Tony Hawk's Proskater 4

September 02, 2002

Platform: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: Activision
Publisher: Activision
Reviewed by: Rock_On

Gameplay: [9] Graphics: [9] Audio: [8] Replay: [10] Overall: [9.8]

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 Hawk’s 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 Tony’s next skateboarding game, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4.

Gameplay:
As the Tony Hawk games have steam rolled their way through the Playstation and PS2’s life, and each new game has built upon the last whether it be graphics, control, tricks, new levels, etc. In the past Tony Hawk’s, 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 community’s 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 you’ll 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, you’ll be able to choose your skater whether it be Tony Hawk, Bam Margera (from the show “Jackass”), 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 you’ll get a certain amount of money depending on how difficult the trick was, but about 90% of the goals you complete, you’ll also receive a pro/stat point, which you can use to improve your abilities (air, ollie, speed, etc.), and eventually you’ll max out your stats. Pro-points also tally up after completing more and more goals, and when you get a certain amount of points, you’ll be able to unlock another level. So you don’t 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 that’s 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), you’ll be able to customize your character to your heart’s desire. I of course picked Tony Hawk, but totally customized his look, and I’ve created one of the coolest looking characters I’ve ever seen. So, for that artistic ability in your heart, whether it be small or large, enjoy the customization (It’s really fun, almost like being a girl and dressing... “This is too small, these colors don’t match, my hair is hideous” etc., no offense girls). When you get enough money, you’ll 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 level’s 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 you’ll 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 haven’t 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 you’re trying to do a trick, you’ll 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 I’ve had a harder time with is the manual, no...not a regular manual, I’m 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 don’t consider a trick at all, is being able to sketch 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 were incorporated in THPS3, however they didn’t really have much work put into them, and so I didn’t 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 I’ve 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 one’s interesting), “Yeahhh baby” (just wait till’ you see it), and then there’s my favorite, the “Lazy a$$ manual” (oh. my. gosh...I love this one).

One problem that has probably infected people’s 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 isn’t 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 you’re interested in History (and if you’re 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 anybody’s good health, or maybe that’s 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 isn’t meant for excessive amounts of play, especially when you’re 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 I’m sure you’re bored with me babbling on about the game and well...get over it, but since I’m nice lets go over the different game modes. First off, of course you’ve got the career mode, which is where you'll most likely spend a lot of your time, then there’s single session where if you felt like you weren’t 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 you’ve 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 O2’s stupidness, there’s 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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I’m sure that anybody who’s anybody would know that I am all for the consoles going online, and for those who don’t, 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 it’s 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, you’ll have to go through some sort of set-up/registration for the game, and this takes about 5 seconds and then it’s time to restart the system for the effects to take place, and now you’re ready to go online.

Once you start to connect, the connecting screen will come up, and then once you’re connected you’ll 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 you’ve 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. It’s 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 don’t really get anything for winning any of the competitions except for maybe bragging rights (don’t brag too much, Santa doesn’t like gloating).

While you wait for a game to start, you’ll 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 you’ll 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 you’re hosting.

The overall online experience is incredible, and takes the phrase “it’s just a game” to new meanings. There aren’t 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 couldn’t play online with it(. Also, the PS2 version of THPS4 is the only one to include online play, so like Madden 2003 it’s 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 realism of their bodies and faces with cuts on their shins and scrapes on their knees, to the clothes, hats, glasses, shoes, socks, etc. that they’re 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 shouldn’t be any kind of down and boring time where there’s nothing to do because the levels are so big. Heck, if the stupid 2 minute time limit was still in the game, It’d 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 year’s Tony Hawk (THPS3 for those who haven’t 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, I’ve 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 isn’t 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 don’t believe 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 doesn’t really coincide with the kind of gameplay that the Tony Hawk games sport. My take on this whole ordeal? I don’t really care, I love the games so much that the use of Rap doesn’t even scratch the surface of being “not appropriate.” However, I don’t 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 doesn’t 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 Bitch” 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 you’re not swamped with one genre that you don’t like. I’ve always had a favorite song in all the Tony Hawk’s, and my personal favorite for this game would have to be AC/DC’s classic “TNT”. I’ve 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 don’t like a song or group of songs, then you can always go in and turn off those that you don’t 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 it’s time to see how well sound effects have gotten over the years. When you’re 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 they’ve done nothing but improve the sound f the skateboard’s 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 you’ll hear when you crash. Now instead of just letting out a whimper when your skater falls, they’ll 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 don’t touch the different volumes and do what you’re suppose to do.

Rock’s Thoughts:
Overall, Tony Hawk’s 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 that’s no joke.