Official Website

Platform: Playstation 2, Playstation, Xbox, GameCube, GameBoy Advanced, PC, Mac

Genre: Extreme Sports

Number of Players: 1 - 2 + Online

Peripherals: Network Adaptor

It’s become fairly easy to realize that even though sports games may sell on nay system, extreme sports titles sell just as well, if not better in some cases. A lot of people may get satisfaction from running around and chasing a ball around a field, but not all of us are into that. In fact, many people that are out right sports haters have a certain respect, admiration, and obsession with the whole extreme sports genre. Tony Hawk, Dave Mirra, and all their fellow X-Games companions have become household names and are scoring endorsement deals. On the home gaming front, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater has scored well with gamers, and absolutely no one was surprised when Activision and developer Neversoft announced Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 for every platform imaginable.

THPS 4 in many ways follows the same design as the previous games. Players get to choose the skater they want, and get ready to tear it up. There are 14 pros in all including such names as Jamie Thomas, Chad Muska, Bam Margera, and of course, Tony Hawk himself. There have been substantial changes made in the game as well though, and it’s more than just a mere facelift. In fact, in many ways, this Tony Hawk is vastly superior to the previous games.

Just like before, you have one level to choose from at the start, and you need to accomplish a variety of goals in order to score points and progress to the next level. However, in the previous games, you selected a goal, and then you had two minutes to pull off whatever tricks you could. Failure meant having to start over with that goal, or go back and select something new, resulting in dealing with load times and taking away from the whole playing experience.

That was then, but this is now. Once you get into a level, there is no time limit at all. You can skate freely about the area, pulling off tricks, perfecting grinds, and getting familiar with the layout. However, you’ll find your skater pals as well as several of the locals hanging out, ready to throw a challenge, and even a little bit of cash, your way. This is where your two minute warning comes into play, but don’t worry, if you’re doing bad you can restart the goal, or if don’t feel that you have the set it will take to accomplish your goal, you can simply quit without having to go back to the menu. And yes, if you feel like you’ve gone above and beyond with your latest session, you can sit back and enjoy and instant replay. I’m sure your mother will be proud.

If you played the previous TH, you know that for the most part, the game was fairly simple and it didn’t take too long to pull off all the tricks needed to finish every one of the goals. That’s definitely not the case this time. For starters, not every goal has the two-minute time limit. Some have less, and a few even start with just a few seconds of time. The objectives range from the typical points scoring to pulling off tricks for a photo shoot. There are also goals that involve skitching and even warning your friends about the cops coming to bust them in their favorite skating hangouts. But they aren’t all as easy as they sound, and some goals will have you frustrated in some cases, especially when you’re short on time from the start. Overall, there are 190 different objectives to complete, and it’s not going to be as easy as you’d like to think it would be.

Completing enough goals will obviously gain you access to new stages, but there’s more than that. You get stat points to boost your various abilities, but once in a while you get cash, and that’s a good thing. Cash can be used to buy new gear, new clothing, open various cheats, and even purchase access to a few secret levels. But, it’s not just goals that gain you money, and there’s cash scattered throughout each of the stages that’s free for the taking. Don’t go blowing your wad all at once though, the cheats are great, but those bonus stages are an expensive purchase.

The tricks are easy to accomplish most of the time, assuming of course that you have enough speed, height, or a great sense of balance. In the top left corner though, you’ll find a special meter. If you can stay on your board long enough to do enough tricks without taking a dive, your meter will change to yellow, allowing you to accomplish some more advanced and fancy tricks. Some of these will be challenges given to you from other skaters, and if you manage to show them you’ve got the skills to pay the bills, then you’ve got one more special trick slot at your disposal.

Tony Hawk isn’t just about single player mode though, and there’s much more to offer. If you get tired to playing in career mode, then there’s always the free skate mode. This will give you time to fine tune your skills, perhaps even allowing you to pass some of those goals that are causing you to switch your diet to pavement. You can also skate a session and see just what you can do in two minutes. If you’ve got a friend over though, the two of you can go head-to-head and determine just who is the better skater without worrying about looking stupid attempting to do the real thing outside. Two-player games include your standard points and combo face off, to some more entertaining modes like Slap and King of the Hill.

However, there’s one more mode available though, and that’s online. Of course, you do need to have the Playstation broadband adapter as well as an ISP to allow you to get online. If you have all of that though, then you’re ready and raring to go. Once your online, you can choose to host your own game, join a session that’s already in progress, or (if you’re still too much of a newbie) just watch the action in existing sessions without getting into the thick of things. The good thing is that you can set your skill level, so new players need not fear getting overplayed by those wanna be pros that have mastered the game. Unfortunately though, none of us here at Underland Online have managed to score an adapter, but once we do, we’ll be adding some useful information into this review, as well as others.

Another great feature of TH4 is the ‘create-a-skater’ option. If you’re sick of looking at the pros, then just bring in some fresh blood. There are plenty of different faces, hair, clothing, and the like to choose from. You can change the hue of various things as well, allowing each skater to have his own unique look. Overall, it’s not too difficult to figure out, and players that have already played any of the WWE titles will immediately be familiar with the whole concept. If building a skater isn’t your thing though, you can always go in a work on building your own park. This is another feature that’s been present with previous TH games, and it’s another idea that’s easy to grasp.

The soundtrack is a fairly eclectic collection of punk, metal, and hip-hop. There are some old classics from bands like Run DMC, AC/DC, N.W.A, Public Enemy and even Iron Maiden. Some things are a bit more obscure, and I didn’t expect to find on here, like Agent Orange for instance or De La Soul. There’s some other stuff that is quite a nice addition though, like System of a Down (I just wish their songs weren’t so short.) You have the option of turning off the ones that you don’t like, playing them all in order, or having random play. There’s plenty available on the soundtrack, and even some of the old school rap songs aren’t terrible either. There’s just enough of a mix to make the whole thing worthwhile without getting the feeling of having heard a song just five minutes ago or grabbing something from your CD collection to drown out the horrid sounds.

If there’s anything wrong with TH4, I couldn’t find it. The load times are fairly decent, there are no problems with slow down or glitching, and the game handles nicely with an easy learning curve. The only thing that’s frustrating, as I mentioned, are some of the goals, but once you start to get a feel for the way they’re set up, they become a little easier. If you liked the last TH, but thought it was a little too easy, then this one is definitely right up your alley. The online play alone is worth the price. It’s definitely the most fu you can have skateboarding without having to worry about pad and a helmet.

 -mike-