Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3

"The best extreme sports game ever made! And it's Online!"

This was my 2nd game for the PlayStation 2 and I was definitely not disappointed in it. The game amazed me. I first got interested in skateboarding because of a demo of Grind Session from OPM (Official PlayStation Magazine) even though it wasn't that great. I soon borrowed Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 from someone and I was playing it a lot. It was a very fun game to play! I had it for about a month and I still played it a lot. That's how good it was. Then when I bought PlayStation 2 and already had GTA3, which was an amazing game, then 2 days later I got Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 and I actually played it around the same as GTA3, that's how fun it was. It's also Online but at the time the Network Adaptor wasn't available but it is now. My skills from THPS2 and 3 had paid off after I did really good in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 Online around a year later, when the Network Adaptor was released, and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 was now playable online. All I can say is I really enjoyed it!

Gameplay
Offline - 10/10
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 has the best offline gameplay out of the 4 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games out now, to me. THPS4 is good but I personally think this was the best. You have 2 minutes to go around, doing objectives like: Obtain a High, Pro and Sick Score, collect the S-K-A-T-E letters and other cool things. There is one secret level that you can get after you beat the last medal competition and there are 3 unlockable levels from the first Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games like: Warehouse, Burnside and Roswell. There are 9 levels in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (including the secret level) and 3 unlockable levels in total. Many times I just like to Free Skate and do lines, link vert moves with the new Revert. This game is very fun to play and everyone should at least try this game.

Online - 10/10
Online play in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 is very fun and if you haven't tried it, you should. You can have 1-4 players online in a room. There are 4 online game modes which are: Trick Attack, Graffiti, Slap! and King of the Hill. When you make or join a game you will start in Free Skate and you can just do that if you want. I find it very fun to just play Free Skate and talk to other people. Especially if you have a USB Keyboard like me. It's really worth buying and it's only $20 ($30 Canadian). You should be able to find one at your local EB Games. That's where I got mine. The thing that I like about Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 online is that there isn't much lag. So other players are actually moving pretty smooth and it looks pretty sweet. The online gameplay in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 can be very fun and I really enjoyed it.

Graphics
Offline - 10/10
Ah yes, the graphics in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 are just outstanding! They were very well done. With the smooth 60 frames per second framerate it makes the game even better. The graphics from THPS2 were great for PlayStation and now THPS3 looks just amazing on PlayStation 2. What a jump from 2 to 3. Character models were very well done and looks realistic. You can see from the real videos of skaters that they look just like they do in real-life as in the game. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 uses only one graphics engine, which is what you always see (beside the real videos). I think it good that there are no CG Videos because when it goes from CG to real-time in other games you really notice the difference. But in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 it is always the same and looks amazing. Skateboards are also very detailed and you can choose from many decks. You can also create a skater and create your own skate park. The skaters and parks that you make look awesome and adds a cool effect to the game. Graphics in every game is very important and Neversoft really knows what their doing.

Online - 10/10
The graphics in online are the same is in offline. Everything is very detailed, you can play other people's parks which look great and you can see their custom skaters that they made. People tend to create their own skater and play online with that. I use Tony Hawk, but his clothes are different.

Sound
Offline - 10/10
The sound in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 is great! There are around 20 songs, from my memory and they seem like great skating songs and it's nice to listen to songs that you like while playing the game. In THPS3 there are a variety of good songs and I'm sure you'll like a lot of them. Voices are from real people in the game and what ever the skaters say, that's their real voices. Sound effects like when you land and jump are realistic and you can hear you skateboard moving, which sounds amazing. Just like a real skateboard. When you grind on rails and other grindable things it makes a realistic sound. When you switch you can hear you wheels scraping against the ground as you change your stance which is cool.

Offline
The sound is the pretty much the same online but you can also here sound effects from other skaters that are near you. You can listen to a different song than someone else is in the game, that's pretty cool.

Control
Offline - 10/10
The control in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 is great and perfect for a skateboarding game! I found it great and I don't have any complaints about it. There is a new trick in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 where you can link vert tricks by using the R2 Button right when you land. After you do this, quickly go into a manual and do another trick. This move is very helpful to getting high scores in a half-pipe, a bowl or other vert areas. While skating, you can even reposition the camera from behind your skater to anywhere around your skater, by using the right analog stick. It can be hard to skate from certain views but it looks pretty cool and can be a good challenge.

Online - 10/10
Excellent control online and offline, although it is the same. When you type a message your skater will automatically stop and will start going again once your finished.

Replay Value
Offline - 10/10
It takes awhile to beat Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 but I'd say it's worth the play time. In order to beat the entire game you'll have to beat the game 22 times! Each time you beat the game you'll unlock either a new skater, a new level or a new cheat. That's a lot to do and should keep you busy for awhile. There is MANY gaps in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 and it should take a long time to find them all. If you beat the whole game then you should start looking for all the gaps. You can also play your own parks which you can create. Or you can just play an already made created park by Neversoft. There is a lot to do in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3. And once you beat the entire game, just play Free Skate and it's still fun!

Online - 10/10
Online play in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 is very fun and deserves a lot of play time. Some of you may not know it but this game is online. It says on the back and people still play it online, even though Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 is online too. There are 4 game modes to play online and can be very fun. You can play in any level you want and even your own or someone else's created park. You can have a lot of fun in the world of online!

Rent or Buy?
Definitely buy! Even if you haven't played a skateboarding game before. Even if you don't skate. I don't skate but I find this game very fun and amazing. The Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series is the king of all skateboarding games. You should definitely pick this game up. And it's Greatest Hits now so it's only $20 ($30 Canadian). That is an awesome deal for such an amazing game. If you don't have this game you should definitely go out and buy it.

Overall - 10/10
Yes, I did give this game all tens. But it deserves it. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 is a sweet game and should be owned by anyone with a PS2. This game is a MUST HAVE! Honestly, if you are reading this review and you don't have the game you are probably interested in getting it. All I have to say is get it! Don't worry, you'll love it.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 04/11/03, Updated 04/11/03