360 Flip to 900 (Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3 (GC))

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Product:	Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3 (GC)
Date:	09/03/02 (92 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great moves, better than the other

Disadvantages: graphics good but not ace

Before the intervention of a little-known game developer called Neversoft, the words "Tony Hawk" and "video game" were far from synonymous with each other. However, two and a half years and several games later, the Tony Hawk series has done nothing short of completely rejuvenate the extreme sports game genre, broaden the general appeal of video games, provide a template for dozens of other extreme sports games, and bring a greater level of credibility to the sport of skateboarding. The latest game in the series proved that the Tony Hawk formula was still very viable and was widely lauded as one of the best games of 2001--high praise when compared with proven juggernauts such as Metal Gear Solid 2 and Final Fantasy X. Activision recently sent us a three-level build of the Xbox version of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, and we are pleased to say it is prospectively one of the best games of 2002 as well.


The good old skate shop returns.

The lifestyle appeal of the Tony Hawk series is an undeniable factor in the success of the series, but what has hooked hard-core gamers the world over is the game's impeccable gameplay. Though the game was originally designed for the PlayStation 2, Neversoft has done a fine job of adapting it to the admittedly different Xbox controller. The overall controls are identical, with the big difference being the use of the right shoulder button for both rotating your skater and performing the revert, an indispensable trick used to chain multiple vert tricks together. This change makes it necessary for players to time their reverts more precisely, as a poorly timed press of the shoulder button can turn your skater sideways to the right as he or she is about to hit the bottom of the ramp. The timing on performing tricks also appears to be just slightly different, though not enough to really cripple existing Tony Hawk players--and certainly not enough to have any effect on those new to the series. r>

Tony Hawk vets should be right at home with the Xbox THPS3.

While the gameplay has been altered slightly to accommodate the Xbox controller, the modes of play have remain unchanged and are as engaging as they have ever been. The career mode still charges players with skating through a variety of enormous levels, collecting secret tapes and letters to spell the word "skate," completing level-specific goals, and scoring points by doing tricks. There's the untimed free skate mode, which gives players a more relaxed environment to feel out the levels and the specific skills of different skaters. The two-player split-screen mode is also present, as are the different gameplay variants, such as king of the hill, trick attack, and the deathmatch-style Slap! mode. Microsoft's plans to roll out its official online support for the Xbox are still several months away, and as such, Neversoft will not be including the online play found in the PlayStation 2 version in this version. It will, however, feature a system link mode, enabling four-player action over two televisions and two Xboxes. Though the online play in the PS2 version of the game was used sparingly by players, it's unfortunate that this feature will be absent on a console with inherent online capabilities.