EdTeach's Full Review: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 for PlayStation 2
Tony Hawk (The Person) is a huge success story. He's taken a lifestyle sport from infamy to pure domination. He's been on top of his sport forever, but there just weren't enough skaters to promote him to rock star status (not that he's into that).
Well it was a combination of venues like the X-Games and Gravity Games that helped to start building that new non-skateboarding fan base that the sport needed (Although I still question this statement). Well things exploded when Tony Hawk Pro Skater (THPS) came on to the scene. Not only was it the most accurate portrayal of skateboarding (although admittedly over the top), but it was an amazingly fun game.
Pretty soon high school jocks were talking about frontside 180 nollie heelflips. Could you imagine the look on the face of the local skate punks when they heard that?
Well the title's success and it's undoubtably great software design has made it one of the most ported games to date. I own THPS for the PS1, THPS2 for the PC and GBA, and THPS3 for the PS2. That's saying a lot.
Super Fast
Maybe it's a hardware thing, but THPS3 on the PS2 is lightning fast. I really couldn't get over how furious the pace was. I mean, this is how fast skating really is...especially if you're going big. Unfortunately little mistakes end up as big wipe outs too.
And THPS3 keeps with the theme of big (probably too big) moves. THPS was never really rooted too firmly in reality. But THPS3 includes a level in Canada where you can actually ride over some serious offroad terrain. Maybe if they would have allowed Mountain Boards, I could buy it (Hint Hint).
Overall, this newest edition is fast and much more fun than the previous. Unfortunately this means that my 14 year old nephew with is uncanny reactions times has now got an unfair advantage over me.
Career Play
THPS has always earned major kudos for it's career play. Many other titles have followed suit because they realize how addicting it is unlocking stats, videos, secret sections of maps, et al. I never thought I would spend so much time unlocking a quick little video.
The career mode plays similar to the previous. You pick a skater that has meager ratings in the various stats. You have an option of skating only a few of the levels. So you try to accomplish as many of the goals (9 per level or place in a competition) during your 2 minute runs. As you accomplish those goals other levels open up. Then when you beat those levels you unlock stuff like videos or other skaters. It seems like a lot to do, but people everywhere are beating it over and over.
I'm a little disappointed that they changed the economy of the game. You used to earn cash that you could use for stats or products like new decks. Now you just earn stat points. This is maybe more realistic, because decks don't make you that much better. But at least they let you customize your grip tape now.
What if I'm not that motivated?
Well you can pick one of the pros or custom skaters and take them out for a ride with no pressure if you choose a Single Session or Free Skate. In a single session you get two minutes to rack up a high score, but in Free Skate you just tool around at your own pace. But unfortunately the most fun you get out of these levels is looking for hidden gaps and stuff...but there is no gap check list like in THPS2.
Network Multiplayer
THPS has always had great two player action, which makes it a great game for get-togethers. But they crossed into the world of network multiplayer. Due to the unavailablity of many networked PS2s, it's really hard to find a game right now. But when Sony finally releases their broadband adapter people will be able to utilize their network connections at home.
I'll speak to the gameplay as soon as I actually play it networked, but I though it might be nice to mention that they've slammed all kinds of options into their network menu. You can use the Ethernet Network adapter for PS2, then PPPoE (It's a popular flavor of DSL.) Adapter for PS2, or the Modem Adapter for PS2. But this is the cool part, if you can't wait on Sony for these accessories, you can use their USB counterparts. So you can use a USB Ethernet Adapter, a USB PPPoE Adapter, or a simple USB Modem Adapter. How sweet is that. I'll probably try to the USB Ethernet Adapter first.
Graphics and Muzak
The engine looks mostly the same, except faster as alluded to above. The graphics were definitely kicked up, but things still look mostly the same. They did throw a lot of nice finishing touches though: birds, whirlwinds, squirrels, and lots of pedestrians to assault. They're even funny. :) I just wish I could see more of them. OK, I'm complaining that it doesn't support widescreen. But not a lot of games do. I just thought it might be nice for this title so you could survey more of your surroundings.
And of course the game that redefined the role of soundtracks has done it again. Maybe I'm a little partial to the Reverend Horton Heat. :) I only wish that PS2 had a soundtrack feature like XBox. I'd love to slap my own MP3s on the PS2 as a soundtrack for this game. And I don't mean that in a bad way. The soundtrack is awesome, but when you've logged so many hours, it starts to get stale.
Odds and Ends
They've added a ton of new tricks. There are more parts in the Skatepark Editor. There's a new move called the revert. SA-WEET! You can finally pull a big vert move, revert right when you land and go into a manual. This is critical because there was no way to link a vert move in with a string of moves. Now I understand why the high score goals are so...well...high.
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