Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 Trailer Revealed, Releases Sept 29 for X1 and PS4

A couple days ago during E3 2015, the audience was treated to a little bit of gameplay of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5. Many should be hyped, and some are, but after watching the video, some could sense that something is a tad... off.

Unfortunately, a lot are not happy with the results.

No, it's not the graphics, though many of these complaints do attribute to graphics. However, in this current day and age, it's expected to receive these complaints. However, many other complaints derive from the clunky-appearing gameplay. Which, if it's true, could pose an issue on release.

Personally, though I'm not entirely deterred by the graphics, they--alongside the art direction--definitely have seemed to cause some disgust among fans.

Let's take a look at the video together then:



You watched through it all? Good.

Now then, let's break it down together. Remember, this is stemming from personal analysis, so take it with a grain of salt.

First, the good:

The skaters, when nailing a move excellently, seem to celebrate it with a "YEAH!" gesture.

Boards can catch on fire or gather electricity. Not realistic if the skater continues to ride on them, but isn't bothersome. Though inwardly, I was hoping that if you skate and your board gathers electricity, that you'd suffer a major shock.

The skate parks appear to be quite large.

Now, the concerns:

The ease of gameplay. It looks like, in Pro Skater 5, that to pick up skating it is easy, unlike the previous entries, which is fine, but unfortunately, it seems like it's impossible to screw up skating. Maybe it is just the demo and the awesomeness of the player, so I hope that is the case. In the previous entries, many players gain a strong appreciation for Pro Skater for they nail their first half pipe, because for a little bit, you're like a kitten trying to stand.

This leads me to the next concern--how it seems ridiculously easy to grind rails. So easy, that even if you are in the midst of jumping over a rail (missing the rail by what seems like a foot) on accident, you still attach to the rail, like completely automatic.

The game seems a lot "lighter" than the previous games, like the depth and weight physics are not nearly as strong in Pro Skater 5, and the animations seem a little clunky. Not asking for realism, but at the same time, it doesn't resonate with the physicals and animations of the older games. I was and am still hoping for better.

The screen tearing is a bit common to the point it's distracting. I'm hoping that is the gameplay demo and will not be included on release, but I sincerely doubt that.

These are only a few concerns, but I hope those concerns are crushed by a successful and fun release. What matters most is the fun, right? After all, many still claim that it plays like the old school predecessors, so let's hope that's the case.