Not many games have had as big of an impact on the videogaming community as a whole, as has the Tony Hawk series. Spawning numerous knock-offs and imitations, it still maintains it superiority and remains the premiere extreme sports title during this generation. But in being a great game it still has to improve on it's predecessor in one way or another or the series gets stale, and risks falling into the category of "rehash". Does Tony Hawk get it right for the 4th time? In some ways yes, in others, well not so much.
Anyone familiar with the THPS series will not have any problems getting into and getting good at the fourth installment in the series. The trick system has been tweaked and refined even further, with minor additions, but all in all it's the same trick system we've seen in the past games in the series. The differences lie mainly in the vastness of the levels, and the absence of timed levels. No longer is the gamer required to complete a set of ten goals to advance to the next level, which to me takes away some of the tension or urgency present in the first three games. There are timers, but they are only used after you find a NPC and accept a goal. The goals are the same or similar as they have been in the past: get a high score, grind around a ledge, perform a certain trick over a gap, etc. There are unique goals thrown in there as well, such as feeding sea lions who have a man cornered, or ride in the prone position thru a slalom course. Some of the goals are inventive, and others just more of the same, but I do miss the overall time limits imposed previously that make it a little more challenging. Some people may not mind, but I know others like myself will as well, so I thought it was worth mentioning. If you've never played a Tony Hawk game before, then the gameplay may be fresh and new to you, and the time limits may or may not be an issue to you. If you've played the THPS games before and didn't like them then, there's nothing in this one to change your mind this time around. Of course, for fans of the series, this is just the next evolution, and you should be pretty content with what's available in THPS4.
The graphics in THPS4 puzzle me. I have played all the games in the Tony Hawk series from the Dreamcast until now, and have always seen a gradual improvement in the character models as well as the environment. Until THPS4. The environments are improved, as they have better textures, and the clipping is minimal, but the character models are a huge step down from the models seen in the Xbox version of THPS3. as much as I tried to tell myself they weren't degraded, I couldn't help but notice the difference when I created my same skater I used in THPS3 using the THPS4 create-a-skater feature. The models are not smooth, and the clothing textures are much less detailed, which leads me to believe the extra time spent developing the Xbox version of THPS3 was not spent on the Xbox version of THPS4 in order to get it done in time for a simultaneous release on all three consoles. This is understandable, but it's still a disappointment. On the other hand, the animations are smoother than ever, and the characters now fall in various positions depending on what they were doing when they fell, instead of a set two or three positions they used to. The draw distance is good though, and restarting and loading levels takes minimal load time.
Neversoft gets big points in the sound department for now having the actual pro skater's voices in the game, and having them speak to give you the goals in each level. The music is typical THPS fare, with punk, rap, hip hop and classics to groove to, but you can also opt to use your own soundtrack if the ones included with the game do not do anything for you. Surrounding environmental sounds and the sound of your skateboard on various surfaces are good, and NPC's outside of the pro skaters are amusing as well.
Having system link does give some points to the Neversoft boys, but making the Xbox version incompatible with Xbox Live takes some away too. The game is system link playable, but that?"s not quite what most gamers were hoping for. While I had no intention of playing the game online, many gamers were, and were disappointed with the exclusion of a XBL compatible version. Nevertheless, the multiplayer modes from past games are included as well as a couple of other new modes to liven up the play. Also included is the now standard skate park editor, once again slightly improved but pretty much the same setup as it was in the past games in the series.
I can't help but feel somewhat disappointed in Tony Hawk?"s Pro Skater 4. It follows the same formula as it's predecessors, but for some reason the game just doesn't seem as fun as THPS3 was. To me THPS 3 is still the pinnacle of the series, although THPS4 is very good as well. Gamers anxious to cut their teeth on the THPS series, I'd personally recommend THPS3 over THPS4, but for gamers who just can't get enough of Tony, this one is right up your alley.
