The game features a selection of the usual suspects, including (of course) Tony Hawk himself, Rodney Mullen and Deawon Song. And, if you're into skating and you haven't seen these latter two guys face off in their 1997 co-eponymous DVD, check this sick shit out.
The skaters in THP8 are 3D scanned and their skating styles motion-captured to give previously unseen levels of realism. But if you don't fancy being one of them, you can build your own skater in the Skater Creator - way the most advanced and sophisticated in the series to date.
Once you've selected or built your skater, you can explore the game world. The whole game world is not exposed when you first begin to play the game – and you have to complete “spot challenges” to unlock new areas. Once unlocked, a barrier disappears and you can access other sections of the level.
Each challenge has three levels of difficulty – AM(ateur), PRO(fessional) and SICK (that's just sick). This keeps the free-flowing aspect of the game flowing freely, making it accessible for beginners, while still being totally rad for the skatedaciously dexterous. When we played the game, we could demolish AM, and typically nail PRO scores on the first attempt... but then we've spent a LONG time and many late nights on the TH PS/UG/AW series. But SICK scores still took some work, and often eluded us altogether during the all-too-brief time we spent playing. This game really has longevity for even the most skilled THAW player.
But the biggest surprise THP8 has in store for us - although strictly speaking, it's not a surprise for us now that we've played it, nor will it be for you once we tell you about it – is the Nail the Trick mode. This seems, at first, like another take on Focus mode. But during these slow motion sections you can use the dual analogue controls as if they were your feet on the deck – creating unique and custom tricks with a flick of the thumbs. Each time the board comes back around so that the grip-tape is under your feet, you can initiate a new spin or flip. This is the mother lode, the feature that the series has always needed. Now, instead of endlessly combo-ing pre-determined moves from a library of joypad moves you can create your own, never seen and impossible to repeat tricks. It brings some of the fluidity and creativity of real-life skating to THP8.
The game is packed with other new features, which we'll give you the low-down on in our full review coming soon. But it's the huge level playfield and the Nail the Trick that really lift THP8 head and shoulders above previous games in the series. These features are the ones that should have you salivating in anticipation of its launch.
Tony Hawk's Project 8 is so called because it's the eighth game in this incredible series... but after the rather more creatively named Underground (THUG!) and American Wasteland, Project 8 sounds a trifle unimaginative. So, Neversoft and Activision's marketing types have come up with a wholly spurious explanation... your aim (or “project”) is to get into the world's top eight best skaters in order to earn yourself a place on the Hawkman's new team.
With the aid of Xbox Live, which stores and uploads your scores to a global leaderboard, you can try and do this for real (well, at least try to get into the world’s top eight virtual skaters). Be warned, though, that the PS3 version is not going to have online features when the game is launched – another indication that Sony is encountering difficulties with its online infrastructure and development libraries.
Skaters and games players alike have a treat in store for them when Tony Hawk's Project 8 hits the shelves later this year.