GameSpot editors' review
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CNET editors' rating:
stars
OK
Detailed editors' rating
- Reviewed on: 10/23/2007
- Released on: 10/15/2007
- Originally published on GameSpot: Tony Hawk's Proving Ground (PlayStation 2) Review
With the core developers of the Tony Hawk franchise off and skating on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, the other console versions have been turned over to different developers. Those developers are Page 44 Studios, who have turned out a version of Tony Hawk's Proving Ground for the PlayStation 2 and the Wii. As with many multiplatform games, the different versions operate on multiple tiers. The PS3 and 360 obviously had the most work put into them, and the games were clearly designed for those systems. Then there's the PlayStation 2 and Wii versions, which aren't nearly as fresh as the 360/PS3 take on the game?which wasn't especially fresh to begin with. That means you're left with a third-rate Tony Hawk game that uses some of the elements from the main versions. And if you happen to be playing on the Wii, you also get to deal with a pretty bad set of controls.
You can take on goals in different orders, but it doesn't feel as if there are very many of them.
The Wii controls weren't really designed to handle a game like this, especially one with so many different little techniques. They've all been squeezed onto the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, but they neither feel intuitive nor take advantage of the Wii's unique strengths. About the only concession made for the Wii version is that the screen makes note of every time you move the Remote or Nunchuk, so you can at least see what it's detecting and adjust if that isn't what you're trying to do. But it never feels quite right when you're aggro kicking for more speed by continually lifting the Remote, or when shoving both halves of the controller forward to perform an attack. On the other hand, the PlayStation 2 version has the typical Tony Hawk control set. In both cases, the game runs way too fast and the controls aren't tight enough to properly control your skater at this high rate of speed. The end result is a skittish-looking game that feels kind of bad.
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Tony Hawk's Proving Ground (PlayStation 2):
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