After a few years out of the spotlight and months of teases from the Hawkman himself, Activision’s Tony Hawk skateboarding game franchise is finally returning with a brand new entry this year. And it’s going back to its classic roots.

In fact, the game will be called Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5, despite several additional entries that followed 2002’s Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4. Those later games expanded out and arguably overcomplicated the game design, so using the original series branding seems like a nod towards the simplicity of the past.

Game Informer has the first exclusive story on the game, and it sounds like it’ll feature all new levels but with the familiar controller-based gameplay of old – but also, curiously, missions where you can shoot projectiles. That part doesn’t sound too appealing on paper, but we’ll give it the benefit of the doubt until we can actually try the game for ourselves.

Tony Hawk himself will be playable, of course, along with a slew of other skaters new and old. The roster includes the likes of Andrew Reynolds, Nyjah Huston, Lizzie Armanto, Chris Cole, and young Riley Hawk, along with several others. And you’ll be able to hop online with ease for multiplayer, as well as share created parks with the community.

Pro Skater 5 is slated to hit Xbox One and PlayStation 4 later this year, with Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions following at some point thereafter. Robomodo, the Chicago-based developer behind the ill-fated Tony Hawk’s Ride and Shred (but also the solid Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD), is handling this one.

Curiously, the early screenshots aren’t terribly impressive-looking (Game Informer has several of them), but it’s refined gameplay that has always made the best Hawk games memorable. Here’s hoping the throwback attempt returns the series to its glory days.

Source: Game Informer