Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4

"(o_o)... wow..."

10 is a very interesting number. 10 is the first two digit number. Ten is the last number a game on GameFAQs can be rated. 10 is awesome, yet seen rarely. And do you know why? Because perfect is about the hardest, most impossible thing something can be. It takes a TON to be perfect, and as you know I'm no push over. If a score is .01 less than 10, sorry, it's a 9. Well, for a really long time now, I've been waiting for the perfect game. I thought it was impossible. But hey, what do you know. I happened to find the perfect game last year. Above Metroid Prime, above Wind Waker, above Super Mario Sunshine, above Vice City. It was a game that included awesome graphics, amazing controls, a super sound track, and the best gameplay to ever grace a consol. I lied when I said I wasn't going to review this game (in my SSX 3 review). Hey, it's tempting to review the best game in history. This is probably a game I'd be content with if it was all I had for a year. Stunning, beautiful, amazing, fun, entertaining to an unbelievable extent. Everybody, open your hands and receive what is Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4. Your about to experience what will go down in history as simply... amazing.

I should tell you - the graphics just barely made a 10. It wasn't a huge leap over THPS3, and it was still not as good as other games' (such as Metroid Prime). But, regardless, this game deserves it. The pro's faces are so clear you could tell someone from another if their bodies looked exactly the same, and they were running, causing a blur. The levels are very detailed, the board actually gets scratched when you slide on rails this time, there's so much more realism and things added that it simply should get 11. It may not look like it at first glance, but look past all that - look closer. You'll see the little things Neversoft didn't have to throw in, but did anyway. And what a great addition as well. It's like the graphics from Metroid Prime put to work on the smaller things that you don't notice. A minor waste, but awesome if you take the time to check it all out. 10/10.

After some adjustment (you often have to adjust to the music in the Tony Hawk games) I found this to be the perfect soundtrack. Goldfinger, AC DC, there's quite a selection of different music here. There's also actually a song by Kareem Campbell in here (previously his songs only played in his videos) as well as a song from Steve Caballero's band, The Faction. I simply loved the soundtrack. And guess what? A year after the game's released, I still can't wait to hear one of the songs whenever I boot up THPS4. It'll be a while before this tack can be considered broken (if it ever gets broken) and it's... perfect. 10/10.

All Tony Hawk games have you do goals under some kind of time limit to get cash or whatever and also so you can get to the next level, where you repeat. And then you do this with each character. Right? Well, not in THPS4. Finally, the career mode is changed - It's pretty much a session of Free skate until you ask someone if you can help out with something. This works really well, and I found it quite the bit better than THPS, THPS2, and THPS3's career modes. Oh yeah, and you know this career mode? You won't be done it for a REALLY long time. You know what, I'm STILL trying to get all of the gaps in each level. And it took me close to half a year to complete each goal (I only played about an hour a day though). Because of this extra long career mode, you only have to complete it with one character (yay!). You still grind on benches, Manual on boats and lip trick on buildings (but the lip trick balance meter is a little different this time). It's classic Tony Hawk with a major boost in everything. It's awesome - I love it. Perfect, like this game. 10/10.

I have said this many, MANY times before - extreme sport games last FOREVER. You can keep making new career modes, or you can go to Freeskate, which is SUPER fun. There is a never ending game within this game (just like all other extreme sport games). I can't talk about much else here, it just goes on and on. 10/10.

Closing comments - Well, as you can see each category got 10/10. You know how rare a find that is (from me)? So hard that this is the first game I reviewed to get all 10s. Now, I should say that SSX 3 is funner than this. Then why did it get a 9/10? Because there are faults in other areas. This game is faulted no where. So before you get this, think of getting SSX 3 first. that all I'll say.

Verdict - Awesome, amazing, about the only game I can see getting a 10/10. And you know what? It deserves it. I can't say more than what I've already said, but you owe it to yourself to buy this game. After SSX 3. Enjoy.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 12/22/03