Tony Hawk's Proving Ground

You've got to hand it to Activision, it can't be easy trying to keep their long-running Tony Hawk franchise fresh and interesting year after year. Somehow, they manage to pull it off and this year is no different with their latest, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground. In Proving Ground it's all about what kind of skater you want to be, and once you choose, the game tailors itself around those objectives. They don't call this game "Proving Ground" for fun, if you like to skate, it's time to prove yourself to the rest of the world, from neighborhood rivals to your favorite all-star pro skaters like Tony Hawk himself.

Proving Ground offers three very different types of classes you can compete in depending on what you want and what your goals are. Starting with the Career class, players who choose this opt to skate not only for the love of the sport, but with the hopes of living the rock star lifestyle of fame and fortune to go along with the respect from your peers. For skaters not interested in landing the latest endorsement deal, they can take the Hardcore route. Hardcore skaters do it mostly for the love of the sport, but are also interested in bragging rights and winning a few trophies to show-off in their personal Player's Lounge. The last class is one that is totally different from the other two and is called the Rigger class. Rigger's are skaters who dream of making the ultimate skate parks or have ideas to enhance and transform already made environments in the game. Riggers have the use of an in-game editor that will let gamers edit tracks in real-time so that upgrades, new ideas and inventions are available to try out immediately.

Most sports games that include "lifestyle" features also include a personal room to showcase your gear and Proving Ground is no exception, and gives players their own Player's Lounge with ample room to show-off the latest goods. Another huge feature in the game is a video editor that allows gamers to completely edit gameplay videos. Chop them up, add cut scenes, change camera angles, add a soundtrack-all of this and even more features are available for the ultimate in customization. After that, it can then be uploaded to the leader boards or to your Lounge to play on your plasma T.V. for all of your friends. The game is pretty flexible and offers a nice variety of game options for both single and multiplayer action. So whatever your gaming preference, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground has what you need for a good time.