Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3

In Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, players were introduced to the manual--a move that greatly revolutionized the series' gameplay. This installment introduces the revert, and while it isn't as significant an addition as the manual, it does add another layer to the already deep trick system. The game features solid graphics, but a level of detail was sacrificed in order to make the game's levels so large. There are a few frame skips and polygon clips, but these occasions are rare and do not overshadow the stellar gameplay.

Career mode is as deep as ever, with eight objective-filled levels. In this single-player mode, players traverse their way through some brilliantly designed courses to achieve high scores, find the letters to the word "skate," find hidden videotapes, and interact with level-specific objects. Two players can participate in the five multiplayer minigames, which include king of the hill, horse, and trick attack. Up to four players can join Internet or LAN games through the use of the PS2 Network Adapter or numerous USB devices. Supported USB Ethernet adapters include LinkSys EtherFast USB100TX, D-Link DSB-650TX, SMC EZNET-USB 2102, and SOHOware NUB100. Supported USB modems include Zoom FaxModem 2985L, Pocket NetSurfer NMT00700, MultiTech MT5634ZBA, and Actiontec USB56012-01CW. USB keyboards are also supported, enabling players to type trash online. <

Amazon.com Review
The best extreme-sports game ever gets even better in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3. The elements that made the last two games a success are back: tight controls, deep trick system, a wide selection of skaters (including Tony Hawk, Bucky Lasek, Rodney Mullen, Chad Muska, Elissa Steamer, and others), and a slick soundtrack (featuring the Ramones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Motorhead, KRS-One, Redman, and more). Adding to the already brilliant formula is a new trick, updated graphics, and Internet play.

In Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, players were introduced to the manual--a move that greatly revolutionized the series' gameplay. This installment introduces the revert, and while it isn't as significant an addition as the manual, it does add another layer to the already deep trick system. The game features solid graphics, but a level of detail was sacrificed in order to make the game's levels so large. There are a few frame skips and polygon clips, but these occasions are rare and do not overshadow the stellar gameplay.

Career mode is as deep as ever, with eight objective-filled levels. In this single-player mode, players traverse their way through some brilliantly designed courses to achieve high scores, find the letters to the word "skate," find hidden videotapes, and interact with level-specific objects. Two players can participate in the five multiplayer minigames, which include king of the hill, horse, and trick attack. Up to four players can join Internet or LAN games through the use of the PS2 Network Adapter or numerous USB devices. Supported USB Ethernet adapters include LinkSys EtherFast USB100TX, D-Link DSB-650TX, SMC EZNET-USB 2102, and SOHOware NUB100. Supported USB modems include Zoom FaxModem 2985L, Pocket NetSurfer NMT00700, MultiTech MT5634ZBA, and Actiontec USB56012-01CW. USB keyboards are also supported, enabling players to type trash online.

We tested Internet play using the LinkSys and a DSL modem; the action was very smooth with no noticeable lag. On its own, this is a top-shelf title, but considering its Internet capabilities, there's no reason for fans of sports, action, and platform games not to own Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3. This game will satisfy them all. --Raymond M. Padilla

Pros:

• First Internet-capable PS2 game
• Tight, addictive, outstanding gameplay
• Gargantuan levels and plenty of objects to interact with

• Some minor graphics glitches

I just got through playing the game for several hours and am thoroughly impressed! Adding to the level of detail and realism are new animations, including some wicked looking falls, which can make you wince and even laugh. There is also a big increase in interaction with the more background elements. Certain levels' goals call for the player to directly get involved with people who are standing around watching you. When you get to the point where you have to free Chuck from his painful predicament, you'll laugh out loud. Then, when you meet up with him later, you'll laugh even harder. There is also quite a bit of talking by the background characters, both to themselves and directly to the player. Even some of the messages upon bailing are funny!

As far as the skaters themselves, everyone from Pro Skater 2 is present, with the exception of Bob Burnquist, who has been replaced with Bam Margera. Every character has tons of tricks, which can be hand-picked by the player if he/she so desires. Another thing that will help players is the ability to increase or decrease certain stats at will. This can be very helpful if certain objectives require a higher level of a certain skill.

Gigantic combos, bigger than ever before, are now possible. The addition of the revert can allow a player to continue a string of tricks once they've landed after going up a ramp. The revert can then be turned into a manual, which can be used to reach a rail, gap, etc...thus creating very long strings of tricks. Those who are fleet of thumb will be impressed at the scores they can rack up in a very short amount of time.

With the ease of combining tricks, you can even take a guy like Rodney Mullen, who combines old-school freestyle with new school street skating, and semi-successfully re-create some of the runs you see him do in such videos as Rodney Mullen vs. Daewon Song, Parts I & II. I was quickly doing truckstands to caspers/anti-caspers to rail flips, etc...with my eyes bugging out of my head all the while. It looks so real!

Basically, this is a perfect game. The best skateboarding game ever created. Even if you can't stand the sport of skateboarding itself, I can't see how any video game player would not have fun with this game, especially since it is so easy to get into, with excellent controls and even a tutorial, with voiceovers by tony himself. Even though this game will be released on other systems, they would have to do something incredibly drastic to improve on this version. It is an absolute masterpiece. HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION POSSIBLE!


