Tony Hawk's Proving Ground review for PS3

Tony Hawk has long been the undisputed king of the virtual skateboarding arena, with a string of massively popular games to his name. So the arrival of a new instalment, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, should be a big moment for skating fans. Proving Ground certainly has plenty of features and new content, and it's as smooth to control as ever. But given the competition it faces from EA's newcomer Skate, is Proving Ground's facelift big or fresh enough to make it a truly stand-out game? Get the full picture on Tony Hawk's Proving Ground in our full review now.

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Tony Hawk's Proving Ground review for PS3

Tony Hawk has been top dog (or bird) in the skateboarding genre for so long, that it was a complete shock when EA's Skate came along a couple of months ago and shook things up a bit. And it seems like Neversoft has been caught with its pants down this year - last time round, Project 8 was the reboot the series badly needed, but Proving Ground doesn't really take things any further. The developer has dominated for so long that it probably expected to just have to turn up this year, but it's been given the runaround by an unknown quantity. Believe it - the underdog is comfortably the better game, leaving Hawk looking as tired as his baggy-eyed in-game avatar.

That's not to say that Proving Ground doesn't hold some appeal for series veterans. Those who struggled with Skate's revelatory controls will find Hawk's tried-and- tested system fits like a warm, familiar glove. And Neversoft has a few tricks (and flips and grinds) up its sleeve, with slo-mo add-ons Nail The Grab and Nail The Manual joining last year's Nail The Trick to add a bit of variety to the button-based board-flipping.

Trouble is, Nail The Trick just reminds you of Skate all the more - as you use the analogue sticks to link tricks in close-up while time magically slows, the comparison to EA's game is noticeable, and sadly unfavourable. No, Hawk is at his best when stringing spectacular lines with seeming ease - so it's again a shame that the single-player missions fail to make the most of this, setting you rote tasks that make you long for the relative freedom of Skate. Outside the quests, you can take time out to work on your techniques with a number of places ripe for exploiting with your trickery.