Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 Review – Growing Older All The Time

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 Review

I was pretty excited when Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 came out. I played those games to death on the N64 when I was a teenager, especially THPS 2. In fact I played that game so much that I never felt a need to play more skateboarding games. When Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 was announced, I was curious what it would be like, because I never played the originals. They both reviewed quite well. And while there is a bit of content missing from those originals for licensing reasons, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 adds loads of new content and features, while keeping what made Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 so effective.

Right off the bat, I was impressed by the opening video. It’s an FMV introducing all the playable skaters in the game. It’s cut together to look like a 90s skate video, and had Motorhead’s “Ace of Spades” blasting overtop of it. The soundtrack for Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 isn’t as iconic as either for the soundtracks for THPS 1 or 2, but there are still some great songs. The whole thing is a mix of hip hop, punk, alt rock, traditional heavy metal, and nu metal. At first I was turned off by some of the nu-metal inclusions, but then I remembered that bands like Powerman 5000 had stand out tracks on the OGs. Songs can be added or removed from rotation anyways. There’s also a stream-friendly soundtrack with unlicensed music, which is always a welcome addition.

Gameplay You Know and Love

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 plays exactly how you’d hope if would. The board is always moving forwards. Hold down the X button to gather momentum and jump. Press triangle to grind on rails and edges. The grind can be extended by pressing either direction on the left joystick, to balance the skater. While jumping, the player holds a direction and a face button to perform different tricks. This is the tried and true THPS gameplay, and it feels as great as it ever has. The framerate was rock solid the entire time. And while it won’t win any awards for its visuals, this is as great as the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series has ever looked.

I counted 35 playable skaters, who all have different stats that make them excel at either vertical ramp tricks or street-style rail grinding. Something I noticed in the opening video is there was great representation of women in the cast of playable characters. I’m always proud of something for having proper representation without feeling like they need to shove it in the audience’s faces. There definitely weren’t this many women in the original games. I looked at the rosters for them, and was surprised to find out I knew almost all the playable skaters. So Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 has added a lot of modern skaters. There are even a few wacky video game cameo characters.

Career Mode

Career Mode has tons of options. Every level has high scores, S-K-A-T-E letters to collect, secret tapes, high scores, and competitions with medals. Players progress through levels to unlock more levels, and earn money to buy unlockable boards, and cosmetics in the Shop. Each level also has options to skate single timed sessions, speed run for every collectable, or just free skate around.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 has 19 levels. Some are secret, and some need to be unlocked. Three of those levels are brand new and unique to THPS 3 + 4, including Movie Studio, Waterpark, and Pinball. I especially loved Waterpark, and Pinball. Some of the late game levels get really wacky, and those were the ones I kept going back to.

Tons of Online Content

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 thankfully has online multiplayer with cross play between PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC. There are tons of multiplayer modes, including the returning Free Skate, Score Challenge, Combo Challenge, Trick Attack, Combo Mambo, Graffiti, Tag, and H-O-R-S-E. There are some new online multiplayer modes too. Hawk mode involves finding and collecting the letters that spell “HAWK”. Public Free Skate allows players to skate around online at a relaxed pace with no time limit, and interact with other players. This new cozy mode was very appreciated.

One of my favorite aspects of any game is create-a-character. Nothing has ever come close to the robust number of options in pro wrestling video games. The WWE 2K series really enables the player to create anything their imagination can conjure, without being too overwhelming. Sadly, I was really disappointed by Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 +2’s create-a-skater, and this sequel’s is still very lacking. The only option is to make a skinny, young, short, genderless person. Create-a-park is more robust, and people could sink tons of time into it. But I really wish there was more in create-a-skater.

A Worthy Sequel

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 is an excellent sequel. It has the smooth skateboard gameplay we all know and love, with tons of features and modes. It also nails the vibes of early 2000s skate culture. All the new levels are fun as well. The only knocks against it are its lame create-a-skater, which is a huge missed opportunity, and the fact that its content just isn’t as iconic as the original two games in the THPS series. It also doesn’t look nearly as good as it plays. Anyone who played THPS 1 + 2 who wants more content should rest assured though that Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 is an easy recommendation.

***PS5 code provided by the publisher***