Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4

"Perfection surpassed..."

Synopsis restatement: ''Perfection surpassed...''

Best Features:MASSIVE new Career mode offers a wealth of replayability. Detailed, giant levels add to the fun. Famous THPS gameplay.

Worst Features:Poor facial details. Park editor goal implementation feature removed. Underwhelming soundtrack. No online for this port.

Um...anyone who read my review of THPS3 (http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/review/R26059.html) might be a bit surprised by this review. I think I've found something that even topped the greatest of games.
THPS4 is the pinnacle of the X-Games genre. However, having learned my lesson from THPS3 to 4, I think I can only say this is the greatest for right now. On with the review...

Graphics:9 (9.5 actually)
First the good points: THPS4 keeps basically the same graphical engine from THPS3. They only adjusted one thing and it was for the worse sadly (I'll touch on that in a bit). The levels are still very vivid and bright. The trick animations are basically the same from THPS3's so nothing new there. The game runs at a fluid 60fps and doesn't break up at any point. Luckily, they slowed down the game so at least you aren't going to get a headrush like in THPS3. However, some very weak facial detail is what brings the quality down from THPS3. THPS3 had very deep facial features. However, THPS4's faces look fake and unrealistic. Other than that, the game still looks very much like THPS3 for the most part.

Sound/Music:7 (for Music) 10 (for Sound)
Split verdict here (and for those who know my reviews, not a common occurrence). My review for THPS3 said that the soundtrack wasn't as good as THPS2. Well, I take that back. I'd give anything to have the soundtrack from THPS3. The selection for this outing is rather poor. Its not a total disaster but it isn't up to par with THPS3 (which, in retrospect, had the finest soundtrack of the series). Rap populates the soundtrack and whatever isn't rap just isn't what you would want to skate to. The sound effects are just as good as in THPS3 so it'll still sound like you're skating.

Control:10
The wonderful controls that make THPS THPS are back (along with a few additions). Since the game has been slowed down from THPS3, the control has seriously been improved. The control has always ''simple to learn, hard to master'' and that still holds true. Three new additions make their debut here. The ''Spine Transfer'' and ''Recovery'' (both controlled by the ''Z'' button) are vert moves while the ''Skitch'' is a street skating menuver. The Spine Transfer allows you to pop over a spine of one quarter pipe and onto another quarter pipe on the other side. From here, you can revert out, manual, and continue your combo. This new addition allows you to continue your combo a lot easier. Say you've reverted out of a pipe and are in a manual but its just about used up. Don't stop the combo, pop over a Spine Transfer. It'll allow you to swoop over the spine and down the other side thus increasing your speed. Then just revert again, do a manual, and you're back into the combo. The Recovery is simply a move that allows you to stay on your board when you run out of quarter pipe. So if you flew off the end of a quarter pipe, press ''Z'' and your skater will straighten themself out and you'll be able to keep whatever tricks you were doing when you ran off the edge. The third addition is the abilty to ''Skitch''. Skitching is when you grab onto the tail of a car. This is used to build up speed. Some objectives in the game make extensive use of this technique.

Gameplay:10
Its Tony Hawk. Quite possibly the king of gameplay. Simple controls is what make it interesting. The deep book of tricks will keep you into the game. Objectives are laid out and give it to you straight. Its just that simple. I can't say that much about this. Simply put, there is no better gameplay than Tony Hawk. If you're new to the game, go check my review for THPS3 (link provided in the intro). Its basically the same barring the control adjustments that I mentioned in the ''Control'' section.

Replay Value:11!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(NOT A TYPO!!!!)
YES! An 11!!!! And with good reason. This game is PACKED with stuff to do. In an early preview from EGM, they actually said that this game is packed with a YEAR'S worth of replay value. And I doubt they're lying. THPS has always had lots of replay value simply because its a fun game. But this game gives you more reasons to power up the Cube than the other games PUT TOGETHER!!! Its the most enjoyable game I've played since Sonic 3 And Knuckles. Complete the 16 objectives in each of the 6 huge levels (plus 14 in each of the 2 hidden levels including a special surprise for anyone who's played another Activision O2 game with a certain ''Condor'' as the frontman) and the game throws you a special, skater-specific challenge for you to meet (something your skater did in real life) as well as offer some backstory behind the challenge. From there, the game opens up another 5 advanced objectives in each level. But wait! There's more! Get sick of skating? Well, the game comes with a good number of non-boarding time wasters such as hitting homers with your board or playing tennis with it. These mini-games can even earn you some fundage on the side should you be running short. Finally, the skate shop is loaded with goodies to buy as you conquer career mode. Cheats, vids, skaters, levels, create-a-skater stuff, its all in the shop. Its so much fun. I can't even describe how much stuff there is to find in this game because, frankly, I haven't found it all!

Overall:10
Overall, this is a masterfully woven work of art. It exmplifies everything that made THPS3 a great game over 100-fold. Great gameplay, infinite replaybility, massive and detailed levels, I don't even want to list everything this game offers simply because I don't want to ruin it for you. Its a crime not to own this masterpiece of gaming perfection. The Birdman flies once again. Get yourself an unforgettable flight pin...

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/08/02, Updated 11/08/02