Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 Review (no fat)

Game Description

It has been a little over a year since Tony Hawk’s first release on the PlayStation. That first title brought new meaning to skateboarders everywhere, and one can bet that the latest release from the skating legend is sure to please. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 is sure to be a big hit with gamers across the world, at least among skate boarding fans it will be.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 Gameplay

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 features some of the best tricks ever brought to a gaming system. Techniques include grinding, flip, manual and grab. It covers all of the basics and then some! A new addition is the new “revert” command, which allows gamers to land new tricks, but also slows down their speed in the process.

Environments in the new title are anything but ordinary; maps ranging from Tokyo to a Cruise Ship to Los Angeles give gamers sufficient skating territory. To get through each level players will have to complete certain objectives just like any other Tony Hawk game. And as the game progresses, so do the levels of the objectives. In the other titles in the series there weren’t much progression in the levels, however, this isn’t the case in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3. As gamers complete these objectives, cut scenes appear revealing to the gamer just what they have accomplished. In the LA environment, gamers will have a chance to collapse a rail way, revealing a new area to land some killer tricks on.

Combos and tricks can be strung together effortlessly, and the controls of the game are easy to handle. However, mastering each and every trick that the game offers proves to be a real difficult task. Your rewards for mastering tricks and completing levels? Hidden tapes of live footage of pro skaters! Oh, and lots of other bonus content as well! Not offering spoilers here, you will just have to play the game to see what kind of characters and objects there are to unlock.

The skate shop in the game is now 3D, which is a nice addition. Also, the create-a-skater feature is back, which allows gamers to create their own skaters, and add their own sense of style to their player. And just when you start to think it couldn’t get any better than this, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 also adds in the option for gamers to create their own parks to skate in…wicked.

One of the best additions to the game is the multiplayer capabilities. Lots of fun is to be had here; you can play split screen via the system link, or battle it out online. There are the basic modes of play online, as well as battle modes. The battle modes must be thrown in to complement the additions of blood being splattered when gamers take a nose dive into the ground.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 Graphics

The visuals in Pro Skater 3 look good, however, in some places the details and textures of the environments look bland. The color balance during gameplay is presented nicely. Environments within game play are huge; you will have a ball trying to explore it all while completing the objectives. The cost of the environments being so big is that the frame rate drops at times. And there are a few glitches within gameplay where gamers will fall through a certain ramp. Other then that, the graphics of this title do great in the graphics department.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 Audio

Audio in gameplay has to be a major highlight of the game. Every song in the game is licensed, and they all a treat for your eardrums. Music ranges from The Ramones to AFI…something here for everyone. Also, there are options to skip tracks you don’t like, plus create their own play lists, not too shabby eh?

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 - Verdict

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 is an all around great game. Nice graphics and audio coupled with some intense gameplay is what makes this game really stand out. Customization of characters and the ability to create your own skate parks is what really pulls this game together. And the price isn’t bad either, checking in at $19.99.