Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 Has Attempted to Hide its Awful Graphics by Going Cel-Shaded

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 Has Attempted to Hide its Awful Graphics by Going Cel-Shaded

In terms of transparent business decisions made within the gaming industry, this one is so see-through that it’s practically a ghost.

After reactions to the initial trailers for the upcoming Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 were mixed at best, Activision and developers Robomondo Games have opted for a cel-shaded look, the go-to visual style to mask sub-par graphics.

While cel-shaded art styles were once all the rage back when consoles weren’t as powerful as they are now, the PS4 and Xbox One are undoubtedly capable of rendering a skateboarding game where the skateboarders themselves don’t look like cardboard cutouts of human beings, which is why so Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater fans were a little concerned when the first trailer for the game debuted and it didn’t look too dissimilar from what one might expect to see back in the blocky days of the PS2.

I know, I know: it’s not all about graphics. But the visuals in THPS5 appeared to be so poor that it suggested a considerable lack of effort on the behalf of its developers, not to mention that its animations – a pretty big deal when your video game is reliant upon realistic physics – looked a little off, to. Unfortunately for Activision and Robomondo, cel-shaded graphics will do nothing to hide these kinds of flaws, so now we have to sit back and hope that they’re improving these aspects of the game along with giving it a visual overhaul.

Check out the new cel-shaded screenshots for Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 below: