Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4

"If you want to skate, even though it might be a bore, go out and get THPS 4."

Another year, yet another Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater out for a bazillion consoles and handhelds. Ever since this great series started, it’s been about just one thing. Skate your frickin heart out, bust all the cool tricks you can do, and most of all, try not to fall on your ass. With the second game came the addition of a Gap Checklist and a Skatepark editor. The third game had the new revert move as its reason to buy, plus all new challenges. Now the fourth THPS is out, it’s new feature is…well…in my opinion there really is nothing new here, save for a few minigames. THPS4 could be a good game, but it suffers from what I like to call SOS. No, it’s not some sort of Morse code message. It basically means “Same Old ****”

I really have to give Mr. Hawk a hand for being able to still come up with some interesting stuff in his games. For one thing, in this game, there is no time limit (Thank God!), and basically, you choose your goals, not just have them set out on a platter in front of you before the level begins. The one problem is that, Mr. Hawk is being a real trickster (HAHAHA, that was a kneeslapper!!!), lying to you about there being no time limit. In reality, all of the challenges you face will have time limits to them, basically nullifying this statement.

There are around twelve regular levels to skate around in, such as San Francisco, a college campus, and London, and a few levels that are unlockables, once you earn the cash. Every skater remains intact from the last game, including Mr. Jackass himself, Bam Magera. You can pick one of these twelve skaters to use in career mode, or, once you get the cash, you can get a couple of unlockable skaters.

The main idea in this pro skater is to skate around the levels and find people to give you pro challenges. These challenges can come from many different people; some even come from your fellow skaters. There are 16 challenges in each level, and each of these can give you pro points. Pro points will give you the chance to unlock Pro Challenges unique to what skater you’re using, and will give you cash and stat points. Stat points can make your skater better in certain areas. Early on, the challenges will be very diverse, such as skitching to the back of a stolen car, hopping float to float on a parade, and even saving a painter from some sharks. Of course, there are the less interesting challenges, such as collecting the “S-K-A-T-E” letters, getting all the COMBO letters in one combo, and Pro Score challenges, which challenge you to, you guessed it, get a high score. Early on, the diverse challenges will outweigh the boring ones, but the game begins to get stale after just the second level, unfortunately.

It seems that the developers ran out of ideas, because after the first few levels, the diverse challenges will eventually just begin to be recycled over and over, just in a different form. Skating through a rollerblade course on the first level was fun, but after doing literally the same thing in three levels after that, it gets to be very tedious. Also, after awhile, the game will begin to shift its diverse challenges into ones that have been used in the last three games. Heck, you even have to ollie over the magic bum five times again, ala THPS2. And, staying with fashion, the challenges that were less interesting before get even less interesting. Not by way of boredom however, it’s just that the game comes up with completely ridiculous combo lines and SKATE hunts that only the nimblest of fingers could achieve in the two minutes you’re allowed.

At least the tricks stay varied for the most part. You’re allowed to have four specials to start off with, and you can use some of the cash you earn on tour to buy special slots, so you can use even more special tricks. Every character has at least one move specific to him or herself. My favorite was Bam’s trick aptly called “The Jackass”. When in a pro score challenge, specials can come in very handy, although you have to bust other tricks in order to get these. There are simple tech tricks like the kickflip, or you can bust out a Japan or Melon. Doing two tricks at once can get you a combo going, which means double the points. Keep a trick going using manuals or reverts, and you can get some serious points. It is a lot of fun to try and keep a trick going, and this adds a lot of value to the game.

Throughout the game, you might come upon some special games or challenges. These challenges mainly come in the form of minigames like Basketball, or Baseball. This was one of the major things touted in most previews; the ability to stop skating and play a different sport if you want to. Too bad nearly all these games are horrible. Tennis consists of you hitting a tennis ball back and forth, only here, you use your skateboard as a racquet. Not only does it look just plain dumb, but the rules are all wrong. There is no Deuce involved, and you are the only one that serves the whole time. As for Baseball, you use your board yet again to hit baseballs. And that’s…pretty much it. No baserunning or anything. Neversoft should stick to skateboarding.

The level design for the game is easily the highest point of the game, rivaling most action games in their quality. There are literally tons upon tons of places to get a combo going, and there is just so much variety in where kickers, halfpipes and ramps are placed. Everything looks so crisp and colorful, and there is no hint of slowdown anywhere. Also, the levels are huge, so no matter what, you’ll be able to find your spot for a good combo. Lastly, the character models are also done quite well, with each skater looking exactly like his or her real life component. Bravo.

Controlling your skater, unfortunately, isn’t as well done as the level design. Even with your skaters turning ability to the tightest it can be, you need a very big area to do a 180 if you’ve missed a skate letter or an item. If you’re strapped for time in a challenge, trust me, if you missed something, you’re done. Also, it is hard to do tricks that require diagonal pushes on the controller, since you will have to do them a lot to score big points. Finally, it just hurts your hands after awhile to play with the big piece of plastic that is the xbox controller. After an hour of play, you’ll have blisters, guaranteed.

Finally, another one of the better features in the new Hawk game is the Custom Soundtrack. Unless old school punk or some hip hop is your cup of tea, chances are you’re not going to like much of the songs on the THPS4 soundtrack. The in game sounds are very clear, and all the skaters at least have some lines in the game, so Kudos to Neversoft on that.

In closing, Neversoft has once again created a very polished game with a lot of variety and fun. Unfortunately, the control problems, bland challenges, and the fact that you’re basically playing a game that you’ve at least experienced once before (If you haven’t played any of the THPS games…hoser.), make this game just an above average title, not a Game Of The Year contender like the first two, maybe even three games were. If you are a fan of THPS, then by all means, pick this game up. Just don’t expect to play anything new.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/07/02, Updated 12/07/02