Rock_On's Full Review: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 for PlayStation 2
Back in the day (somewhere around 1999-2000), I received my first non-Nintendo console, the Playstation. With it I also got my favorite RPG of all time, Final Fantasy VII, however little did I know that an addiction almost as bad as crack, would come my way. That addiction would soon be Tony Hawks Pro Skater, the only REAL skateboarding game to hit consoles. From that moment on, I grew up with the Tony Hawk series, and now that another season has come, so does Tonys next skateboarding game, Tony Hawks Pro Skater 4.
Gameplay:
As the Tony Hawk games have steam rolled their way through the Playstation and PS2s life, and each new game has built upon the last whether it be graphics, control, tricks, new levels, etc. In the past Tony Hawks, you were given a set of 4 or 5 goals that you could choose to complete within a 2 minute time limit, and so you basically had to have a perfect run in order to complete more than one goal per run. People have lived with this for 3 versions of Tony Hawk, and so Neversoft has heard the communitys cries, which led the development of THPS4 to take a more significant route...
...and that route included a complete renovation of the Career mode. Now instead of only 5 or 6 pre-set goals and a 2 minute time limit that hinders the ability to retry a goal without having to restart the entire game, you have an unlimited amount of time to skate around and do whatever, and also goals are based on how they are in Chris Edwards Aggressive Inline, where you find people who are standing around each level and talk to them where youll receive your goal. A lot of the goals that you receive are similar to goals in the past Tony Hawk games, as they still include having you reach a certain amount of points, collecting S-K-A-T-E, etc., but there are also newer goals, such as collecting letters to spell out C-O-M-B-O in ONE trick.
Before you start the game, youll be able to choose your skater whether it be Tony Hawk, Bam Margera (from the show Jacka$$), Jamie Thomas, Geoff Rowley, etc., and each skater will have a certain set amount of skills which includes speed (how fast they skate), ollie, air, rail balance, spin, etc. When you complete a goal youll get a certain amount of money depending on how difficult the trick was, but about 90% of the goals you complete, youll also receive a pro/stat point, which y ou can use to improve your abilities (air, ollie, speed, etc.), and eventually youll max out your stats. Pro-points also tally up after completing more and more goals, and when you get a certain amount of points, youll be able to unlock another level. So you dont have to complete every single goal in a level to open up another level, just enough goals to get enough pro-points.
Now that all thats out of the way, on to a few other little details. Whether you choose a custom skater or take advantage of the create-a-skater (very nice feature indeed), youll be able to customize your character to your hearts desire. I of course picked Tony Hawk, but totally customized his look, and Ive created one of the coolest looking characters Ive ever seen. So, for that artistic ability in your heart, whether it be small or large, enjoy the customization (Its really fun, almost like being a girl and dressing... This is too small, these colors dont match, my hair is hideous etc., no offense girls). When you get enough money, youll be able to go to the pro shop and buy yourself a different skate board, other accessories for you to customize your skater, and other little things like that.
There are about 8 entirely new levels in THPS4, and each one will consist of its own set of 16 goals to complete. Most of the time the goals differ between levels, except for 3 or 4 of each set, which will always be reach X amount of points, collect S-K-A-T-E, and spell out C-O-M-B-O. Those 3 goals are in all eight levels, while the others differ according to each levels location. One thing you can always count on (well I can anyway) when it comes time for each new Tony Hawk to come out, is that there will always be a fresh new set of levels you can conquer in each new game.
Now for the engine in the plane, which would be the tricks (sorry, bad pun). Every single Tony Hawk has relied on some sort of a single type of trick where most of the game would be circled around one trick. In THPS4, there are less ramps than there have ever been in any of the previous games, and more places to grind, which means that a lot of times in THPS4 youll be grinding from place to place. Now I'm not saying that there are NO ramps, just that the game focuses more on stringing grinds and manuals together for massive combos. Of course tricks in the game havent really changed much over the years; you still press the square button to perform a variety of kick flips, the O button to perform grab tricks (Japan, airwalk, 900), and of course the triangle button to grind. Whenever youre trying to do a trick, youll always press one way on the d-pad, and also the button of the trick you want to do, which is why you use the D-Pad (or analog stick if you really want to). Pressing different ways on the D-Pad is what allows you to perform different tricks, so experiment to see which direction on the pad does what trick.
