Last November, the eighth iteration in the Tony Hawk series skated its way onto the PS3. Did it manage to land on all four wheels? PCN takes a look at how the skate boarding franchise fairs on a next generation platform.

The Tony Hawk franchise made its debut on the Playstation One with the popular Pro Skater series. After the fourth Pro Skater title, Activision and Neversoft decided to change up the pace and introduce an all new skate boarding series: Tony Hawk’s underground. Now, as the next generation of consoles is upon us, Tony Hawk once again skates his way into our living rooms, sporting an all new title: Tony Hawk’s Project 8. Not only does the name signify that it is indeed the eighth Tony Hawk title, it also represents your objective in the game: to take your place among the elite eight skaters.

The bird man himself, Tony Hawk, is looking for the best skaters in the world. Once word gets out, you’re off in an attempt to reach the top eight. The game starts by placing you in dead last place. There are roughly 200 people that you will have to usurp on the list, so to speak, in order to achieve your final eight statuses. In order to excel through the ranks, you will need to impress other professional skate boarders around town, help out the locals, and become sponsored. The ranking system is very straight forward and will not confuse or frustrate those who are new to the series, let alone veterans.

The Tony Hawk series is known for its mischievous characters and the lame cut scenes that incorporate them. Project 8 is certainly no exception. Throughout the course of the game, you will run into odd characters that seem out of place. The cut scenes are dull and lack the humor that we vaguely saw in earlier iterations in the series. Definitely do not expect to be awestruck and compelled at how fantastic and compelling the story is. Basically, it is no different than any of the other Tony Hawk games in terms of surroundings and characters. The one thing that Project 8 has to offer that its predecessors failed to deliver is the visuals for the characters and cut scenes. The characters look realistic and the environments look very compelling in the short cut scenes that you will often have to watch as you progress through the game. You can see lighting effects, shadows, and even strands of hair on the individuals that you will come across. What is even more impressive is that these visuals do not just appear in these cut scenes, but actual game play as well. Overall, this game shows off the graphical capabilities of the PS3 more than most of the other launch titles available last November.