Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3

"The Birdman is back for another go-around, and this time, he’s better than ever."

2 years and many hours after Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater is released, Neversoft releases Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3. This time, due to the new technology available, they launched it on the PlayStation and PlayStation 2, giving people the option of playing it on a next-generation console or playing it on an older console if they didn’t want to buy anything new yet. Like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2, the game is full of improvements, hours of enjoyment, and Neversoft’s odd sense of humor.

Story (2/10)- Well, not much here. All you do is skate around and collect stat points/smash pumpkins/cause mayhem/knock people into water. Still, some levels have characters that stand out, like Chuck (some guy with his tongue frozen to a pole) in Canada, for example, who have some task which involves them.

Gameplay (100/10)- That’s right. The gameplay gets 100 out of 10. It’s that good. At first, some of the tasks seem kind of mundane, but then they get harder and harder. As in the past two games, the score goals get increasingly higher. The contests are still there in all their glory, with…well, I’ll give you a hint: the last one is Tony’s idea of skater paradise. Hidden areas are still intact, but this time they don’t require you to grind some rail with a certain time on the clock. There’s another skater added this time around: lunatic Bam Margera, with a certain trick named after a certain sicko comic show on MTV. Speaking of tricks, there are even more added, as always, and the special trick maximum per skater has been increased to 9. Look out for a few more hidden skaters, with several familiar faces…you’ll have to use the Force to unlock these skaters, because there are a lot of them. The trick system is as easy as ever. The bails (wipeouts) have also been improved, so now they look more painful (and as some sadists would say, funny) than ever. The levels are much larger than they used to be, with the game taking you to a Foundry, Canada, and a couple other levels, all that are fun, including a couple familiar ones. Another new feature is that there are now pedestrians! Yes! You can now knock down innocent folk on the streets as you bomb around on your 4-wheeled steed. My only complaint is the fact that you can’t control the replays as well as you used to: no pause or slow-motion. On the other hand, you have preset camera shots (which are not static) and you can control the camera with the right analogue stick. Can Neversoft outdo themselves this year? Maybe.

Graphics (10/10)- PlayStation 2 visuals= raw power. It’s a shock to see graphics like these after the previous two games (which didn’t exactly lag in the graphics department, either), but you’ll get over it quickly. The blood (yes, you read that right: blood) effects have been dialed up a few notches, with smear and smash effects. Watching a skater get hit by a car and then slide several yards with blood smearing on the ground below them is something you’ll never forget. The various level effects are still nice. It’s amazing that the framerate is consistent with such large levels. All the other touches look good, too.

Sound (9/10)- If this game doesn’t sound good yet, then this proves that it sounds good (pun intended). You can hear the pedestrians pretty clearly, but a big part was that the soundtrack has been improved. While I think the first game has the best, this is probably the second best. They’ve kept the same amount of rap, but they’ve added more of the other stuff, including the oddly funny (in my opinion) ''I’m Destroying the World'' by Guttermouth. Some bands include Alien Ant Farm, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rollins Band, and Reverend Horton Heat. Good soundtrack, but be careful to review the songs before downloading them off the Internet, because some offensive stuff that was cut out in the game will be present in the real version.

Controls (10/10)- As always, Neversoft uses easy-to-remember controls. X is the all-important Ollie button, R2 switches your stance, and L1 or R1 makes you spin. The other buttons are used in conjunction with the control pad/left analogue stick to perform tricks. Square controls kick tricks, Circle controls grab tricks, and Triangle controls your grinds. Pressing up and then down or vice-versa makes you manual/nose manual (think “wheelie”), and the R2 button lets you do a Pivot at this time. Also, Neversoft has thrown in hidden combos, performed during grinds or manuals, allowing you to string tricks together without jumping.

Multiplayer (9/10)- Fun, fun, fun. You can blast through whatever levels you have with whatever skaters you have in several different modes. The only real complaint I have is that the screen is split in half, making the view smaller, but most people get over this after a while.

Replayability (7.5/10)- If you have any friends, this will get a lot of replay time. You’ll also want to go and unlock the hidden boards, characters, levels, and characters, too. However, after doing that, you’re probably not going to want to do it again.

Buy or Rent?- You’d be crazy to waste $5 renting this. Go run out and buy it. If you’re not sure, play it at a friend’s house or rent it, but I still say you’re going to want to buy this, unless you have some intense hatred of anything related to skateboarding.

Overall- Skates into a perfect 10 out of 10.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 04/12/02, Updated 04/12/02