From the very first moment you insert the Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground disk, you can see that this is a Tony Hawk game. Some noteworthy improvements on previous versions have been made, but in essence it’s the tried-and-tested formula — completely unrealistic, arcade-style skating in landscapes built only to satisfy your skating desires. In Tony land, every wall is a quarter-pipe!
Proving Ground is set in three towns, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, and as in the past you unlock certain sections through achievements. The first hour or so of the game is in essence a tutorial, but with a substantial storyline focused on the true values of skating worked into it. Three new skate styles are introduced: career, hardcore and rigger skaters.
Career skaters are the guys who make a living from skateboarding, and they are allocated nail-the-trick, nail-the-grab and nail-the-manual challenges. The hardcore skaters are the guys who skate for the love of it, and with aggro-push and aggro-kick they rack up some really gnarly moves — like 40m gaps.
Rigger skaters build the obstacles as they go along. In essence, the “build a skate park” feature that has been included in the game since the first version has now been incorporated in the storyline. Need to ollie over a car in a challenge? No problem, just place a ramp in front of it and grab yourself 20m of air while you’re clearing the car!
The choices you make from the three styles above determine how your story goes among the carefully sculpted cityscapes of Proving Ground — and for the first time your character will show real-time injuries and damage.
The verdict
If you’re a long-time fan of the series, then you know what to expect. For newcomers, the game makers have gone a long way to introduce newbies to the game, and if you’re into arcade-style, gravity-defying tricks, then this will provide hours of fun.
RATINGS AND DETAILS
Graphics: Good
Sound: Mediocre
Gameplay: Good
Value: Good
Publisher: Activision
Age rating: 12+
Recommended retail price: R499
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, DS, Wii, PC