Aside from the original arsenal of tricks, there are also newer tricks and techniques added, including the new Spine, which you use as you go off a ramp, where you can transfer ramp to ramp (ramps that are back to back that is). The Spine technique is very useful and used in a variety of ways, and can be used to create a real diverse use of each set of ramps. One of the tricks Ive had a harder time with is the manual, no...not a regular manual, Im talking about popping a wheelie (or 2 wheels for the technicalities out there) right after coming down from the jump, and stringing the jump together with your manual to create a combo. Sounds easy, but difficult to learn and hard to master. Another new trick, which I dont consider a trick at all, is being able to skitch behind cars, or grab on to the back of one and hang-on (and the thing is, you actually get points for it). And now last but not least, I come to the flatland tricks. YES these wer incorporated in THPS3, however they didnt really have much work put into them, and so I didnt mess with them much. So, now that THPS4 is here, I shall consider them new. The flatland tricks are my favorite tricks to do, and Ive been online for hours just chatting with other people and having fun just screwing around with flatland tricks. Anyway, flatland tricks include a variety of manuals such as the Pogo (self-explanatory), fireworks (this ones interesting), Yeahhh baby (just wait till you see it), and then theres my favorite, the Lazy a$$ manual (oh. my. gosh...I love this one).
One problem that has probably infected peoples brains like the plague, is the fact that while getting better and better at each release, the realism of the series has also gone more and more down. This isnt always a bad thing, because the game is still awesome, but a lot of fans have been turned away because of how much the realism has lowered since the original Tony Hawk. So in case youre interested in History (and if youre not, stop whining), the original Tony Hawk on Playstation was almost as realistic as a game could get at that time; Tony Hawk 2 had some mixed reactions, but was still realistic enough; and then Tony Hawk 3 came out, and this is where a lot of people drew the big phat (yes with ph) line. So, not that it bothers me any because the game is as addictive as hell (too addictive for anybodys good health, or maybe thats GTA: Vice City).
Having only played Tony Hawk 3 on my Gamecube last year, it had taken me awhile to adjust to the analog stick, however once I grew fond of it, I was busting out moves like Michael Jackson. But, for an as of yet announced reason (*cough* online *cough*), I decided to go PS2 this year. With that, came a bit of re-adjusting to back before I played THPS3 on GC, and also a few cramps. For one, the PS2 controller just isnt meant for excessive amounts of play, especially when youre moving as much as you do in THPS4, while the GC controller is rounded to contour the shape of your hands, where cramps were far and between. So anyway, the controls in THPS4 are just as good as they have been, and are even better this year for optimized performance.
Now Im sure youre bored with me babbling on about the game and well...get over it, but since Im nice lets go over the different game modes. First off, of course youve got the career mode, which is where you'll most likely spend a lot of your time, then theres single session where if you felt like you werent challenged enough with no time limit, and so this is where you go to play old-school Tony with the 2 minute limit; and then youve got the Free Skate which serves ABSOLUTELY no point in the game. I mean, the career mode has all ready been changed to free skate right? So why another? These guys must REALLY be smokin something. Anyway, aside from O2s stupidness, theres the 2-player mode where you can go to complete against your good buddy next to you (be careful, that buddy term can soon be terminated). For the creative souls, the create-a-skater and build a park modes are back, and so have at it. Next we come too...
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Online:
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Im sure that anybody whos anybody would know that I am all for the consoles going online, and for those who dont, you do now. Anyway, there are very few games that are out now that are online for PS2. SOCOM: U.S. Navy Seals, Twisted Metal Black: ONLINE, Madden 2003, Tribes: Aerial Assault, NFL 2k3, THPS3 (even though it came out MONTHS before the network adapter did), and now THPS4 has joined the growing bandwagon, working its way up right net to almost being as good as SOCOM (which has currently been my addiction since August 28th). THPS4 allows users using ay connection to come and show off their mad skills (meaning both dial-up and broadband users can join). First of all, youll have to go through some sort of set-up/registration for the game, and this takes about 5 seconds and then its time to restart the system for the effects to take place, and now youre ready to go online.
Once you start to connect, the connecting screen will come up, and then once youre connected youll be able to pick a list of regions, and then a list of servers/games will start to appear on the right hand size. If youve got a saved player from the career mode, he/she will automatically load and you can use them, or you can edit your skaters appearance some more or even choose a new skater if you like. So anyway, the maximum amount of players able to skate on a single map is 8, however people who host games can change that number to 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, etc. Its usually pretty easy to get in a game, however the problems lie within each map, as you could get be booted at any time, and I think the fastest time I got booted while in a game was about 2 seconds after joining.
The games allowed to play online include a lot of the original 2-player games, which means Graffiti and Trick Attack are back (sorry, no horse). However there are a bunch of NEW games to play, including Capture the Flag (figures, now skateboarding games are including CTF), Slap Attack (you have to knock your opponents down), King of the Hill, and even a mini-game like mode where you lay on your board and race down a hill. This is really quite fun, and can become addicting after playing it for awhile. You dont really get anything for winning any of the competitions except for maybe bragging rights (dont brag too much, Santa doesnt like gloating).
While you wait for a game to start, youll be in free-skate; where you can chat, show off, and screw around until the next game starts. Aside from actually joining games, you can also host a game, where youll have total control over which games you play and stuff like that, and you can even load a park you made in the park editor onto the net for others to download or for you to use on the game youre hosting.
