When you load up a game from this professional skater you know what to expect and Tony
Hawk's Proving Ground is no exception. It does exactly what it says on the tin.
One of the first things you get to attempt is build tracks and then riding through them. This is known as
'Rigging'. No, it's got nothing to do with pirates on the South Seas, ooh me hearty, it's about rigging kit to
build ramps etc. to complete a stunt. The 'Career' mode includes learning how to grind, including a section called
Nail The Trick, such as going down a stair rail.
The 'Hardcore' teaches you how to perform the Aggro trick and overall there's all manner of other challenges to
accomplish.
As you progress you'll unlock bonus movies and pro footage, as well as new gear, new skills and skill
points. Basically, if you're a fan of this type of game then there's a shedload of achievements to accomplish and
along the way you'll see training videos from real stars of the sport. For me, I'm not massively into it but it's
still a daft bit of fun.
The graphics of the environments look okay but don't feel anything much improved upon the original Xbox ones.
Sound is perfectly reasonable for atmosphere as it goes round all your speakers, but there's nothing outstanding
for your aural senses other than it simply being loud. The movement of your character as you walk about is a
little bit erratic as well. Get a trick badly wrong and your man really does look like he's in need of a new
spine as he lies in a crumpled heap on the ground! :)
The groovy music you can play in the background includes that of the Rolling Stones' Sympathy For The
Devil and Xbox Live gameplay is available if that's your bag but I don't have a Gold subscription.
Another addition, albeit not a Tony Hawk one, is to play a demo of Guitar Hero 3
(see an amusing demo of this on Something for the Weekend)
I was hoping to put some footage online of this game, but it's 60Hz-only so I can't, even though the box doesn't
mention this.
GRAPHICS SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC GAMEPLAY ENJOYMENT
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
As you progress you'll unlock bonus movies and pro footage, as well as new gear, new skills and skill
points. Basically, if you're a fan of this type of game then there's a shedload of achievements to accomplish and
along the way you'll see training videos from real stars of the sport. For me, I'm not massively into it but it's
still a daft bit of fun.
