JiggyJay's Full Review: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 for PlayStation 2
You know what’s weird? Every Tony Hawk game that I get, I don’t play it or read a review about it first. I just get it. It’s the same thing with Mat Hoffman’s Pro BMX, I don’t have to play it, I just know that it’s going to be a good EXTREME sport game. I’m glad I didn’t “just get” the Shaun Palmer game. In THPS3 there is a demo of SPPS. I played it and didn’t like it. I still rented it. I thought “The demo just sucked. The real game is going to be better.” The game sucked. I owe it all to THPS3.
When I first picked up my copy of THPS3, the store clerk (who I sort of know. His name’s Gary. Sometimes he comes up to me on the street and asks me “What’s the next game you gonna get?” I always tell me the same thing: “It depends.” You see, I probably buy a new game every month. I rent probably 2 games a month that I read reviews on and if I like them and I have 30 or 50 bucks in my pocket I’ll buy it. Anyway…) says to me “Jeez, dude. Don’t you already have this already?” I shook my head and he puts it in a bag. “Everybody has been buying this game. What’s so good about a skateboarding game?” I smiled and told him all I knew about the game. He stared at me awestruck and nodded. I walked out of the store blushing. He probably thought that I was some nerd trying to be cool by getting a skateboarding game. That’s the coolest thing about the Tony Hawk games. Everyone can play it. I can’t skateboard and I’m not going to try and that doesn’t mean that I can’t enjoy the games. I can’t even balance on a skateboard but I can still do a 900. I love Tony Hawk games not because I think I’m cool because I’m playing a skateboarding game so I’m in the “in-crowd”. I play because the games are fun.
THPS3 tops all the other ones I think. There’s better graphics, better controls, and more tricks. One of the new tricks I think that helps out a lot is the “revert” which lets you string more tricks to your combo by pressing R2 or L2 at the end of a trick on a vert ramp. It’s very helpful. Again, the controls are very easy like in the other games. The square button lets you do kick flips and tricks like that, the circle button lets you do melons and tricks like that, and the triangle button lets you grind. Also once you do enough tricks, your Special Meter goes up so that you can do a Special Trick like a 900 or something. The camera angles are very better the other games. The camera is DIRECTLY behind you character not far away like the other games.
On the start menu you have 7 modes (Free Skate, Single Session, Career, 2 Player, Network Play, Save, and Tutorial.). Career lets you progress in the game by doing goals. Single Session lets you set high scores in case you’re one of those people who have to top yourself. Free Skate helps you get used to the game and lets you explore each level. Save lets you save the game (of course). Tutorial shows you how to skate in the game. What makes it so great is that Tony Hawk himself tells you how to do tricks in the game. 2 Player lets you play with a friend. You have 5 mini-games: Graffiti, King of the Hill, Slap!, Horse, Trick Attack. In Graffiti, you have to mark your territory by tricking off objects and have more territory than your friend. Slap! is played by slapping your opponent as many times as you can. The most slaps someone gets loses. In Trick Attack, you have to bust out as much tricks as you can in 2 minutes. If you get a better score than your opponent, you win. In King of the Hill, you have to find a hidden crown in a level. Once you find it, you win.
The levels are:
The Foundry
Canada
Rio [career contest 1- “Quicksilver Rio Ruckus”]
Suburbia
Airport (my favorite)
Skater’s Island [career contest- “King of the Coast Jams”]
Los Angeles
Tokyo [career contest 3- “Mega Mecha Mayhem”
What I admire most about the levels is that they are H U G E! Every level has a lot of detail. Probably the biggest level is LA. That is my second favorite level. In all the levels you can interact with everything. I love this part of the game. At the end of the year when hopefully THPS4 comes out, I hope the levels are as good—no—GREAT as this.
The characters are:
Tony Hawk (of course)
Steve Caballero (my second favorite)
Kareem Campbell
Rune Glifberg
Eric Koston (my third favorite)
Bucky Lasek (MY FAVORITE!)
Bam Margera
Rodney Mullen
Chad Muska
Andrew Reynolds
Geoff Rowley
Elissa Steamer
Jamie Thomas
Darth Maul
Wolverine
Kelly Slater (yes the surfer!)
These are all the skaters I’ve unlocked so far. The game is awesome. All the characters are good in their own way. The best Special (once you get this game and beat it) is the Force Grab by Darth Maul (from Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace) and The Berserker by Wolverine. Those specials are amazing.
Something new in THPS3 is Create-A-Skater. Yes, you heard me right; you can actually create a skater. You can pick from the shoes they wear to where their tattoos should be to what color their hair should be. Neversoft did a great job inventing this part of the game. They were VERY creative.
Personally, I haven’t hooked my PS2 to the internet yet, so I haven’t played with other people. But from what I heard, it’s totally worth it to get a modem to play THPS3 online. I heard that you create an account, than you can play King of the Hill and other multiplayer games with other people across the country. You can type in things to say to the people and you can either start a game or join one. It looks fun to me folks.
THE GRADING: 1-5
SOUND: 5/5
Every time you fall down, you’re guy or girl goes “OW”. It’s great. When cars go by or hit you, you can here their voices yelling at you or when their honking at you. When you’re in a competition and you fall, you can hear people boo you or when you land a great trick you can hear them cheering you on. The sound is great. The music is also amazing. You hear music from “Red Hot Chili Peppers”, “Alien Ant Farm”, “Redman”, “Rollins Band”, “Xzibit”, and even Kareem Campbell raps a song. Great music and sound, boys and girls!
GRAPHICS: 5/5
The graphics are beautiful. From the wonderful camera angles to the sparks flying as you grind. Unlike the other games, it’s not scratchy graphics at all, they are (as people say) as clear as crystal. Also, when you beat the game a couple times and watch the videos that you have unlocked, those too are amazing. It’s like watching a DVD. All the extras are amazing.
CONTROL: 5/5
You only really use 3 buttons the square, triangle, and circle button most of the time. It’s easy to land tricks and string big combos with the manual and the revert. With all the new tricks that they have added like the Cannonball, double kick flip, and stuff, it makes THPS3 a very rich experience.
REPLAY VALUE: 4/5
It would take you months and months to beat THPS3 fully. There are so many movies to unlock, so many characters to unlock, and all that. Plus you can create a lot of new characters and build a lot of new parks to skate in. And plus, you can look at all the built-in extra parks that the creators have put into the park editor to keep you company.
OVERALL:
I loved this game and so will you. THPS3 has thrilled me like all the other Tony Hawk games and I hope Activision and Neversoft NEVER stop making them. If—when—you buy THPS3, also pick up these other great hits:
SSX
SSX Tricky
Mat Hoffman’s Pro BMX
Shaun Palmer’s Pro Snowboarder (JUST KIDDING)
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2
What are you doing still reading my review?! Go out and get THPS3!!!!! NOW!
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