Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 Review – A Great Game, But A Poor Remake – WGB

Regardless of sturdy gross sales of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2, it appeared like a sequel was by no means going to occur. In any case, Vicarious Visions’ reward for treating the long-lasting Tony Hawk’s video games was to be absorbed into Blizzard the place they now act as a help workforce beneath a special identify. However then a miracle! Though the unique builders had been disbanded, Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater 3+4 was occurring. Right here we’re, a full 5 years after the primary remake. Was it well worth the wait?

For Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater 3+4, Iron Galaxy was handed the board and informed to get on with it. And in a bid to make this second assortment their very own, Iron Galaxy has made some…decisions. Admittedly, it was all the time going to be a tricky job trying to remake two video games when certainly one of them is structurally so completely different, so maybe Iron Galaxy was up towards it from the beginning. After which there was the issue that Vicarious Visions had already established the template within the first remake bundle, a template that Iron Galaxy deviates from.

Obtainable On: Xbox One, Xbox Collection S/X, PS4, PS5, PC, Change, Change 2
Reviewed On: PS5, PC
Developed By: Iron Galaxy
Printed By: Activision

Evaluation code supplied for assessment functions.

The intro actually grabs the outdated dangling nostalgia balls and provides them an excellent tug due to Motorhead’s Ace of Spades as soon as once more blasting from the audio system. I admit that my very own connection to the collection is way extra rooted within the first two video games, after which later in Underground and American Wasteland. I performed a good bit of Professional Skater 3, and fewer of Professional Skater 4. Even so, listening to Ace of Spades once more whereas rolling into Foundry gave my coronary heart a little bit jolt.

Broadly talking, this launch is extra of what we received in Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater 1+2, and for that, I’m eternally grateful as a result of the gameplay is stupendously entertaining. The sequel collects each Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater 3 (2001) and Tony Hawk’s professional Skater 4 (2002) and as soon as once more rebuilds them each in Unreal Engine 5. Meaning, whereas the extent layouts are largely similar, each location now boasts lovely lighting and heaps of latest particulars.

Most significantly, the precise skating has barely been touched, and meaning it’s fucking glorious. Stringing collectively grinds, grabs, manuals, reverts, transfers, and flip tips is sublimely satisfying, a sense offset by the agony of screwing up an epic combo price probably thousands and thousands of factors since you simply needed to go and take a look at to slot in that additional trick, didn’t you?

As soon as once more, the profession mode is strictly what you’d count on: a collection of ranges, every boasting objectives it’s essential to full to unlock the following space. Gather the S-Okay-A-T-E letters, beat the excessive scores, do particular tips, discover the hidden tapes and so forth. All of those objectives are crammed right into a 2-minute time restrict, though, after all, accomplished objectives keep accomplished from run to run.

Actually, the Professional Skater 3 part is just about flawless. It’s after we get to Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater 4 that issues get extra difficult. You see, the primary three Professional Skater video games have been all constructed on the identical method – 2-minute runs by packed ranges. Professional Skater 4 determined to go goofy for its profession, although, bailing the 2-minute runs for greater, open ranges with no time restrict and skaters standing round who doled out challenges, like racing a buying cart down Alcatraz. It was an enormous departure for the collection, however can be what made Professional Skater 4 so distinct. It heralded the arrival of a complete new period of Tony Hawk video games.

For the remake, that distinctiveness has been deserted in favour of a extra cohesive expertise. Iron Galaxy have utilized the 2-minute timer to the Professional Skater 4 ranges and stripped out the quest-givers, changing them with the listing of objectives identical to you see within the first three video games. A few of the zanier stuff from Professional Skater 4 can nonetheless be discovered within the new Professional Targets, which unlock after you full all of the common objectives. These Professional Targets additionally apply to the Professional Skater 3 ranges, including a bit of latest challenges. However there’s no getting round the truth that quite a bit Professional Skater 4’s uniqueness has been misplaced by making it match in additional with the unique trilogy. Does it make for a extra cohesive bundle? Certain. It now appears like one large marketing campaign. Was it price it, although? No.

