Name: Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground

Genre: Skateboarding Simulation

Platform: Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, DS

I’m going to go ahead and be honest here: I really had no interest in playing the latest entry in video gaming’s most famous extreme sports series, Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground. The only reason I was going to pay it any mind was because it came with a 5-song demo for Guitar Hero III. That being said, I ended up being pleasantly surprised by the whole experience.

The first thing I did when I put the game in was, obviously, rocked out a little bit to Pat Benatar and Tenacious D. After playing until my wrist was sore, I figured it was time to get around to the business at hand: skating. But you see, I already played skate. and loved it, so I really didn’t know how I was going to get into this game after that, especially since I disliked Project 8, the previous game in the Tony Hawk series.

First things first, creating a character. This is usually my favorite part of any game. I like to go all out on character customization, even if it takes forever. After all, if I’m going to be staring at my skater for hours and even making videos of her awesome skating feats, she might as well look badass, right? But wait… you can’t make a chick anymore?! LAME. That pissed me off right off the bat, so I made a dude to match my mood: angry. I gave him bright red skin, spiky orange hair, and glowing yellow eyes. I was ready to go.

I chose Philadelphia as my hometown, because, hey, that’s where I live! It was nice to see some familiar environments displayed in the skating world, and I must say the city looked pretty good. The graphics are nothing exceptional, but they’re not bad by any means. I discovered that I could choose my own path in this game, instead of having one chosen for me, which gave me a sense of freedom I enjoyed. Should I be a career or hardcore skater? The choice was mine.

The controls are similar to that of the last Tony Hawk game with a few new features thrown in, as well as some skills you have to learn and unlock before you can use them. After all these years, it’s still fun to pull of ridiculous and extreme skating moves, and being able to slow down time to perfect your skills, as well as videotaping all of the action, makes it even better. Having three distinct and separate paths to follow also made the game much more tolerable. The story unfolded in the order I wanted to, and if I got stuck on one task, I could just go do a different one. Completing each mission comes with rewards, and there are different levels to complete them on, so you can go back and improve your score later on.

The game is not without its flaws, however. Some of the other guys in the game can be kind of annoying, for starters; I usually wanted to skip past everything they were saying. There’s also no convenient transit system, and skating from one location to another can be frustrating when the vague overhead arrow only sort of points you in the right direction.

Truthfully, this game is not revolutionary in any way. It simply took the best elements of the previous Tony Hawk games and added a few fun new features. Look, if you’re looking for the most realistic skating simulation game on the market, go buy skate. and call it a day. If you want something that’s entertaining, challenging, and more extreme than anything you’ll do in real life, give it a try. Like I said, it’s definitely the best Tony Hawk title I’ve seen this generation, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t enjoying it.