[Mini-Review] Tony Hawk's Project 8
Hey Hawk fans, Shaba just pooped in your corn flakes.
Published: November 28, 2006
[The Good]
Uh... I... Well, the soundtrack kicks ass. And there are new levels... I... Um...
[The Bad]
Holy crap, where to begin? Oh, wait, I know: one button manuals. Yeah, that's right, Shaba things this whole up/down bidnizz is too complicated. Oh, you can manual that way, but why not just press the Square Button instead? Reverts? Yeah, press the Square button and you'll revert right into a manual. Y'know, cause after eight games, what the series needs is to have that control borked for the 15 people that haven't yet played the series. They'll have a great time going back to play the old games, I'm sure of it.
Okay, fine, nerd rage and all. But seriously, the PS2 version of Project 8 is a joke. Online was removed -- let me say that again: online is missing. For the series that essentially solid Network Adaptors (or even USB ones) when the PlayStation 2 first went online. Neversoft has had issues with Sony in the past, sure, and they were fairly mum about the fact that there was no online play in the PS3 version, opting to just say that Sony hadn't provided the libraries in time, but the PS2 has had them for years now. That someone made the decision to strip things out just hurts my head a little -- and more amazingly, they did it on the Xbox too.
In fact, a non-streamed world means that the levels are all compartmentalized. Shaba's skating lines are painfully obvious, and the levels themselves -- modeled off the stuff you'll see in the PS3 version of the game -- are just a poor man's version of the more expansive, streaming stuff seen in the next-gen big brothers. Now granted, many of the goals are the same, and the same Am/Pro/Sick levels are in place, but every part of the game feels stripped down and neutered.
That Activision or Neversoft or Shaba or any combination thereof could have such utter disdain for the fan of the series that they would crap this version out isn't just insulting and offensive, it pisses me off.
[The Verdict]
I'm not even going to bother writing anymore. I should thicken up The Good with more praise, but there's no reason to. American Wasteland did streaming (albeit in a janky way), and under Neversoft they moved things back from pure story to the goal-oriented world. And it's huge. Go play that game. Don't even think of spending money on this one.
Uh... I... Well, the soundtrack kicks ass. And there are new levels... I... Um...
[The Bad]
Holy crap, where to begin? Oh, wait, I know: one button manuals. Yeah, that's right, Shaba things this whole up/down bidnizz is too complicated. Oh, you can manual that way, but why not just press the Square Button instead? Reverts? Yeah, press the Square button and you'll revert right into a manual. Y'know, cause after eight games, what the series needs is to have that control borked for the 15 people that haven't yet played the series. They'll have a great time going back to play the old games, I'm sure of it.
Okay, fine, nerd rage and all. But seriously, the PS2 version of Project 8 is a joke. Online was removed -- let me say that again: online is missing. For the series that essentially solid Network Adaptors (or even USB ones) when the PlayStation 2 first went online. Neversoft has had issues with Sony in the past, sure, and they were fairly mum about the fact that there was no online play in the PS3 version, opting to just say that Sony hadn't provided the libraries in time, but the PS2 has had them for years now. That someone made the decision to strip things out just hurts my head a little -- and more amazingly, they did it on the Xbox too.
In fact, a non-streamed world means that the levels are all compartmentalized. Shaba's skating lines are painfully obvious, and the levels themselves -- modeled off the stuff you'll see in the PS3 version of the game -- are just a poor man's version of the more expansive, streaming stuff seen in the next-gen big brothers. Now granted, many of the goals are the same, and the same Am/Pro/Sick levels are in place, but every part of the game feels stripped down and neutered.
That Activision or Neversoft or Shaba or any combination thereof could have such utter disdain for the fan of the series that they would crap this version out isn't just insulting and offensive, it pisses me off.
[The Verdict]
I'm not even going to bother writing anymore. I should thicken up The Good with more praise, but there's no reason to. American Wasteland did streaming (albeit in a janky way), and under Neversoft they moved things back from pure story to the goal-oriented world. And it's huge. Go play that game. Don't even think of spending money on this one.