To Iron Galaxy’s credit score, although, they’ve included an possibility to increase the time restrict to 10 minutes and even to a full hour. There’s no penalty for doing it, both, and whilst a veteran of the collection, I ended up ditching the 2-minute restrict. In fact, this doesn’t absolutely restore what was misplaced in Professional Skater 4, however it helps a little bit. I’d adore it if Professional Skater 1+2 might have this function added in.

And it must be mentioned that whereas I don’t agree with the choice to decimate Professional Skater 4’s construction, Iron Galaxy does at the least do an honest job at transplanting the Professional Skater 1, 2 and three method into the degrees. Properly, as respectable a job as they might presumably do given the degrees have been by no means constructed to deal with it. You may definately really feel it as you skate round, a way that the 2-minute timer is simply too restrictive for the larger ranges. In was in Professional Skater 4 that I discovered myself utilizing the prolonged timer earlier than swapping to it fully.

A few of the lacking objectives really make an look within the Professional Targets, which solely unlock when you’ve managed to beat each different aim within the sport. Handle to beat all these, and also you get entry to the Solo Excursions for every skater as effectively. On high of that, there are tons of of challenges to finish when you fancy chasing down the Platinum Trophy or 100% the sport. It received’t be fairly as a lot of a grind as Professional Skater 1+2, however it’ll nonetheless be fairly the arduous job.

However regardless that a few of the objectives do seem later, a whole lot of them don’t, and most of them are the zanier, weirder stuff. Taking part in tennis together with your skateboard? Yeah, that’s gone. The skater-specific stuff like racing a trolley down Alcatraz as Bam Margera? Gone as effectively.

Three brand-new ranges designed by Iron Galaxy have been added into the sport with blended outcomes. Waterpark is, by far, the perfect of the bunch. It sticks you into an deserted waterpark stuffed with slides to mess around on. It’s a good-sized stage, suits the 2-minute template properly and has a whole lot of probably superior traces that gamers much more proficient than I’ll undoubtedly shred into oblivion.

Pinball is essentially the most visually spectacular of the three new ranges, full with a large Tony Hawk looming over the entire place. It’s a loopy land of color and weirdness, and has a number of neat pinball mechanics as effectively that assist separate it from the remainder of the degrees on provide, like large increase pads and an enormous steel ball that may sometimes fuck up your day. However as visually placing as it’s, I didn’t discover it nice for the gameplay. I struggled to get an excellent move going, however that may simply be me, and being randomly murdered by a death-sphere that comes out of nowhere isn’t enjoyable.

Movie Studio might be the weakest of the bunch, a contest stage that features a pile of nods to numerous films. However the setup feels too tight and compact to be satisfying. I struggled to seek out satisfying traces by the extent, continuously smacking off of partitions or discovering myself hemmed in as an alternative of with the ability to move properly into one thing else.

These three new ranges come at the price of two authentic ranges. The largest absence is Carnival, an unlockable stage in Professional Skater 4 that includes curler coasters and different rides to fiddle on. Chicago is the opposite one, a stage that was taken immediately from Matt Hoffman’s Professional BMX and added into Professional Skater 4. I’ll be sincere, Chicago being lacking in motion doesn’t trouble me, purely as a result of it was a crap stage anyway. Nevertheless, it nonetheless feels bizarre to not embody it because it was within the authentic sport alongside Carnival. They higher not launch them as paid DLC in a while.

Different modifications really feel odd, or just not wanted, whereas a pair are wonderful and even an enchancment. For instance, Zoo is now a contest stage and all of the animals have been moved out, so you may’t get eaten by a lion anymore, skitch behind an elephant or dodge monkey poop being hurled by irate primates. And the hidden aquarium part can be gone, since you may’t trigger a stampede anymore. Though Zoo was by no means the perfect Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater stage to skate round, the modifications that Iron Galaxy have made strip all the pieces that made it attention-grabbing. It’s now a forgettable location.

