Proving Ground is the ninth game in the storied Tony Hawk series and with that comes a few questions: Can it fend off the feisty newcomer skate from EA? Can the same old controls still churn out a big seller simply because of the fun factor? Has the developer fixed the slowdown and general problems with moving to the next generation of systems?
The game builds upon the Project 8 feature set from last year. The key change is that you now have three different career choices you can mix and match with. At any time you can choose to take any of these routes: a career skater, a hardcore skater or a rigger. Riggers are skateboarders who take a spot and add props to them in order to do tricks. This game gives you a ton of props in the level editor that a rigger can put down over the course of the game.
During every mission on each career track your success is split into three degrees: Am (Amateur), Pro and Sick. Unless you are a talented Tony Hawk veteran, you will most likely score a lot of Am or Pro success. Each level gives you a different amount of money that you can spend on outfitting your skater. Along with the career tracks there is also the usual metric ton of challenges around the levels. You can score even more money and points by doing spot challenges such as grinding in a line toward the Am, Pro and Sick markers or doing a speed race through markers. As with other games in the series this leaves you with a veritable sandbox in which you can do whatever you want.
Out of the three career tricks you can go through, most people will choose either the career or hardcore skater route or a combination of both. Only the truly masochistic will attempt to be a rigger. The concept of being a rigger sounds cool, but the level editor is a frustrating experience. A rigger is truly hardcore, but a smoother level editor with more viewable options would greatly help this section. If Neversoft thinks about going the multiple career route again they should really think about having a more dynamic feel with their level editor.
The graphics are a bit better than those in Project 8 and the slowdown isn't nearly as bad. This game is based around Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. which are all connected by bridges or subways. The overall look of the game is darker, especially in Philadelphia. Baltimore and D.C. are brighter, but Philly just looks very urban and dark. All the pros, such as Tony Hawk, have temporarily moved to the East Coast to help you with your career progression. The skater you create also is animated well, which is a feat when you think about all the possible combinations that could be made with outfits and the like.
From a pure gameplay perspective the game is much like other Tony Hawk games. The overall control is nice and tight, but with new competition in the genre courtesy of skate it may be time to go a different direction. The game is still all about pulling off tricks constantly that no normal human could pull off. The Nail the Trick mode from last year is here again and two new trick modes have been added that you unlock as you go along your career: Grab and Manual.
The Grab is a great addition while Manual takes a lot of time to get used to. The Grab is pulled by going into Nail the Trick and holding down the left trigger while moving both analog sticks. You can also pull off finger rolls by doing a Street Fighter-like fireball move on either analog stick. Nail the Manual also flows from Nail the Trick, this time using the right trigger and the left analog stick to nail a manual on either side of the board. Getting used to the balance in Nail the Manual is much different than keeping balance on a grind simply because you are in slow motion versus full speed. Once you get used to it though, Nail the Manual can be really helpful in connecting tricks into combinations.
