Just like the real thing.... except a LOT less painful! (Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3 (GC))

Member Name: Sarah_Louise

Product:	Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3 (GC)
Date:	16/06/02 (401 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun, great graphics and sound

Disadvantages: Addictive (not good when its exam season!)

INFO

Developed by: Neversoft
Genre: Action or Sport
Number of Players: 1-4
Ideal for: Teenagers (or skating fans in general)


To use the game you’d ideally need:
· dual shock controller
· 8mb memory card


I know this game is a bit ‘boyish’ as my mum would put it but there we go! I’m afraid I haven’t played this games predecessors so I can’t compare this to those.

So for the sake of those of you who haven’t heard, played or come across this game, or you haven’t guessed by now, you choose a skateboarder and perform various tricks, score points and collect hidden items throughout the courses (skate parks) in the game.

I assume its predecessors worked along the same line of things, in which case those of you who have already played 1 and 2 can skip this bit if you like!
Its pretty much a platform style game with the added bonus that it’s a skateboarding game (pretty obvious I know). You are supposed to acquire gold medals in competitions and generally doing as well as possible in everything that you do.
It might all sound a bit boring, what with just skating up and down a few ramps. It does however add another dimension by including objective tasks to the game play. For example you have tasks to do in certain states (an example is in Canada you have to device a method to prevent someone throwing snowballs at the local teenagers).

As far as I am aware, in previous games you had to earn cash rewards to buy new gear, if I am wrong please correct me on this point.
Well with Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3 (from here on in known as THPS3 because typing it all out is going to give me RSI!) you have to find new boards within each level.

WHO’S WHO?

You can choose from 13 different skaters in this game. They are:
· Tony Hawk
· Steve Caballero
· Kareem Campbell
· Rune Glifberg

· Eric Koston
· Buck Lasek
· Rodney Mullen
· Chad Muska
· Andrew Reynolds
· Geoff Rowley
· Elissa Steamer
· Jamie Thomas
· Bam Margera
There are also supposed to be hidden characters if you score well (so far I’ve not come across any though!)


LEVELS
THPS3 features a wide variety of new level designs. I’m not going to go into all the levels. Why? Well:
(a) I’ve not done much of the game yet
(b) It’d bore you all to death!

Some of them include:
· Los Angeles
· Airport
· Skater Island
· Canada
· Tokyo
If you aren’t happy with those though you can actually make your own! You can use the ‘Park Editor’ to create your own skate park. It seems a bit like that Themepark game this bit (although I’ve never played that myself!) You can choose what things you want in your park, including rails, half pipes, etc).
Not only can you create a new park you can also create a new skater. You get to choose what they look like, what they wear, what hairstyle they’ll have, etc. This sort of thing just adds to the fun factor I think.



POINTS

Obviously the better you do the more you can get out of the game (including those hidden characters that I’ve yet to find!). You get points for all the tricks you do but to boost your score you should take advantage of the ‘revert’ function, this allows you to link all your moves together to gain you extra credit.
There is also a ‘lip meter’ (a lip in skater terms is a trick, that’s all you need to know really!). The lip meter allows you to collect large amounts of points depending on how long you can hold the move for. To gain extra, extra credit you could use the ‘revert’ function mentioned a minute ago with the lip trick.


GRAPHICS

Well this is a PS2 game I’m reviewin
g so it really should be nothing but excellent. As you can see from the screenshots, the graphics in general are great, everything flows smoothly and looks realistic. The courses found in the game are all very realistic.

SOUND

Everything sound realistic, the sound flows with the courses (i.e. the surfaces sound real, whether you be skating on wood, marble, concrete, etc). Even falling over sounds realistic (and down right painful!). Of course you get music too, this is all pretty good, after a couple of hours though it can get a little annoying).



SARAH’S RATINGS

Graphics: 9/10
Sound: 8/10
Control: 9/10
Gameplay: 10/10

Total: 36/40 = 90% = not bad at all!


WANT YOUR OWN COPY?

Well you can buy this game from most places now, prices are on average £25.
You can buy direct from Amazon.co.uk here:

PS2 copy: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005N5F 2/qid=1024165242/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2 _3_1/026-7322548-6070859
at £24.99

PS copy: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005N5F 2/qid=1024165242/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2 _3_1/026-7322548-6070859

again for £24.99

(This game is also available for Game Boy Advanced, GameCube and for the PC).

LINKS:

http://www.activisiono2.com/tony_hawk/main.asp

http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/gbadvance/gam e/12871.html
(trick guide, walkthrough’s and an FAQ section)

Summary: