Activision has released a new trailer for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5, showcasing the game's new vibrant and light-hearted visual style. In case you've forgotten, when Robomodo's game was first revealed, it sported a much more gritty and realistic style, one that didn't quite resonate with the general populace.
Not long ago, the studio explained why it decided to go with a more cel-shaded style. Robomodo boss Josh Tsui told Game Informer earlier this month: "Our priority from the start has been to make sure Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 feels good to play. That means hitting 60 fps at 1080p, even when you're shredding with 20 people in the same session online. Once we knew we could maintain framerate with the new look – and that took a while – we fully implemented it.
"For us, it's fun and over the top in the way the original games were. We really want to drive home that playful energy of sharing a skatepark with a crowd of friends, and the current look of the game gets us there while balancing all the action you can pull off together at the same time."
For the sake of comparison, check out this earlier trailer for the game. Is it just me or does the older version look a bit dull and uninspired? Then again, I'm incredibly partial to a more cartoony style over realism any day of the week, regardless of genre. At the very least, it looks like this new Tony Hawk will age a bit more gracefully.
What do you make of the graphical change? Do you think the more light-heated tone and visual flair fits the series better? As far as I'm concerned, artistic design trumps technical fidelity any day of the week, though, I'm not so sure either style here is really pushing the envelope from a technical standpoint.
[Via Eurogamer]
