Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3 Review

Another year, another Tony Hawk, but unlike certain other sporting franchises that need no names, this third title continues to innovate and refine until the developers reach skating perfection.



So whatâs changed, well the big change is in the environments, which are now a lot bigger, far more interactive and in general are on a different level to those previously featured. Level goals now revolve around interacting with the frequent characters that populate the environments, for example, in Canada youâll have to free a bloke whoâs got his tongue stuck to a frozen pole, whilst another sees you having to bury a bully underneath a pile of snow. OK so itâs not that much of a deal, but there are a lot of characters who populate the levels, each spouting off phrases and helping to bring the levels to life in a way that wasnât possible in previous titles.

The next main addition is the inclusion of a ârevertâ mode, allowing you to link moves from a half-pipe in the same way that the manual did in THPS2. Hitting L2 or R2 will revert, giving you a split second to ollie or manual, and thus carry the combo over from a vert ramp. Itâs not as major addition as the manual was from THPS2, however it does add to the gameplay, opening up the scope for greater runs and adding a new element for you all to master. Of course there are limitations to the move, ensuring that the game doesnât become cheap, youâll slow down considerably so you canât just sit in a half-pipe and string together loads of air tricks, as youâll slow down too much. 



Neversoftâs trademark skill in level design has been carried across with the same panache on each of the games levels, not a single one can be marked out as being weaker then any of the others, ensuring that youâll want to master each and every level. 



Having a THPS title run at 60FPS takes a little while getting used to at first, it almost feels like youâve got to relearn the timing of certain moves. However it looks wonderfully smooth, whilst the characters animations are spot on, often painful as you watch your skater bail from a 15ft grind, not to mention the pain you induce as you watch that masterful score wiped out.

Asides from the silky smooth framerate and animation, the levels like Iâve said before are huge, unfortunately the sacrifice has been made in the detail found in the levels. Textures are quite dull compared to what weâve seen recently, whilst the games NPC lack any detail or definition. Obviously there had to be some trade-off, and the game lacks the special effects that weâve got used to in recent PS2 titles, however when a game plays this good you donât have to worry about what it looks like, you havenât got time to observe the finer
points, just play it!



There only one thing that needs to be said about the games soundtrack, itâs got âThe Ace of Spadesâ! Watching replays whilst listening to this is a pure joy. Other bands signed up include The Ramones, AFI Rollins Band, KRS One, Del, and The Reverend Horton. Itâs obviously a question of personal taste at the end of the day, and on this one Iâm more then happy.



Create-a-Park and Create-a-Skater have both come across from THPS2 with the same greatness that was found
before, giving you the ability to create your own levels and characters. 
The Create-a-Park features an impressive selection of objects and textures to
use, whilst the player creation allows you to manipulate everything right down
to the smallest details.



The game is also the first game to feature network play, but due to the current abysmal state of online gaming in Europe, weâve yet to experience this. This is just extra icing to an already delicious cake, thatâs available to the lucky few and US gamers. However the rest of us can make do with the games excellent split-screen mode, still with all of the originals excellent modes.