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| Activision |
Neversoft |
Sports |
1-2 |
Teen |
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
Reviewed by: PrinceVegeta
These past few years have been filled with great gaming series, and the Tony Hawk Franchise is no exception. That's right. Tony Hawk and his buds are back for another round of woodpushing, and they're better than ever.
Gameplay: Certainly by now, nearly all gamers have tried a Tony Hawk game, or at least heard of it. THPS is known for it's general appeal for a broad audience, with simple controls and extravagant moves. In previous Hawk games, you have two minutes to complete a run, finishing as many as many challenges you possibly can in the allotted time. Following the Aggressive Inline style, the clock has been banished, and the stages are over twice the size as their predecessors. The only place you will see the clock is during a challenge, in which you must talk to one of the people in these levels. Each has their own persona, and hands out different challenges to you. Some include knocking dirty brats down, luge racing, and skitching on a car. That's how diverse this game is. And what's even better, is the mini-games.
Every level has their fair share of mini-games, ranging from dodgeball with monkeys using their feces to tennis using your skateboard. And all of these options are easy to use. Winning a challenge earns you money, as do the mini-games. The money is then used to unlock some of the many hidden secrets and levels, which is quite a new concept to the series. Over all, this has the most depth of any Skateboarding game on the market.
Graphics: The graphics in THPS 4 are amazing, sporting a unique sense of realism that no sports game can seem to grasp. Simplistic animated models which are the people, leaving much disappointment. There aren't too many upgrades from the PS2 version, and no bump-mapping. Granted, these are some of the best graphics on Xbox, it just doesn't stand out real well.
Controls: As in every Tony Hawk game, the controls are very well done. And they may not be as slick as they are in the PS2 version, they certainly aren't bad. My only gripes here are the reverts, which take much getting used to. The more you play the game, the sweeter the controls get. It becomes almost second-nature. And with hundreds of moves at your disposal, it sure is necessary to have controls like these. They are very alike in terms with Aggressive Inline.
Replay: The replay value in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 is phenomenal. Although it took me a few hours to complete the game, it can take weeks to get some of the challenges done. The palm-sweating challenge of Tony Hawk (Score 900, 000 points in two minutes) keep you coming back for more, and the mini-games are fun. Unlocking all of the items is also quite a chore, and will require patience, skill, and grabbing lots of cash icons. While the game certainly isn't hard, it does develop a harder challenge as the game progresses. With all the wacky moves, Pro Skater Challenges, Mini-games, and enormous amount of secrets, this is one game you will be playing for months.
Sound: As in all Tony Hawk games, one of the most outstanding things is the sound. Be it the civilians ranting you out for running them over, or the great soundtrack, it has some of the best sounds around. The grinds sound very realistic, and the feature to accompany a custom soundtrack is truly awesome.
Overall:
Overall, this is one game you won't want to miss out on. The large levels, enormous replay value, tons of unlockables, great custom skate-park and skater builder, and the total fun you will have in this game, can't compare to any other extreme sports title, besides Aggressive Inline.
Overall Presentation:
Scores:
Gameplay:  9
Graphics:  8
Controls: 9
Replay: 8
Sound:  7
Total Score: 8
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