New forum dedicated to this game?
Anyways, here's an introduction from IGN.com
Chris Roper, July 24, 2006:
"The Tony Hawk franchise has been one of ever-changing design. While the main play mechanics have always revolved around the same skating fundamentals, much of what surrounds the basic setup has changed drastically with every release. The first three Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games set the foundation for the series and introduced essential moves like the revert and spine transfers. THPS4 removed the two-minute setup of the series and introduced something of an open-world design. Tony Hawk's Underground and its sequel put the focus on created amateur skaters, massive stories and a bevy of side missions, while Tony Hawk's American Wasteland was in large part a throwback to the glory days of skating.
The eighth console title in the series, and the first ground-up title built for this next generation of systems, Tony Hawk's Project 8 once again redefines what a Tony Hawk game can, and probably should, be. Largely ditching the story aspect of the past few games and focusing strictly on the skating elements, THP8 may very well turn out to be the strongest release in the series since it went by the Pro Skater moniker.
The name hints at the game's overall premise: Tony Hawk is attempting to find a crew of the eight best amateur skaters in the US; hence, Tony Hawk's Project 8. You'll begin the game as you have the past few in the series by creating your custom skater. Choosing from one of a number of styles ranging from surfer to punk to "kid", you'll then be placed at #200 on the rankings list. Everything you do from there on out will affect your ranking, be it completing goals, finding gaps or winning competitions. While you'll essentially "win" by hitting the #8 slot, you'll of course be able to keep going until you hit the top of the charts.
While Tony Hawk's American Wasteland introduced a seamless world into the series, it was nothing like what you'll find in Project 8. Rather than having areas connected by tunnels to allow the game to load the next segment, THP8 will see the introduction of a truly open world environment. Rather than levels, the city will be broken up into a series of connected districts. You'll have to unlock these as you would levels in past games, though we're told that you'll open multiple areas at a time to keep the game feeling more non-linear than ever.
Rather than being designed after well-known cities like New York or LA, the world in THP8 is a wholly original creation. The city's design resembles that of a mid-west suburban area with theme parks, factories and other such sites to mix things up. Whereas the LA city in American Wasteland had separated areas connected by tunnels, thereby meaning you had to skate through multiple areas to go from one end of the map to another, the world in THP8 is much more circular in design. In other words, you can skate from one district to another in a minimum amount of time, even though the world is still enormous.
Because of this, the bus system from THAW has been removed, meaning that you'll have to skate wherever you want to go rather than skip around, though again, it shouldn't take nearly as long to get from one place to another as it has previously. But one really cool thing that Neversoft has added is the ability to place waypoints to goals that you've already found. By bringing them up in the menu screen, you can tag them with a waypoint and then you'll see an arrow pointing your way to them in the game world, making longer treks much more straightforward.
While all of this sounds great, it's only the "icing" on the game's overall design. As mentioned, Tony Hawk's Project 8 sees the focus shift back from a story-oriented design to one based around the purer elements of skating. One bit of proof for this are the Chalk Challenges you'll find throughout the world. In each area, you'll find spots where other skaters have set records for grinding, launch height or so forth and actually chalked out their lines or records onto the curb, ramp or what have you. Beating them is as simple as hitting the same curb or ramp and beating their record, marking your place in history and moving yourself up the rankings.
One aspect of the Chalk Challenges that ties into every goal in the game is that you'll find three separate chalk sections for each record, each one pertaining to a "level" of said record. Rather than selecting a difficulty level when you start the game, each goal will have three tiers, whether it's based on points, time or whatever. Completing the lowest level will net you an Amateur rank for that goal, while performing better will earn you a Pro or Sick ranking. This seems to be a pretty nice way of allowing every player to compete in every goal, but should they not be able to hit the highest echelon, they'll still have completed it, albeit with less of an impact on their overall ranking.
In truth, Project 8 was designed from the outset to provide for a much less linear play-through than previous games in the series. The three-tiered goal structure certainly plays a part in this, as does the ability to unlock multiple districts at a time. As well, there are enough goals in the game that you're able to make it into the top eight of the rankings while skipping a fair bit of them. So if you're not crazy about land tricks, you can focus on the ramp-oriented goals and still do just fine.
Tony Hawk's Underground first featured the Classic mode, allowing players to play the game with the old-school two-minute time limits and 10 "simple" goals per level. Project 8 will not feature the Classic mode as a separate entity per se, but some goals within the main mode itself will be of the Classic variety. When you accept these challenges, the section you're in will be blockaded off and you'll have to complete as many goals as possible within two minutes, like collecting S-K-A-T-E or meeting the high score. Like the other goals in the game, these will be three-tiered, so completing five goals will earn you an Amateur rank while eight will earn you Pro and all 10 will net you a Sick ranking.
Another brand-new goal type that we saw in the game are Bail goals. THP8 features ragdoll physics for crashes where your skater will flip and flop down stairs, over rails and such. It's much more restrained than you'll find in many other games so it doesn't look like you go completely limp, and what we've seen looks pretty cool. The Bail goals are pretty funny though in that you're penned to intentionally crash and then tumble and smack your way to broken bones. Kids, don't try this at home.
