Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3

"Takes some time to warm up to, but when you do....WOW!"

Alright, so I know that you may think that my rating of a 9 is going to be just like everyone else's, and I'm going to talk about how smooth this game really is, but keep reading. I plan on discussing everything I don't like about this game, and leave you with the things that earned this game my 9.0 rating.

GRAPHICS - 9

Really a step up from THPS and THPS2 from the original PSX, and even better than the DC version. This game looks good and plays smooth. The faces of the characters are all really well done, and the level textures are great, never with any slowdown, not even in 2 player mode. The little attention taken to the bending of the skater's knees when he/she lands from up high is a nice touch of realism, as is the blood that splatters when the skaters take a dive. This is definitely the best looking Tony Hawk yet.

GAMEPLAY - 6

Alright, here's my main gripe with the game. The levels are not as cool as any of the first two Tony Hawk games. With the exception of the airport and the cruise ship, most of these levels seem pretty confined and don't have much to offer. ESPECIALLY the suburbia level....man does that suck. However, keep reading and check out what I have to say in my replay value section for a nice surprise! As for the mission objectives, some of them are pretty hard in comparison to prior THPS games, but like all objectives, once you figure them out, it's only a matter of time before you can do it consistently. Point totals for High/Pro/Sick score are a lot higher, but they also made it easier to get these values by adding the revert/manual combo, which can allow you to link tons of halfpipe tricks together. All you have to do is find good places to get tricks in every level, and achieving a million or more points in most levels is pretty easy. My record is 2.5 million in the airport!

CONTROL - 9

Control, as with all the other tony hawk games, is superb. Linking tricks to tricks is a cinch, and now with the revert to manual option, it makes linking even more challenging, but much more fun. Go into a halfpipe, pull a 900, revert out of it, do a special manual to a rail, special grind it, manual out of it, and finish off with another halfpipe trick. Sweet!!! It's easy to do your standard tricks from before, but now it would be possible to get up to 100 linked tricks together for massive points. I know that sounds ridiculous, but try it out and you'll see how great and responsive the revert/manual can be and what a nice addition to the game it is.

SOUND - hey, it's your opinion on this one

OK...personally in all the tony hawk games I have loved some songs and hated others. This one is no different. They have a nice variety to choose from, and they certainly have a LOT! Ramones, Xhibit, House of Pain, Alien Ant Farm, etc. It's nice that you can edit the playlist to play certain songs and not others while you skate. Definitely cool. As for sound effects, they are decent, but nothing to get excited about.

REPLAY VALUE- 10!!!!

Alright, here's where this game shines. I read other reviews and I hear lots of gripes about the loss of the money system, the boring stat total, the crappy replay value....what the hell are they talking about crappy replay value??? The reason it's crappy for them is because they haven't even found out about all the excellent things you can unlock. As with the prequels, getting all the gold medals unlocks a special movie of the characters. These are especially cool in THPS3. I suggest beating the game with Rodney Mullen first and checking out the bad-ass manuals he can pull. I love watching his end-movie. Not only this, but remember my gripe about the crappy level design? Fear not THPS1 veterans, by completing all the missions with 3 characters, you unlock the very first Warehouse level from Tony Hawk 1! This is great reminiscent play. Beat it with 5 characters, and you unlock the Burnside level! Beat it with more, and you get Roswell! How cool is this? I loved those levels from the first game, and the fact that I can play them on the PS2 now is ten times better. Procede on to the next paragraph, dear readers, for more surprises....

Not only can you unlock these nostalgic levels, you can unlock cool secret characters with hilarious special moves. Darth Maul is your first, and he has a crazy flip trick where he uses the force to suspend his board while in the halfpipe. He has a Dark Sith Saber Spin manual where his dual light saber flips in the air. There's also Wolverine, who has an awesome claw punch move where he flips his board over his head and impales it with his adamantium claws! OK, I won't spoil anymore, but you'll want to beat this game over and over with everyone to unlock the awesome movies, the awesome levels, and the awesome secret characters!

OVERALL - 9

OK, so at first I was upset with the levels. I enjoyed some and others I thought were not interactive at all. This would have made me give this whole game a rating of about 7, but now with the ability to get the old-school levels unlocked and all the crazy secret characters, this game is easily a 9! Play it if you have played the other Tony Hawk games, and you'll enjoy it. If you haven't, you'll love it for its simple and addictive gameplay. This game is really one of the only games I am willing to beat with every character, just to see what I will get at the end of it all. At least give it a rental and see what I'm talking about. Peace!!!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/11/01, Updated 11/11/01