"Best skateboarding game yet..."

Once I heard that THPS3 was released for PS2, I had been calling Wal-Mart here everyday to check if they had gotten it yet. Since we're basicly in the middle of nowhere I knew that we wouldn't get it anytime soon, so when I took a small vacation I bought THPS3 at the Best Buy of the town we went to. So far though, this is easily one of the best PS2 games that has been released yet.

Story- Well, just like the previous 2 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games, there isn't any story at all. Just skate and do whatever

Sound/Graphics- 9 for sound, 10 for graphics. Yes, the soundtrack on THPS3 is larger than the other 2, it should be a much better one, but I haven't really found any songs that I really like thus far. It does have a large variety of bands such as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Alien Ant Farm, Redman, AFI, and Xzibit; but the songs haven't really gotten me addicted to any of them so far (Ex: Superman by Goldfinger on THPS, and No Cigar by Millencolin on THPS2)
The graphics, well, they're gorgeous. All of the skater's look much better now. Very detailed are the graphics, and there isn't much weird separation of polygons, except for sometimes when the camera angle get's behind the skater after he bails.

Controls- 10 Almost the exact same as the first 2, but with some minor adjustments here and there. Like, now R2 and L2 are to do reverts when you come down from a halfpipe/quarterpipe/vert ramp, which will let you continue your combos.

Challenge Level- It doesn't really seem that much different from the 2nd THPS except for there are only 9 level objectives to complete instead of 10, but you also have to get stat points to boost your stats, and you have to find the new decks instead of buying them.

Replay Value- 10 The create-a-skater has been improved from the 2nd THPS so now you have much more choices to pick from when making a skater. Also the create-a-park has been improved too, so there is a lot of stuff to do now. Also there is a lot of hidden stuff to get, which is also a good thing. Also you can now play THPS3 over the internet, which will add a lot of replay value because now my friends and I won't have to all come to my house and take turns playing 2-player since you can play with up to 4 players online.

Overall- Just because it isn't as innovative as the first 2 doesn't mean you shouldn't buy it. THPS3 is still a very good game. Though there could be a bit more new stuff here and there (Like online only levels, and levels from THPS and THPS2...) it should be still a semi-long time consuming game. I'm not sure though if I like it more than Madden 2002.

Just a few complaints
-Bob Burnquist is no longer on the THPS series
-Some of the levels seem kind of small

Final Score- 10

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