This isn't the only tweak to the game's physics system, however. Physics will now play a large part in how your skater interacts with the world. For example, plunging down a hill and building up speed will now be a major play mechanic. Speed wobbles will also come into play, though these are simply for animation and "coolness" purposes - i.e. you can't crash because of them.
The last new type of goal we saw was something of a puzzle-oriented challenge. Coupled with some goals (and freely available elsewhere) are hammer icons that allow you to tweak physical elements in the world around you. It's very much akin to having a somewhat limited version of the series' Create-a-Park into the game world. One example we saw gave you access to two buses that you had to move around and set up so that you could get from one side of an area to another without touching the ground.
While the game's control scheme has largely stayed the same (minus a few new tricks here or there that we'll learn about later), THP8 sees the introduction of something Neversoft is calling Nail the Trick. By clicking down on both analog sticks, the camera will pan out to a close-up side view as the game slows to a crawl. The analog sticks then each control one of your feet and your board moves from being part of your animation to an actual physics object. By moving the sticks, you're able to independently control your feet to kick and tap your board into spins, rotations and more. There aren't any set moves here, so whatever sorts of tricks you can come up with you can perform. It looks to be a pretty awesome way of giving the player complete control over what they're doing and we can't wait to mess around with this ourselves.
When the Tony Hawk series first started, you upgraded your stats by collecting stat icons through the levels. More recently, it's been based on what moves you perform, so grinding for three seconds might earn you one grind stat while then grinding for five seconds would earn you another. This has changed in Project 8 to take on a more "historical" approach. Rather than completing small (and easy for veterans) goals, you'll rack up stats over a long period of time, sort of like experience in an RPG. So for instance, you might get an extra point for manuals after manualing for 1,000 feet, then another at 2,500 and another at 5,000. It sounds like a better way of not only stretching out the upgrade process over the course of the whole game, but also encouraging you to use a variety of tricks more often so that you're prepared when you really need them.
What we've seen so far of Tony Hawk's Project 8 looks quite promising indeed. It's not exactly a reinvention of the series in any way, but Neversoft looks to have done a nice job of melding what has and hasn't worked in previous games into the series' first original next-gen release. The game is set to hit the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 right around (or possibly day-and-date with) the PS3's North American release on November 17."
For videos, visit http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/803/803274/vids_1.html
I am really excited about this game. I have conquered every THPS game, and plan to do the same, next-gen style :) How bout you guys?
Anyways, here's an introduction from IGN.com
Chris Roper, July 24, 2006:
"The Tony Hawk franchise has been one of ever-changing design. While the main play mechanics have always revolved around the same skating fundamentals, much of what surrounds the basic setup has changed drastically with every release. The first three Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games set the foundation for the series and introduced essential moves like the revert and spine transfers. THPS4 removed the two-minute setup of the series and introduced something of an open-world design. Tony Hawk's Underground and its sequel put the focus on created amateur skaters, massive stories and a bevy of side missions, while Tony Hawk's American Wasteland was in large part a throwback to the glory days of skating.
The eighth console title in the series, and the first ground-up title built for this next generation of systems, Tony Hawk's Project 8 once again redefines what a Tony Hawk game can, and probably should, be. Largely ditching the story aspect of the past few games and focusing strictly on the skating elements, THP8 may very well turn out to be the strongest release in the series since it went by the Pro Skater moniker.
The name hints at the game's overall premise: Tony Hawk is attempting to find a crew of the eight best amateur skaters in the US; hence, Tony Hawk's Project 8. You'll begin the game as you have the past few in the series by creating your custom skater. Choosing from one of a number of styles ranging from surfer to punk to "kid", you'll then be placed at #200 on the rankings list. Everything you do from there on out will affect your ranking, be it completing goals, finding gaps or winning competitions. While you'll essentially "win" by hitting the #8 slot, you'll of course be able to keep going until you hit the top of the charts.
While Tony Hawk's American Wasteland introduced a seamless world into the series, it was nothing like what you'll find in Project 8. Rather than having areas connected by tunnels to allow the game to load the next segment, THP8 will see the introduction of a truly open world environment. Rather than levels, the city will be broken up into a series of connected districts. You'll have to unlock these as you would levels in past games, though we're told that you'll open multiple areas at a time to keep the game feeling more non-linear than ever.
Rather than being designed after well-known cities like New York or LA, the world in THP8 is a wholly original creation. The city's design resembles that of a mid-west suburban area with theme parks, factories and other such sites to mix things up. Whereas the LA city in American Wasteland had separated areas connected by tunnels, thereby meaning you had to skate through multiple areas to go from one end of the map to another, the world in THP8 is much more circular in design. In other words, you can skate from one district to another in a minimum amount of time, even though the world is still enormous.
