Preview: Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground “Nail Or Fail” You Decide…

by Chad Lakkis on June 15, 2007 at 7:50 pm

Gosh, he is so hot! Maybe if I keep staring he’ll smack me with his board!

Seemingly following the Hollywood trend of sequels with different names, Neversoft gives gamers a first look at “Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground”. The 9th iteration of the blockbuster skating series will kick flip its way onto the Xbox 360 and PS3 with pure unadulterated high definition graphics. Wii, PS2, and DS owners are in on the act as well, although the publisher would like to remind everyone that “gameplay and content may vary” from console to console. Thanks for the heads up guys.

Want to video tape yourself? (skating) Then you are going to love the addition of a tricked out video editor (PS3 and Xbox 360 versions only) that allows you to not only capture video clips of yourself tearing up the streets, but edit and string them together to form your very own highlight reel. You can even post them online for the world to see.

In terms of gameplay, you will have two trick nailing options to chose from. “Nail The Grab” which offers up an automatic set of controls that use the analogs to control your hand movement and “Nail The Manual” which as the name implies gives gamers more control over the moves through a manual set of control options. While both modes have their advantages and disadvantages, if the ability to freakishly manipulate your board while skating turns you on then Grab mode is the way to go.

Want to personalize your character for the long run? No problem, this years title allows you to pick from three classes of skaters: Career (Dad said get a job, and now I skate professionally), Hardcore (Dad said get a job, and I said rules are for sissy’s), and finally Rigger (your board is the only family you have ever known). Learn more about this feature in the video below.

http://www.ripten.com/thawk_debut.flv

Oh, and if you get “board” with all that, how about picking up that piece of wood beneath your feet and smacking an innocent bystander up side the head with it? If you answered “hell yeah” then you’re going to love the new attack mode feature. Attacking people in a skating game? Yep. In fact, when you take into consideration all the press and publicity given to those that upset Captain Jack Thompson these days, we’re actually surprised that MORE developers aren’t cashing in by throwing random acts of sex and violence into their games as well.

Finally, every skater knows that after a long day of grinding, flipping, and bashing in grandmas head as she walks home with her groceries (sorry that is just so wrong) that there is nothing better than coming home and crashing in your custom crib. With the addition of “Skate Lounge” you will be able to do just that. Paint the walls and deck the floors, you name and “you can do it!” Pimp your place with everything from plasma screens to Italian sculpted water fountains (because a statue that pees water will totally get you laid). From B-town to P-town and through the streets of DC, this world is big, its enormous, its Tony Hawks Proving Ground and its available this Fall.