Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4

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I have found that the Tony Hawk series is one of the most fun sports games to play. Tony Hawk 4 is no exception to the series legacy. With tons of new levels, goals, maps and boards, THPS4 is truly the best the series has to offer.

Maps Allow You to Do Great Combos

Probably the best new things in the game are the maps. Ranging from a college campus to Chicago, there are tons of new things to grind on and 'tear up.' The thing about that maps is that everything is laid out perfectly. At times, I would find myself doing 900's on a ramp, landing it on a manual, then switching to a grind and end up tricking across an entire staircase, only to find that I have reached the top of a building and must grind through the window in order to get down. Things would just… work out. Areas are so filled with props that whenever you do a trick, you will almost always be able to work out a combo that can generate you at least 15,000 points. This type of skating allows for a wide variety of moves. Since there aren't a lot of places with a large, open area, the player will not be able to scan his environment, and then find the perfect move to get from point A to point B.

Goals to Complete

Goals only make the game better. One of the best yet hardest new challenges is to collect the letters of COMBO and, (that's right!) get every single letter in one combo move. The letters are placed in optimal places for a perfect move; however, it will take a lot of planning to work out getting from a low down rail to a high up roof in one move. There are still some familiar goals carried on from THPS3 to THPS4. You will still have to collect all the letters of SKATE; however, this time their positions are much more varied and harder to get. You will also have to achieve high and pro scores, which can be relatively easy, or nearly impossible. There are many other goals you have never seen before. Because of the new open end environment in career mode, completing goals and choosing them is a lot more fun. In career mode, you will choose which map you want to go to, and from there, it's like a free skate. You will need to interact with various people in the area in order to obtain your goals. Depending on the props present, you will do things like helping a lion tamer escape, catching a ride on the back of a stolen professor's car, knock 30 tourists into the water, and other interesting things of this sort. Once you complete or fail a goal, you can keep skating. There is no annoying time counter restricting you to only two minutes for staying in career mode. There are timers for goals, but once you complete or fail them, you are back in your time limit free career mode. It's a great thing to be able to roam around searching for people to obtain goals from. You will come across bums, fellow pro skaters, zookeepers, pimps, protestors, photographers, and even angry wives. There is a huge variety of the different things you can do… even though some are harder than others. You will be able to keep busy for a few weeks before you finally get tired of tricking your way through life. You earn money for completed goals in career mode, and these can be used to buy new boards, clothing items, movies, cheats, and even the next level if you can't wait to unlock it.

Playing Multiplayer

Multiplayer in itself is awesome. You can play over a LAN network, or you can do a split screen game. One of the coolest new modes is called “Horse.” When you play split screen, players will take turns dishing out their best move possible. The second player will have to beat that score in order to avoid getting a letter. You can even choose your own word to spell, so games will be short, like if you enter “win,” or games can be long, like if you enter “WeTheGeeks.com.” Other modes include trick attack, king of the hill, capture the flag, graffiti, and another new mode called combo mambo, where whoever gets the biggest combo wins.

Technically Speaking...

The sound and graphics of the game are great. Sometimes character models look a little blocky up close, but for the most part, everything looks and sounds great.

Overall

I can't really say anything more about Tony Hawk 4. Maybe that's because I really want to just stop writing this review and go play it. But nonetheless, the game is very addicting, and has tons of new things since the past version. If you are looking for a new game to shred it up on, give Tony Hawk 4 a try. It's a lot of fun…