My Review Of Thp8 For The 360 And Ps2 Options

[BGOAT wiz]

So after spending many hours on both the 360 and PS2 versions o P8 it is obvious which one comes out ontop. Thats not to say that the PS2 version isn't good. infact for a current gen game if you put aside that it's not online it's an overall good game. I will start w/ the 360 version.



360. perhaps the most notable thing about this game is it's beauty. I mean even though the skaters are a bit shiny the graphics are amazing and the motion captured movements just add to it. The gameplay is great and very open ended. sometimes to open ended. the level is just so huge that getting to a certain goal is sometime tedious. you can't just jump to it. you can however set a marker on your compass to show you the way but I think a simple go to goal option would of been better. Basically as most of us know you start off as a nobody skater at the bottom of a long list of 200 skaters and Tony Hawk has come to your town to get the top 8 skaters. so you basically have to work your way from #200 to atleast #8. this is no easy task and to get #1 is even harder. each goal has it's own level of difficulty. am,pro,and sick and believe me more often then not the sick goal is just that. each time you complete a goal be it on am or pro or sick your ranking goes up. you could in theory buzz thru the game get all am's and be in the top 8 but you want to strive for number 1. the goals range from collecting things for people to grinding a ccertain distance to doing a set number of tricks while being filmed. over all I give the goals an 8/10.

Pros: the goals aren't easy to do on sick and theres a ton of goals to do.
cons. some are repetitive for each level and there are so many that navigating to them is sometimes tedious.

New stuff.
Nail the trick great addition or fools interwition. Although the NTT looks amazing and is a cool addition to the series it isn't so much as necisary as say a revert or manual. and because theres a lot of focus on the shoes theres a lot more shoes to choose from in CAS. it's to much advertising for my taste. NTT is intuitive and very great to look at if your not the person doing the NTT. the controls take a bit to get used to and despite a goal here and there it really serves no purpose but to let shoes makers get more advertising in the game. The other new thing is the true streaming world. unlike THAW w/ the loading tunnels this game has a true streaming level. and it's huge. the only time you will see a load screen is if you travel across the map and then go to restart a goal thats across the map. Even online it's a stremaing world. overall I give the new additions 8/10. Theres also Ragdoll bails. this new feature is very funny and there are a few goals that use this feature. It is also interesting and challengeing to see how high you can get your hospital bill and how many bones you can brake. Lucky your hospital bill you rak up doesn't count against you. Infact there are more goals in the game that use this feature then NTT which is kinda odd considering they have been pushing the NTT this hole time.

Pros: Nail the trick is visually great and the streaming world is amazing as well. Also the ragdoll mode is funny and intertaining and the goals that allow you to use it are interesting as well.

cons: NTT isn't really a needed addition to the game. and there are few goals that use it. Also it would of been great if there was an option to play the ragdoll bail games at anytime. kinda like a mini game section.


Created stuff
Wait theres created stuff? well ya but very little. veteran TH game players are acustomed to being able to create everything. and in the past we have from skaters to deck to parks to even goals. but this game lacks pretty much all of that. all you get is a slimed down CAS. the selections are slim and the customization is horable. were's all our options people?. No create a park no create a goal no nothing. There is a few instances where you can move a few objects around in a level to be able to accomplish a goal and the things you place down do stay there but it's very limited. for this category I give a 4/10

pros: you can still somewhat make a skater
cons: everything else.

over all thoughts.
This game over all is a great addition to the series and the graphics and gaemplay that can bve accomplished thanks to next gen technology is cool. but over all the game lacks a lot of things that veterans of the series like. I do how ever understand that the developers only had a year to completely rebuild a game from the ground up and this is prolly why it does lack so much. but heres an idea. wait until it's done and includes everything the people want. I am happy w/ the game overall but it still needs some work. lets hope that by this time next year since the engines and stuff are all ready programmed that the next game will include all the things that this game was missing. over all I give the game a 8/10



PS2 Review.
If you have never played the xbox360 version of the game then the PS2 version is overall a good game. I would prolly say better then THAW in many ways. However it still has it's bugs and quirks some of which are down right stupid. The levels in this version of the game are surprisingly large infact they are larger then the 360 levels. but unlike it's 360 brotherin it doesn't have a streaming world. other then the larger and somewhat different levels not much else about the game is different besides of course the graphics.

