Tony Hawk''s Project 8 for Xbox 360

I think anyone and everyone knows who Tony Hawk is. I would also venture to say that most people know that Tony Hawk has been a part of video games for quite a long time, as well. I have been playing Tony Hawk games since his very first one. However, I haven't played any new versions since Tony Hawk's Underground, more commonly known as T.H.U.G. I saw American Wasteland was on sale for cheap, and I wanted to grab it, but with all of the negative marks, I decided to get the most recent (at the time) Tony Hawk game. That game was Tony Hawk's Project 8.

Project 8 has a pretty decent story, as far as skating goes. Tony is starting a program, or something, called Project 8. He is looking for the best 8 skaters to spotlight his new program. From the beginning you are ranked 200th so you have a long way to go to break into the top 8, and even further from the top skater. Ranking up is not much of a brain buster either. Just like other Tony Hawk games, you need to complete and finish goals. When you complete the current goal, you will (sometimes) move up in rank. You will find goals everywhere in the area you are currently skating. You find these goals by using your compass on the top corner of your screen. Each goal or task has its own goal in order to see how well you passed. Each goal has 3 levels; amateur, pro and sick. Even people who have never played a Tony Hawk game before should be able to finish most goals with at least amateur status. Pro levels can be problems for the average Tony Hawker, while sick is just crazy on some goals.

Throughout the career Jason Lee (Mallrats, one of my top movies, or more commonly known now as Earl, from My Name is Earl) contacts you on certain events going on throughout the town. He also will keep you updated on your rank and let's you know when you get certain sponsors. There are a variety of goals or tasks that you will have to complete throughout your career. There are the challenges call 'chalk challenges'. These challenges are found all over the area you are skating. You will find them on rails, side of walls, up quarter pipes, or on the ground. These chalk challenges require you to perform tricks for a designated distance on a designated path. For example, the grind chalk challenges require you to grind a path until you pass the next chalk line. The first line you past, is amateur, second is pro, and the last is the sick. Sometimes these paths are hard to follow, and you will just have to skate the path, and try to find where all of the chalk lines are.

There are your classic professional skater challenges too. You will meet skaters like Bob Burnquist, Bam Margera, Daewon Song, Rodney Mullen, and so on. Each will have their own unique challenge based on their personality or their interests. For example, Bam will ask you to throw your body into harms way. He asks you to go down a large ramp, where you get shoot up high into the air, and you must land in trash dumpster. Burnquist has you jump out of a plane, and complete tricks while you are free falling to the ground. You have to complete the entire list he gives you before you have to pull the parachute to safety.

There are also a variety of other tasks to complete. A couple reoccurring tasks in each section of the city, you will find a camera man or photographer. The camera man will have you follow him, and busting out the tricks he tells you to. The more you complete, the higher you level completed. The photographer will find a gap somewhere, which you have to bust a trick over the gap. The harder the trick, the better the level you pass. These are also accompanied by each board's "classic goals". You will see some character that has a list of thing you must complete. These are more of the classic type goals you would see in the older Tony Hawk games. For example, collect SKATE, collect COMBO in one trick, destroy a number of items, score a certain score, etc. If you want to get the sick level achieved on the classic goals, you have to complete every task in one 2 minute run. I don't think I have even come close to any.

A great new feature added to Project 8, is the 'nail the trick' slow motion mode. When you have your special bar filled up, or maybe at anytime, you can press in on the right and left analog sticks to activate it. This will slow everything down to a very slow speed. While in the air, the camera will zoom in more towards you feet. You then control your left and right feet with the analog sticks. You flick the stick in any directions, which makes you flick your foot in the same direction, causing your board to flip or rotate. During this time you can rotate by pressing the right or left bumpers. When you are on a grind of manual, it will just slow down everything, making it easier to balance your trick. This new feature is huge when trying to nail big combos.

The city in which you are skating is all conjoined. It is truly an open world you can move through without loading the new area. The only hang-up, there may be a slight pass when passing from one area to the other. You start out skating in Suburbia, but when you start completing goals you will unlock the other areas. These other sections include places like; Capitol, School, Skate Park, Factory, and a few more. Each section has their own unique look and items lying around. You can start a combo in one area, and stretch it into 2 or more other areas.

Tony Hawk's Project 8 also includes an online multiplayer section. This is where you can play other skaters through their membership of Xbox LIVE. It has more of its classic game types, high score, horse, and trick attack, but it has added a very fun game type. This type is called 'walls'. In this section, you face off against other skaters in any area the host chooses of the city. When you skate, a bright wall follows your skater and stays where you have been, kind of like drawing on the map. Your wall stays up as long as your don't bail. The goal is to trap or force another player to crash into your wall. Once you hit another player's wall, you are out. The last person standing wins. As I was a fan of walls, I really wasn't a fan of the community. This game seemed to have a lot of younger players screaming obscenities for no reason, even more than Halo 3. I know you will have this everywhere, but I think this has been the worst I have heard.

Like every other Tony Hawk game, it has a well rounded soundtrack. The music will play in the background, and is just high enough to hear clearly, but low enough to not distract you from the game noises. Some of the many songs included are; Bad Religion – Social Suicide, Damian Marley – Move, Gym Class Heroes – The Queen and I, Nine Inch Nails – Getting Smaller, Plus 44 – Lycanthrope, and many, many more! The board sounds are also on par for Tony Hawk games. You can tell when your board is traveling over different surfaces. Whether it is rolling or grinding, each object makes the noise you think it would, especially grinding on metal railings.

After not playing any newer Tony Hawk game's for a while, I was able to pick up Project 8 rather quickly still. The controls are similar to the previous versions, and there is a tutorial to help the "noobs" to the game. If you got turned off by American Wasteland, please give Tony Hawk another try with Project 8. It was a decision I still enjoy making today.