So Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 finally came out, and lo and behold, it's a total trainwreck. Not even in an old-school "Oh, if you hit this jump just right, you can get 5x more air'" kind of way, but more in a "Just how in the name of a jet ski-riding Jesus did it get out the door?!"-type deal. Coming in a year that - until this point - was far stronger overall than 2014's disastrously buggy output (Assassin's Creed: Unity's faceless Arno being a particular highlight), THPS 5 was meant to be one glorious trip back to your childhood memories, a game that would embellish and reinforce a series that for a time, actually became a total cultural revolution. A perfected control scheme that just felt instantly rewarding, the legendary soundtrack - you could even unlock everyone from a secret Matt Hoffman bike level to Spider-Man in the sequel. From there, Pro Skater 3 kept that momentum up for a staggering six more yearly entries, until following 2007's Proving Ground, things went dark. Now Activision have brought back the Hawkster alongside Guitar Hero with the hopes of rekindling those passionately nostalgic flames - the big problem is, part five is an unmitigated disaster on every level, only serving to highlight which other franchises would've been better served getting revamped instead.