Pros: The bigger levels are nice and offer a lot of places to glitch. I mean explore. and if you haven't played the 360 version then this game will be great compared to THAW.

Cons: if you have all ready played a next gen version then this game by comparison sucks.

New stuff::

This game just like the 360 version offers NTT. As mentioned above this is a cool effect but really offers nothing else. Also the NTT in this version of the game is very tricky. the camera angles suck and the physics of it are just as bad. you will more often then not bail on NTT which doesn't make it very fun. for the full effect of NTT you will want to play the next gen version of the game.

pros: the levels although not as visually pleasing as the 360 version are infact larger and the game stays pretty true to it's 360 version.

cons: NTT in this version of the game SUCKS and even though the levels are larger there isn't a streaming level so you do have to sit thru loading screens.

Created stuff.

If you want to know about the created stuff then just read about the 360 version. it's basically just as crappy. I mean Shaba could of thrown in a CAP no problem.



Overall Thoughts.

for a current gen version of the game it is awesome especially compared to last years THAW. the graphics are what should be expected and the levels are pretty big. it does offer up a lot of replay value but the game is overall not as realistic as the 360 version. you can prolly buzz thru it in a few hours to atleast get into the top 8. as far as glitches go it pretty much has the same ones as THAW did. and sometimes you go thru objects that should be solid. I think Shaba did a decent port of the game but theres just to many things wrong w/ it for it to get a good grade. There is also no online mode on this version which is surprsing since this is the first current gen TH game that hasn't been online. overall I give this version of the game a 6.5/10

I might add more later if I think of other things to add.

[Oompa]

looking forward to that ps2 review =)

[logan]

looking forward to that ps2 review =)

Same here. =]


Hmm, any suggestions as to if I should rent THP8 for ps2 first, or just buy it?

[anybody]?

[Rag™]

I just rented the ps2 version about 4 hours ago. so far it's pretty good. im at rank #38/200

EDIT - i beat it and im # 3 right now.

This post has been edited by Rag: Nov 11 2006, 12:09 PM

[bleed]

I bought it for the Ps2, and I am quite disappointed about it. It's not streaming for the PS2, which is odd, because GTA's levels are bigger than this game and are streamed, but this smaller city is cut off into different areas. The NTT is fun, gets kind of hard to learn though. Getting to top 8 is a bitch, which is a good thing, because you actually have to try. Alot of bugs with the game though, there are some things that you need to wallplant in order to complete a goal, but you can go straight through them. This gets really annoying. The Nail the trick has to be set up perfectly, or you will bail. You will probably bail more than you land. Overall its fun, better than THAW and THUG2. The areas are relatively large, which is nice. The "level editor" only lasts for the goal though and disappears, and alot of visual things are different on the ps2 than on the next gen consoles. Not meaning the graphics, but more so of the areas in general. Shaba did alright, but could have done better.

[BGOAT Ken*Dawg]

haha, ya THP8 is fun. definity better then THAW. i am ranked #7 for story mode. Don't have many goals left to finish. The ending goal is pretty sweet.

[bleed]

yeah the last one is pretty cool with tony hawk

[BGOAT wiz]

updated. I updated some of the THP8 360 version review that is shown in red. and I added the ps2 review.

[logan]

Before [in THAW or THUG 2], you would very rarely see created skaters looking even simular. Now pretty much all the skaters, from what it sounds like due to the custimazation of skaters, are probably going to look alike.


thats gay

[Embro]

I know how to get the alien from the intro

[!NEO!]

nice reviews wiz.