In the meantime, the legal’s getaway automobile in London has develop into a rogue self-driving automobile, which is truthfully a reasonably humorous change. Suburbia has a brand new Halloween theme, too, which is a wonderful change which not solely provides the extent some additional visible aptitude however ties in properly with the creepy-looking home on the nook and the target to smash pumpkins. And fairly a number of ranges have had their time of day swapped from broad daylight to nighttime, principally so the remake’s lighting can add some additional depth.

One change I do recognize is that the stat factors yow will discover in each stage apply to each skater within the roster. It hastens development, and stops the sport from feeling overly gradual once you resolve to swap skaters and need to get used to their low stats once more.

There are an enormous variety of different modifications, too. Most are purely graphical, however there are different alterations too quite a few to speak about right here. As an alternative, I’d extremely advocate checking out this Youtube video which goes into great detail.

What I’ll say, is Iron Galaxy actually appears to have gone loopy on sanitising the video games. The unique Tony Hawk’s Professional Skaters have been suffering from crass humour, whether or not it was Airport’s bomb scanning gadgets and obsession with full cavity searches, or the various, many, maaaaaaaaaany sexual jokes discovered throughout all the degrees. All these bikini-clad girls having fun with the pool on Cruise Ship? Gone. However there have been additionally simply heaps of daft little jokes to seek out that have been utterly inoffensive, and even these have been scrubbed.

The music choice is one other… attention-grabbing design alternative. Whereas THPS1+2 stored 18 of the unique 25 tracks, THPS3+4 has solely 10 of the unique 55 bangers. Many of the 45 different songs are from the identical artists, although, and that’s apparently due to Tony Hawk himself, who mentioned, “It was my alternative to choose some completely different songs by the identical artists featured in THPS3+4 OST. I’m hoping that discovery is half the enjoyable, and an enormous motive that these soundtracks resonated within the first place”.

I perceive his thought course of, and partially agree with it. Sort of. As a result of there’s additionally a second a part of my mind that ones to smack him with a skateboard for defiling the superb soundtrack of the 2 video games. Ultimately, I’m not quire certain how I really feel. It’s nonetheless a killer assortment of tunes and, very like I did again within the day, I’ve found a number of new tracks which were added straight onto my playlist. These lacking tracks, although, depart a smidgen of longing in my coronary heart.

As for the roster of skaters trying to put footwear to grip tape, just about everybody has made the reduce, together with Bam Margera. Plus, the brand new crew launched in Tony Haw’s Professional Skater 1+2 have ollied over as effectively, in order that’s cool.

When it comes to lacking skaters, the unlockable Star Wars characters corresponding to Darth Maul are gone, most likely as a result of licensing them would price an excessive amount of. Former pornstar Jenna Jameson (Daisy) is absent, too. Additionally MIA is Non-public Carrera, presumably as a result of longstanding hearsay that she relies on pornstar Asia Carrera. However essentially the most complicated absence is Mike Vallely who appeared in Professional Skater 4 onwards.

And at last, the multiplayer portion of the sport requires an Activision account this time, whereas Professional Skater 1+2 didn’t. It’s not an enormous drawback, certain, however it’s an issue that didn’t have to exist. Placing that apart, the multiplayer is heaps of enjoyable.

Your enjoyment of Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater 3+4 goes to rely closely upon how a lot you like Professional Skater 4. If the 4th entry within the collection was an enormous a part of your childhood, and also you have been excited to see it remastered and playable on fashionable {hardware}, you’re most likely going to be pissed off. This isn’t Professional Skater 4, it’s extra like Professional Skater 3 with a Professional Skater 4 impressed level-pack hooked up to it.

If, like me, you perhaps aren’t that hooked up to Professional Skater 4 or can view this bundle as one thing like an expanded model of Professional Skater 3, then it’s an absolute blast. The refined Tony Hawk gameplay we noticed in 1+2 remains to be phenomenally enjoyable, a masterpiece of arcadey goodness.

In different phrases, Professional Skater 3+4 is a superb sport by itself deserves, however a far worse remake than 1+2 was. Maybe that’s harsh since a remake is allowed to make modifications, however these modifications really feel just like the mistaken ones.