Tony Hawk's Project 8
We finally go hands-on with the PS3 version. Updated impressions inside.
Published: October 16, 2006
It's a little weird to be writing this preview right now considering it's the first time we've actually played the PlayStation 3 version of Tony Hawk's Project 8, but that's just because we've goofed around with the Xbox 360 version for a couple of weeks now. Aside from some rather surprising online issues, though (the PS3 versions of Project 8 won't ship with any online play), the two games are, unsurprisingly, almost identical.
One thing is very different between the current- and next-gen versions of the game on Sony systems, though: the controller. The Tony Hawk's Pro Skater franchise was born on the PlayStation, and designed purely for the DualShock's particular shoulder button layout. The game has of course since been ported to plenty of other formats, all of which lacked the four-shoulder layout up until the 360 hit. Alas, at least on the PlayStation 3, the DualShock is dead.
In its place is the now-infamous SIXAXIS (palindromes are fun!), which as most know, sports actual full-on triggers for the L2 and R2 buttons. Unlike the Xbox or the 360 or even the GameCube, however, these have far less resistance and travel than most would expect, and they actually curve in back toward your palms. We've always sort of left our middle fingers resting up underneath the back of the controller, ready to dart around and strike the L2 and R2 buttons as needed, but for those that don't play with this style the new trigger could seem a little odd.
How does all this relate to Project 8? In short, it suddenly adds a bit of give to some of the base moves where once there were none. The triggers are used a little more liberally now, taking over for the double-tap-and-hold flips and rotation tweaks to things, and, well, it's a little jarring. We got used it, of course, and in fact prefer the slightly mushy give of the triggers to the 360's taut, curved options, but hey, it bears mentioning.
And yes, just talking about the controller and how it plays is a big of a stretch to find differences between the two systems. Though Activision was smart to keep the 360 and PS3 versions on separate floors so direct comparisons weren't possible, it really didn't seem like there was a massive difference. If one were pressured to pull out any minor gripes, the PS3 version's framerate is a little lower, but then Neversoft has already made two 360 games before they even started on their first full-on next-gen skateboarder, so it's natural for the 360 version to have a bit more polish.
Honestly, though, there's really no console war fodder here. As we talked about in quite a bit of depth in our first P8 preview, the attention to detail here is in the animation and the first real attempt at making a next-gen continuation of the sequel. All of the core goodies; the return to a more objective-based world rather than some huge story, the insane amount of motion capture on everything in the game, the Nail The Trick mode, and the new face and body scanning, all of this will be in the PS3 version, and it will look very good indeed.
One thing is very different between the current- and next-gen versions of the game on Sony systems, though: the controller. The Tony Hawk's Pro Skater franchise was born on the PlayStation, and designed purely for the DualShock's particular shoulder button layout. The game has of course since been ported to plenty of other formats, all of which lacked the four-shoulder layout up until the 360 hit. Alas, at least on the PlayStation 3, the DualShock is dead.
In its place is the now-infamous SIXAXIS (palindromes are fun!), which as most know, sports actual full-on triggers for the L2 and R2 buttons. Unlike the Xbox or the 360 or even the GameCube, however, these have far less resistance and travel than most would expect, and they actually curve in back toward your palms. We've always sort of left our middle fingers resting up underneath the back of the controller, ready to dart around and strike the L2 and R2 buttons as needed, but for those that don't play with this style the new trigger could seem a little odd.
How does all this relate to Project 8? In short, it suddenly adds a bit of give to some of the base moves where once there were none. The triggers are used a little more liberally now, taking over for the double-tap-and-hold flips and rotation tweaks to things, and, well, it's a little jarring. We got used it, of course, and in fact prefer the slightly mushy give of the triggers to the 360's taut, curved options, but hey, it bears mentioning.
And yes, just talking about the controller and how it plays is a big of a stretch to find differences between the two systems. Though Activision was smart to keep the 360 and PS3 versions on separate floors so direct comparisons weren't possible, it really didn't seem like there was a massive difference. If one were pressured to pull out any minor gripes, the PS3 version's framerate is a little lower, but then Neversoft has already made two 360 games before they even started on their first full-on next-gen skateboarder, so it's natural for the 360 version to have a bit more polish.
Honestly, though, there's really no console war fodder here. As we talked about in quite a bit of depth in our first P8 preview, the attention to detail here is in the animation and the first real attempt at making a next-gen continuation of the sequel. All of the core goodies; the return to a more objective-based world rather than some huge story, the insane amount of motion capture on everything in the game, the Nail The Trick mode, and the new face and body scanning, all of this will be in the PS3 version, and it will look very good indeed.