New platform, new beginning – that’s the ethos of Tony Hawk’s Project 8. And it’s a good thing too: just as we’d become tired of the lame Jackass humour that had crept into this franchise, Neversoft yanks that crap back out again. Project 8 is the Hawk back at his straightfaced best. Oh sure, there’s heaps of kooky humour, but there’s nothing compared to the lunacy of American Wasteland.

Tony is putting together a team of skaters – the illustrious Project 8 – and he’s holding a number of events in your hometown of Podunk. You begin at the very bottom of a tall list and have to work your way to the top by, unsurprisingly, completing tasks – all of them set to Amateur, Pro and Sick levels. That’s the set up. Unlike American Wasteland, Neversoft isn’t telling a story. It instead focuses on what made this franchise so popular: the skating. The most important addition is Nail the Trick. How it works is simple: any time you get big air, hit both analogue sticks down and the camera zooms in on your two feet and the board. The left stick controls your left leg and the right stick your right. Move them in varying degrees, opposing one another or meeting, and your legs will do the same in the game. The best thing about Nail the Trick is that it isn’t mandatory: if you suck at it, the game’s perfectly playable without it. It’s to be used as and when you see fit – though it does require some mastery. Speaking of which, it’s worth mentioning the difficulty levels again. While inexperienced players will have little trouble hitting Amateur or Pro, Sick is the true measure of talent.

It’s a good thing the game feels as good as it always has on a Sony platform, even without the rumble. You can even control the whole game with the tilt feature – though we strongly suggest just putting the balance on tilt. That way, you still use the analogue stick to move – but balancing feels much more intuitive using the controller. Although it feels great on PlayStation 3, one can’t help but notice that it looks worse than its 360 cousin. Fair enough, but we’ll take better gameplay over looks any day – especially when it’s such a return to form as Project 8. Welcome back, Tony.

Craig Gilmore