I found the final canon Tony Hawk game of the original run to be better than its reputation, but it still feels like a missed opportunity.

The open world is the biggest in the series. It's cleverly designed and a lot of fun to skate. The frame rate problems from Project 8 are fixed. At its core, the gameplay still feels good.

Unfortunately, there are a number of unnecessary new mechanics that range from tedious to frustrating. This makes for goals that are just not fun to play. The game lacks polish in certain areas, which was likely a result of the short development cycle the series was on at the time.

I did still enjoy the game, but the learning curve and new mechanics make this one a hard one to recommend unless you are super fan of the series.