Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3

"A series that never gets boring."

Hey guys, this is my first Gamefaqs review, so bear with me. Wow, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3. It's been over a year since the second one hit the shelves, and finally the next generation THPS is here. I played the heck out of the second one, and it contained me for a good 5 ot 6 months. I opened up this game with high hopes, and now, my thoughts. Can it stack up to the ps2's latest arsenal of hit games? It's time to find out!

Graphics===================9/10
This is where THPS3 exceeds. It runs at a smooth, rock steady 60 frames per second, and slowdown is pretty much non-existent. Average textures on your surroundings, but great skater models and nice lighting effects.One minor complaint, the pedestrians around you look sort of blocky.
But, that is still outweighed by the great level design, far draw distance, and silky smooth gameplay. Not bad for a first try at the ps2.

Gameplay===================9/10
Exquisite in it's brilliance, THPS' Game engine is outstanding. After a few hours of playing, you'll be pulling 100,000 point combos with manuals and reverts. It is very easy to handle everything. Also, great level challenges. I enjoyed ''Bury the bully'' and ''Help the thin man.'' It is too easy, though. I unlocked all the levels in 3 hours. All in all, I was sorta disappointed here, but the game engine was too awesome to ignore.

Sound======================10/10
Ah, neversoft has never failed in this category. Every THPS has perfect skating music, good Skating sfx and other goodies. Pedestrians shout at you when you hit them, tons of famous bands, and tutorial audio from Mr.900 himself, Tony Hawk. Always 10/10 here!

Replayability==============10/10
Amazing! This game is very fun when you have a pal over to play with you, or better yet, the ground breaking online play! Play horse, graffiti, trick attack, or free skate with anybody on the Internet! Whenever you feel like playing, this game is great. Me and my friend Edward love to play H.O.R.S.E (which we play by another word.. it rhymes with ''Fussy'' he he.) So, if you are a popular guy that has friends over often to play video games, this should be number 1 in your collection!

Overall====================9/10
I had to give this game a 9, well, because I felt that it was too short and it didn't have enough surprise levels like THPS2 did. It seems like it was kind of rushed out. Still, a solid game overall. Unless you don't have Grand Theft Auto 3 yet, which is an awesome games, I say THPS3 is a good buy. But beware, if you are looking for an incredibly long game that will keep you immersed for weeks on end, I strongly suggest you avoid this one.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/31/01, Updated 10/31/01