The overall online experience is incredible, and takes the phrase its just a game to new meanings. There arent nearly as many bugs as in SOCOM, like getting disconnected from the entire network, and the game freezing out of nowhere (keep in mind everything that goes on in SOCOM). The single player is great, 2-player is always great, and the online play takes the game up to new heights (remember, I had THPS3 for GC, so I couldnt play online with it(. Also, the PS2 version of THPS4 is the only one to include online play, so like Madden 2003 its exclusive to all who own a PS2.
Graphics:
Along with great, GREAT gameplay revisions every year, and as more technology is coming of age, the graphics have always been to-notch in each and every game, even the Gameboy Advance version. The skater models get better and better every year, whether it be the realisticness of their bodies and faces with cuts on their shins and scrapes on their knees, to the clothes, hats, glasses, shoes, socks, etc. that theyre wearing. Like I said, the graphics are definitely eating at the lunch table with the best of the best, bar none.
All of the levels span a massive amount of area, and so there really shouldnt be any kind of down and boring time where theres nothing to do because the levels are so big. Heck, if the stupid 2 minute time limit was still in the game, Itd take you a couple 2 minute sessions to explore every part of the level. Levels are full of different kinds of rails, benches, buildings, etc. that pertain to the location of each area. In the college level, it looks like a giant college campus with lots of benches and rails to grind; the Alcatraz level actually has an area where you can go into the jail area, and it actually looks like the real place. In last years Tony Hawk (THPS3 for those who havent followed along), there were some issues with a few frame rate drops in the Gamecube version, so since I never played the PS2 edition, I figured that it was just an error made when it was being ported over. So anyway, after an extensive amount of time playing THPS4, Ive noticed little ton o problems with the frame rate, however I didn't notice some slowdown when I was trying to do multiple grinds and flatland tricks in a row for a massive combo. That, however, was the only time I had seen any kind of slowdown. For those who play online, most of the slowdown you see isnt actually slow down, but is all the lag from the dial-up users (rule of thumb, pay attention to the ping of each game before joining).
Overall, the graphics are yet again, simply amazing. The physics of the game are almost perfect, and I have yet to find a skateboarding game that out-does the Tony Hawk games. I dont bheelieve there will be many people who will stop playing the game being dissatisfied.
Sound:
The Tony Hawk series is just full of controversial subjects, [1] People are complaining about the realistic value of the game decreasing as each new game is released (it might start to look like Air Blade... *shivers*) and [2] People are complaining about how rap doesnt really coincide with the kind of gameplay that the Tony Hawk games sport. My take on this whole ordeal? I dont really care, I love the games so much that the use of Rap doesnt even scratch the surface of being not appropriate. However, I dont care whether there is rap or not, but I also partially agree with those who think rap is bad, because the way the game flows, rap doesnt really flow WITH the game. My favorite Tony Hawk soundtrack would have to be in the original Tony Hawk, where classic titles like Superman and Psycho B!tch ran through your head like dancing sugar plums.
Enough history, the soundtrack for THPS4 has nearly doubled the amount of tracks available over THPS3, and includes a greater mix of old, new, rock, rap, etc., so youre not swamped with one genre that you dont like. Ive always had a favorite song in all the Tony Hawks, and my personal favorite for this game would have to be AC/DCs classic TNT. Ive always liked AC/DC, and when I first heard the song play in the first level when I first started the game, I about peed my pants. Anyway, there is a real diverse soundtrack in this Tony Hawk, and so there will most likely be at LEAST one song that pertains to your liking. Of course, if you dont like a song or group of songs, then you can always go in and turn off those that you dont like (sort of like Gran Turismo 3, where I turned off all the songs except for When Worlds Collide).
Now that we got a little extensive on the music, I think its time to see how well sound effects have gotten over the years. When youre creating a game to be slightly realistic, the sound needs to be fairly good each time, and O2 HAS gotten the sounds right every time, and theyve done nothing but improve the sound f the skateboards wheels as you roll across different environments (grass, pavement, wood, etc.), the way it sounds when you come down onto a ramp, and also the distinctive sounds that youll hear when you crash. Now instead of just letting out a whimper when your skater falls, theyll yell out in pain. If you prefer music over sound effects, then turn the FX volume down and the music up, however if you prefer game FX over music, then do the complete opposite. Of course if neither matters, just dont touch the different volumes and do what youre suppose to do.
Rocks Thoughts:
Overall, Tony Hawks Pro Skater 4 soared to infinite and WAY beyond my expectations for it. The same great Tony goodness is back with better graphics, more and cooler tricks (read: lazy a$$ manual), better sound, and the whole damn game has been completely revamped. The replay value goes through the roof with over 120 goals to complete (trust me, some of them aint easy), a TON of different gaps (where you jump from one thing to another without touching the ground) per level, there are new hidden characters that are a blast to play with once unlocked (including a certain somebody from the Star Wars universe, excluding Darth Maul), and...lets just say this, THPS4 is the butter on the corn, cheese on the sandwich, and hair on your head. Just like GTA: VC, every PS2 owner should own THPS4, and thats no joke.
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