Because of this, the bus system from THAW has been removed, meaning that you'll have to skate wherever you want to go rather than skip around, though again, it shouldn't take nearly as long to get from one place to another as it has previously. But one really cool thing that Neversoft has added is the ability to place waypoints to goals that you've already found. By bringing them up in the menu screen, you can tag them with a waypoint and then you'll see an arrow pointing your way to them in the game world, making longer treks much more straightforward.
While all of this sounds great, it's only the "icing" on the game's overall design. As mentioned, Tony Hawk's Project 8 sees the focus shift back from a story-oriented design to one based around the purer elements of skating. One bit of proof for this are the Chalk Challenges you'll find throughout the world. In each area, you'll find spots where other skaters have set records for grinding, launch height or so forth and actually chalked out their lines or records onto the curb, ramp or what have you. Beating them is as simple as hitting the same curb or ramp and beating their record, marking your place in history and moving yourself up the rankings.
One aspect of the Chalk Challenges that ties into every goal in the game is that you'll find three separate chalk sections for each record, each one pertaining to a "level" of said record. Rather than selecting a difficulty level when you start the game, each goal will have three tiers, whether it's based on points, time or whatever. Completing the lowest level will net you an Amateur rank for that goal, while performing better will earn you a Pro or Sick ranking. This seems to be a pretty nice way of allowing every player to compete in every goal, but should they not be able to hit the highest echelon, they'll still have completed it, albeit with less of an impact on their overall ranking.
In truth, Project 8 was designed from the outset to provide for a much less linear play-through than previous games in the series. The three-tiered goal structure certainly plays a part in this, as does the ability to unlock multiple districts at a time. As well, there are enough goals in the game that you're able to make it into the top eight of the rankings while skipping a fair bit of them. So if you're not crazy about land tricks, you can focus on the ramp-oriented goals and still do just fine.
Tony Hawk's Underground first featured the Classic mode, allowing players to play the game with the old-school two-minute time limits and 10 "simple" goals per level. Project 8 will not feature the Classic mode as a separate entity per se, but some goals within the main mode itself will be of the Classic variety. When you accept these challenges, the section you're in will be blockaded off and you'll have to complete as many goals as possible within two minutes, like collecting S-K-A-T-E or meeting the high score. Like the other goals in the game, these will be three-tiered, so completing five goals will earn you an Amateur rank while eight will earn you Pro and all 10 will net you a Sick ranking.
Another brand-new goal type that we saw in the game are Bail goals. THP8 features ragdoll physics for crashes where your skater will flip and flop down stairs, over rails and such. It's much more restrained than you'll find in many other games so it doesn't look like you go completely limp, and what we've seen looks pretty cool. The Bail goals are pretty funny though in that you're penned to intentionally crash and then tumble and smack your way to broken bones. Kids, don't try this at home.
This isn't the only tweak to the game's physics system, however. Physics will now play a large part in how your skater interacts with the world. For example, plunging down a hill and building up speed will now be a major play mechanic. Speed wobbles will also come into play, though these are simply for animation and "coolness" purposes - i.e. you can't crash because of them.
The last new type of goal we saw was something of a puzzle-oriented challenge. Coupled with some goals (and freely available elsewhere) are hammer icons that allow you to tweak physical elements in the world around you. It's very much akin to having a somewhat limited version of the series' Create-a-Park into the game world. One example we saw gave you access to two buses that you had to move around and set up so that you could get from one side of an area to another without touching the ground.
While the game's control scheme has largely stayed the same (minus a few new tricks here or there that we'll learn about later), THP8 sees the introduction of something Neversoft is calling Nail the Trick. By clicking down on both analog sticks, the camera will pan out to a close-up side view as the game slows to a crawl. The analog sticks then each control one of your feet and your board moves from being part of your animation to an actual physics object. By moving the sticks, you're able to independently control your feet to kick and tap your board into spins, rotations and more. There aren't any set moves here, so whatever sorts of tricks you can come up with you can perform. It looks to be a pretty awesome way of giving the player complete control over what they're doing and we can't wait to mess around with this ourselves.
When the Tony Hawk series first started, you upgraded your stats by collecting stat icons through the levels. More recently, it's been based on what moves you perform, so grinding for three seconds might earn you one grind stat while then grinding for five seconds would earn you another. This has changed in Project 8 to take on a more "historical" approach. Rather than completing small (and easy for veterans) goals, you'll rack up stats over a long period of time, sort of like experience in an RPG. So for instance, you might get an extra point for manuals after manualing for 1,000 feet, then another at 2,500 and another at 5,000. It sounds like a better way of not only stretching out the upgrade process over the course of the whole game, but also encouraging you to use a variety of tricks more often so that you're prepared when you really need them.
What we've seen so far of Tony Hawk's Project 8 looks quite promising indeed. It's not exactly a reinvention of the series in any way, but Neversoft looks to have done a nice job of melding what has and hasn't worked in previous games into the series' first original next-gen release. The game is set to hit the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 right around (or possibly day-and-date with) the PS3's North American release on November 17."
For videos, visit http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/803/803274/vids_1.html
I am really excited about this game. I have conquered every THPS game, and plan to do the same, next-gen style :) How bout you guys?
