About the game
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 is a 2015 skateboarding video game developed in a collaboration between Robomodo and Disruptive Games and published by Activision. The tenth main installment in the Tony Hawk's series, it was the first new main series title since 2007's Proving Ground and the first Pro Skater since 2002's Pro Skater 4.
Like most of the series it plays like an arcade game, with the aim of a high score or collecting objects. There is no story. Players combine aerials, flips, grinds, lips and manuals, and a special meter allows special tricks that are worth considerably more. The controls changed from earlier games: flatland tricks, getting off the board, slowing time and driving vehicles were dropped, and a stomp was added. Each level has a unique power-up. All of the levels are new to the series.
Robomodo took over the series in 2008 after Neversoft moved to Guitar Hero. In November 2014 Hawk confirmed a new Pro Skater was in the works. The licensing deal between Activision and Tony Hawk was set to expire at the end of 2015, so the game was developed in a few months and released unfinished with little promotion. Two months before release the look changed to a cel-shaded style after early footage was criticised. Disruptive Games helped with multiplayer and Fun Labs worked on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 ports.
It was released on September 29, 2015 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and on December 15 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The older consoles lack the multiplayer of the newer versions and only keep Create-A-Park. The game has 10 real skaters and rapper Lil Wayne as the celebrity skater. Tyler, the Creator and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were added in a later patch.
Critics panned the game, with complaints about graphics, bugs, controls and level design. On Metacritic the Xbox One version has 39 out of 100 and the PlayStation 4 version 32. Entertainment Weekly named it the worst video game of 2015. Robomodo went out of business eleven months after release and Hawk's license with Activision was not renewed.
The text above is adapted from Wikipedia and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
What critics said
Metacritic 39 out of 100 from 18 reviews (Xbox One). Individual reviews: Destructoid 5/10, Edge 2/10, EGM 3.5/10, Game Informer 6.5/10, Game Revolution 2/5, GameSpot 3/10, GamesRadar+ 1.5/5, Giant Bomb 1/5.
Extra content
Later patches added skaters rather than paid DLC.
- Tyler, the Creator and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Added to the game by a post-release patch
Good to know
- The whole game is on the disc. To get past the tutorial level the player has to press Y or Triangle instead of X or A, because X or A tries to connect online and fails.
- Robomodo switched to a cel-shaded look about two months before release.
- The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions came out on December 15, 2015, with no online multiplayer.
- Robomodo went out of business in August 2016, and this was its last game.
