One of my most hated PS2 games. When I loaded up this game for the first time, I got the pull of addiction. It was my regular PS2 sporting game. But then about 2 years later, I came back and loaded it up again, and believe me, the addiction was GONE. And so was the entertainment, the pull, even the visuals were as half-baked as cookies prepared with the cheapest Sim oven. Although like 3 or so songs still stayed with me throughout my experiences, this game could compare to getting a stomach flu. And since it's the 8th project, I'll give you the top 8 reasons it's terrible.
8. Even customizing your skater felt half-finished. The terrible sound effects that cut into blatantly-felt surroundings...I wish you could just get a randomized look thrown at you and go.
7. Total fracture of the law of physical movement. You would ollie inhumanly high compared to real life, it felt as if they were performing your own darn tricks for you, and there is no proper animation of bail recovery; just another cut fading in from the cut of bailing.
6. Challenges. Challenges can be exciting, but these challenges, after already breaking the laws of physics, feel like they're impossible to do after a while.
5. Unexpected guest star appearances. Let a Jackass be a Jackass, and let an Earl be an Earl, but when are these two not...well, these two? When they score spots on the THP8 skater roster. This aspect literally makes this game the Tekken of skateboarding games.
4. Lack of thorough animation. #6 enforced this rule a little bit, but THP8 just didn't cut it in good animation. As I said, they felt like cheap-Sim-oven-baked cookies. And you can especially see this during bail animations...if you could call them so.
3. Nail the Trick, BY FREAKING FAR. Sure slow-mo stuff looks cool, but not this kind of slow-mo stuff. It always helps you, such as flashing the rim of the board green to signal you whether you can flip, and I like more freely-made performances. Too bad this got taken a little too far in Proving Ground, where Nail the Grab and Manual were introduced.
2. Loading takes forever. I could make a Team Fortress 2 sandvich, while BLINDFOLDED, in the time this game takes to load. It's annoying, it's pestering, and it rips some of the element right out of the game. These guys better fast-forward next time.
1. IMPRECISE CONTROLS. In a world where the freedom of movement is broken, a company that provided an intro of chopping a fish into pieces still can't properly make a good animated trick, all of this hosted by Mayor Let-Down, Activision, there are terrible controls. They're always super easy and don't come out in great movement freedom. Some moves are impressive and old-schooled, while others (following a dumb tradition) are just stupid, such as the "Ooohhh yeeahhh!" manual trick.
The only thing I could possibly praise this game for...is that it has decent voice acting. D:<