Since acquiring my Xbox 360, I went on a mission to find games in the Tony Hawk series and Skate series. I say "mission" because these games could not easily be found on store shelves (at least where I live).
While on vacation earlier this summer, I had a day where I had nothing in particular to do, so I decided to make it my assignment to find Project 8, Proving Ground, and Skate. Although it did take a good chunk of the day, ultimately I was able to find the games I was looking for.
While there are very few games that distract me from life, the Tony Hawk series has proven to be a bit of an obsession. So, naturally, as I went to work on Project 8, the free time in my schedule started to disappear.
And, while it is a sufficiently entertaining game, ultimately I didn't find it to be a big step forward in the series (and I'm pretty sure there are others that would agree). Obviously there are some improvements to the graphics, but it's a small step up from previous titles. The gameplay is about the same, but has become decidedly more complex with every new trick added. This is somewhat as expected.
The maps, on the other hand (and the inherent editing capabilities), have finally evolved to the point where they need to be. I still don't find it terribly entertaining to skate around in a town or a city, but having that freedom is nice. I just find that it makes it harder to find gaps and objectives, and it's kind of a lazy challenge when you think about it, because the developers can easily hide everything. I do enjoy having those classic elements, but perhaps it's time to think up new ideas for goals that don't involve following a particular line until you can nail it (some of these are just tedious, not challenging), or collecting ambiguous objects within a time limit.
Those are some of my thoughts, but there is a reason why I keep going back to games in this series, and that's because I've seen it evolve from the original PlayStation release. Each sequel has offered something new and exciting, and virtually limitless possibilities.
