Tony Hawk. The name is synonymous with skate fans the world over. We interviewed Brian Bright of Neversoft and discussed the intricacies of creating TH: Proving Ground and discovered that the gang at Neversoft do their very best to keep it real and faithful to what being a skater is all about. TH: Proving Ground has several different game modes to play but the story mode is really one of the most fun aspects of this game where becoming a different kind of skater is merely a matter of changing your mind. The different types of skater you can choose from are Career, Rigger and Hardcore each with their own distinct path of game progression.

The only problem with TH: Proving Ground is that there seems to be too much to do. As the game is extremely goal orientated, you feel overwhelmed at times to complete so many goals and objectives. You can also spend hours on the more frustrating skating moves that require a lot of work and deft controller handling to get it right. I asked several people to try out the same moves I struggled with and most of them gave up. That said there is a lot to do in the game so you won't ever get bored. There are so many tricks and moves you can master and you can find out what all of these are with the click of button — pretty handy.

One of the main differences in this game compared to others in the franchise is the video editor. You can create video clips in-game of your exploits as you progress towards your goals and you can edit these any way you want, cutting and splicing and even adding music to them. You can even post your best video clips on the Xbox Live leader boards for the entire world to either smile or cry at.

I liked the look of TH: Proving Ground. The presentation of the game is as polished as ever. The different areas you can skate in are also a bonus as so many of the more famous skating areas have been included. Customising your character is also pretty cool but I have to say that the sound and music in the game are by far the best things in Tony Hawk's: Proving Ground. Music that you can really skate to makes the game that much more fun to play.