools that will make Final Cut Pro editors take notice including pro-style fx overlays like film grain or light trails.  Once you’ve got your edits done you can sync up a rocking soundtrack with up to 60 songs to choose from by bands you actually know! You can even do some simple time-stretching to ‘beat match’ the audio to your tricks on-screen!  Final cuts can run up to two minutes long and can then be posted online to share with the world.  Leaderboards will be on hand to highlight the top 100 most shreddin’ clips!

Nail the Grabbing Manual Trick Whazzit?

So you need to learn some new moves so you’ve got something to edit in your new video suite?  No problem!  Proving Ground provides a couple new trick mechanics which expand upon the Nail-the-Trick moves featured in Project 8. Nail-the-Grab and Nail-the-Manual are just two of the new mechanics I spent a considerable amount of time exploring. For those new to the series, myself included, clicking into Nail-the-Trick mode is akin to dropping your skater into a Matrix-esque bullet-time mode in which the ballet that is hardcore skate unfolds before your eyes.  While slowed down you have full control over your hands, legs and, with Nail the Manual, your weight and position on the deck.  The end result gives the player almost total freedom over the board opening up some amazing trick combinations never before possible.
 

The new Aggro-Push will also help you ramp up speed to clear some ‘epic gaps’ and score huge points as part of the Hardcore Skater storyline.  The mechanic relies on timing your kicks just right so you build up momentum, resulting - when done correctly -  in some wicked amounts of air not possible otherwise. Definitely a move to master.

The level of control Proving Ground provides simply puts the classic button mashing combo mechanic to shame and it’s extremely addicting.  I spent almost an hour trying to perfect one move that included popping an Ollie, flipping into Nail-the-Manual, flipping the deck grip-side down, landing on the tail, popping the deck back into the air and then finishing with a nosegrab. Wicked!

Bring It On!...line

Oh, you mean there’s more to the game than just trying to pull off random tricks?  Well, you see, that’s exactly what’s cool about Proving Ground – you can do what you want – when you want.  And If you wanna spend all day perfecting that next badass trick there’s no one here to stop you!  The story, its 90 cut-scenes and numerous secret areas – including a chance to break into the Air & Space Museum with Bam Margera (Jackass!), will all be there waiting for you when you’re ready.

And once you’ve perfected your trick arsenal – you can ’take it to the virtual streets’ online. The Neversoft team really wanted to improve the online experience with Proving Ground and based on my time with the game I’d say they about nailed it.  Probably the most welcome shift is the seamless integration between online and single-player modes.  You no longer need to exit out of single-player, load up the multiplayer menu and then set-up your games to get going.  You can hop into multiplayer directly from your single-player mode, at any time, bringing along your character’s current rep and trick repertoire as well.

Two new additions to the online modes are Set the Line and Net Nail-the-Trick.  Set the Line has the host set the starting line and then string up a combination of various goals each skater will need to hit within the environment against the clock.  Players then take turns trying to hit the mark for the highest score.  Net Nail-the-Trick has skaters facing off to see who can Nail-the-Most-Tricks and thus gain the highest score in a predefined amount of time.  This mode – even for a newbie – is a lot of fun.  And for those that like to socialize you can build your own Skate Lounge online using the Homebase Park Editor, and then invite all your homies to come shred it up – band-aids and RockStar™ not included!

BOOM BOOM Huck-Jam

Eight years, and too many titles to count, later – the guys at Neversoft have managed to keep things fresh by continually evolving the franchise.  This can be a bit daunting for a newb like me as dropping your green arse into the middle of a Tony Hawk game at this point is akin to putting you in the cockpit of a 747 for the first time and asking you to fly.  There’s literally so much to learn and so many options, it can be overwhelming at first.  But once you get past the fact that you won’t be hopping from an Ollie to a manual to a Casper to a nose grind in the first five minutes of play – ok, so maybe you will – you’ll find Tony Hawk Proving Ground to be surprisingly inviting to the newcomer, but with enough depth to satisfy even the most demanding ADD afflicted skate fanboy.