At times like this, you can't help but feel like you're wasting your time with a game that isn't finished. If it has any problems during this process, you have to wait for it to timeout, disconnect your console from the internet, and try again. If you're connected to the internet when you try to play single player, THPS5 still tries to connect to a server. Online connectivity gets in the way during single player sessions, too. I was never paired with more than one other person outside of freeskate, and there were times when a multiplayer challenge would start with me as the sole participant.

THPS5 is built as an online game, but it does little to entice you to playing with others. Your skater feels the same on day one as it does on day five. You're only motivation to play them are the stars to unlock maps and skill points that can be used to increase your abilities, though they never make a tangible difference. These tasks vary little from map to map, and they are indeed tasks, because they never deliver an enjoyable or challenging experience.

These challenges can include reaching a high-score, collecting items, or pushing balls out of a pool, among a few others. Progressing from map to map requires that you collect stars by performing various feats and completing challenges. When all else fails, go off the deep end. It's not uncommon that you fall through geometry, clip through it and ruin a combo, or fall victim to anomalous physics quirks, either. Frame rates are also an issue, which is surprising given the game's simple and outdated graphics. There were times that the camera was so shaky and disorienting that I had to stop playing in order to curb my discomfort. THPS5's camera jitters when you ride over rough terrain-or whenever the game feels like it. This feels unfair, because these areas are fully-rendered and look accessible. It's all too easy hit a ramp or jump off of other objects, only to find that you've gone out of bounds. Some maps will frustrate you in other ways beyond their lack of interesting elements. Pulling off combos often requires identifying a series of loosely connected objects that you can grind on between air-based tricks, and there are a few cleverly hidden ones to be found, but nowhere near as many as in past games, which were proudly stuffed with hard-to-find secrets and combo opportunities. After a few minutes with each map, you've seen pretty much everything there is to see. They're also ugly, with poorly drawn textures and constant texture pop-in.

Of course, skating sessions are only as good as the locations they take place in, and the eight maps in THPS5 are too small, lacking in interesting opportunities. There are many like him, but this one is mine. Now Playing: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 - Video Review This is my Tony.

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