Nine games after the franchise’s inception, and while the gameplay hasn’t changed too much since the introduction of the revert in Tony Hawk’s 3, or Nail The Trick in Project 8, one thing we always expect is a difference in aesthetics. Between last year’s Project 8 and Proving Ground that has certainly happened – however, this time, Neversoft has churned out one helluva fugly looking sequel. Based on the continuously growing East Coast skater scene, which incorporates Baltimore, Philly and Washington DC, Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground is dark and rustic, a ton of graffiti strewn all over the walls, puddles in the street, overcast weather above. It’s all... well... dull.

As far as travel journalism to imaginary places is concerned, the East Coast is a terrible place to look at – in the game, of course. We’d much rather spend time back in the town of Project 8’s Podunk than spend even a couple of hours here. No offence to any East Coast readers out there who may be reading this. Whatever chance there is of that.

But even worse than having one really dull and ugly environment is the fact the game seems intent on putting you off the sport altogether. While EA’s Skate glamorises the world of skating without ever falling into a realm of self-parody, therefore making it all the more believable, Proving Ground is damned from the start. Some of the boarders you’ll meet, the majority of them based, as ever, on real skating superstars, are, frankly, absolute idiots. No offence to Lance Mountain, but if he’s anything like the way Proving Ground portrays him, with a bodyguard willing to beat the crap out of the player simply for taking an interest in the guy, then we hope the rest of his career, frankly, hits the shitter.

Then there’s the way it tries to make horrible actions seem cool. At one point you’re tasked with taking down a gang of degenerates as they’ve been homing in on your skating turf and taking it as their own – kicking the arse of anyone who ventures in. These gimps deserve to go down, and the way you do so, by slamming into them and sending them flying off rooftops, bridges, over steep gaps and so forth, makes for some of the most enjoyable stuff in the game. Watching them fly end over end through the air into a river in slow-motion is as stupid as it is fun. But the way it trains you to slam into people is quite shocking: you essentially knock the living crap out of a small construction crew on a bridge overlooking a long river. Because… well, because it’s très cool, or something. Skaters must love that kind of crap.

Alas, you’re not here for comments on how harsh this year’s new Tony Hawk’s is, or how dull the weather proves, you’re here for skating. And it really must be said: unless you’re an absolute Tony Hawk’s freak, you’d be much better off investing your money in Skate – easily the best thing that has happened to the genre since, well, the first Tony Hawk’s game in 1999. Or, if you can’t be bothered with a game like Skate, that essentially dropkicks everything you think you know about skating by way of its revolutionary ‘Flickit’ controls, we’d recommend going back to Project 8. Not only did it put the franchise back on track after more than a couple of bum notes post-Tony Hawk’s 4, it still stands without doubt as the best Hawkman game in years.

And it isn’t too serious, either. The vibrancy of the colours, not to mention the structure of the game and the town of Podunk are enough to prove that Neversoft’s head is in the exact wrong place this year. And speaking of years, it’s about time Neversoft took one off – or perhaps concentrated on a sequel to the underrated Gun, or a brand new IP. Just something to give the developer time away from the Tony Hawk’s franchise because it’s becoming a victim of the kitchen sink mentality – in other words: another year, another game, better cram as much as we can into it then.

And here’s what’s most disappointing: the only thing Neversoft really has to do to satiate us die-hard Tony Hawk’s fans is create a big, colourful and fun environment, and just let us skate and rack those combos up within it. That’s it.

We don’t need some flimsy attempt at a storyline, nor do we need to rig jumps, formulate careers or try to be as hardcore as possible. All we need is a large environment, a board and high combos. It’s telling of Proving Ground’s quality that it lets you access arcade machines that reset the game to play like older Tony Hawk’s games, S K A T E/C O M B O collecting and all, and that everything in the arcade mode eclipses the proper game. The only ground proven is that there’s really nothing very new here any more.

Craig Gilmore