Simply...amazing!   November 11, 2001
Will Thomas (USA)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

This game is simply the best game out on the PS2! The gameplay is similair to THPS and THPS2, but you won't get tired of it. The graphics are amazing, and the levels are huge. Here is a quick run through of the levels:

1st level: Foundry - A nice level! Plenty of rails to grind on. Actually, probably one of the best levels to grind. Some of the level goals(besides getting SKATE and high or pro scores, which are in all the levels), include sinking one of the workers in a giant pool, and grinding on a molten lava bucket.

2nd level: Canada - A nice, wide open level. You start off in the parking lot, with some nice rails to grind and speed bumps to hop. Next to that is the skatepark, where one of the goals is to impress 5 of the Canadian skaters. If you don't, they say "Show me somathin, eh?" Its pretty funny. If you go beyond the skatepark you will find yourself in the woods, where you must bury a bully by jumping in the tree above him to knock all the snow down pn top of him. There are also TONS of pipes to bust out tricks and logs to grind.

3rd Level: Rio - The 1st competition level. Again, wide open, but not a level that is unique to the game such as Tokyo, LA, and Canada.

4th level: Suburbia - My favorite! Your in a neighborhood. Actually, your at the dead end of a neighborhood. There are trailers with some cruddy looking ramps around them, but you can get soem nice air on them. Next to the trailers are more nicer houses, where you can let it rip in some guys empty swimming pool. Then the house next door to that has a mini skatepark in back of it. Some of the goals here can be tricky, such as restoring the satellite dish to one of the houses and getting the secret tape, which you have to go through the haunted house on the hill to get! This level is much bigger than what I have made it sound like(ex: you can go in houses, through garages, etc.)

5th level: Airport - Graphically the 2nd most impressive! (number one being tokyo). There is the most grinding here, ex: escalarors, etc. Some of the goals include getting tickets to yuor skater buddy, and stopping 5 pickpockets.

6th level: Skater Island - Not unique to the game. Although it has nice ramps and huge pipes. Its mainly a massive indoor skatepark.

7th level : LA - Boo Ya! This level is huge! Plenty of curbs, wires, etc to grind on. There is a park in the middle where there are some half pipes, etc. Cars stop for you on the road. Some of the goals include triggering an earthquake by grinding on 4 specific rails. After this, the bridge partly collapses. Find your way onto the bridge and grind on a car to knock it over the edge, which will block the police chase. Its Maddness!

8th level: Tokyo - Graphically the most impressive level. Not as big as I thought it would be, but the park layout makes up for it. This is the 3rd competition level. Grind on neon bars or soar off a glowing ramp into the midnight sky. Chances are you'll land a some multi colored bright bar. There are huge(and I mean huge) quarter pipes, etc. You'll find everything you want in this level. Get 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place and unlock the hidden level.

HIDDEN LEVEL: Crusie ship - One of the biggest levels. Grind on rails, side of pools, etc. There is a graden on the ship where you can tear it up, a museum which you can destroy, and a slide for the pool which is fun to grind down. There are girls all over the place. Some of the goals are to impress them. Another one is in the museum on the ship,where you have to grind a picture which will fall of the wall and break the lock an a giant cannon ball, which rolls halfway through the ship teraing up everything, which makes for excellent grinding combos!

I hope this review was helpful to you. This game is also very smooth, except fot MINOR choppiness in the LA level, which is the only lag I ever felt. Other than that, create a park and skater are better than ever before, and ONLINE PLAY is coming soon too. This game aslo includes a demo of Shaun Palmers Pro Snowboarder.


A MUST BUY!!!   September 23, 2001
jchilst (Jacksonville, FL USA)
15 out of 18 found this review helpful

THPS1, and THPS2 were huge hits. But now there is THPS3, which will be excellent. I saw it at the annual Playstation Convention, in my opinion best game there (although it is my favorite series, so why wouldn't it be). The old ones were out on PS1, but now there's the power of the PS2 put into play. The game has great smooth graghics, with an excellent frame rate!

Also PS2 has online multiplayer options. This will be one of the playables online. You can play with several friends, one way is you can all play in the same arena and see who is the best. The other way that I know of is a game where two people crash into each other and you see you withstands the crash. There are more multiplayer options I just forgot them all.

Like always, chose your skater go through new levels. I saw a video at the convention where he was controling the skater on a roof, and the skater hit a car. The car fell to the streets and landed back wards, hit another car, then the police came! Things like this are all through out the game unlike THPS1 and 2. Everyone should give this a chance.


Tony Hawk is Back, Old School   December 10, 2001
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

From the very beginning of its incarnation, the Tony Hawk Pro Skater (THPS) series has been excellent. From the very first one, I remember having to learn everything without any help from my more experienced friends, and eventually turning things around and stomping them. THPS 1 was very basic, involving only grinds and vert tricks. I remember the insane-point tricks were rare

Then THPS 2 arrived. It was excellent in all regards: more detailed levels, the ability to change tricks, and the addition of manuals. Manuals made it possible to do insane-point tricks all the time. How insane? On some days, I average 500,000 points a trick, without any cheats. Also, from THPS 1, the gameplay seemed a little slower, almost like the developers were giving you more time to pull off all those killer tricks. It was still a good game, but points were way too easy to get.

Now THPS 3 is here, and I am stunned: the graphics are great, the levels are great (except for Suburbia..that one needs help,) and they included one of my favorite skaters, Bam Margera from the show Jackass. When I first started playing, I fell over constantly. I found out that THPS 3 ran "faster" than number 2. Every move has to be more precise than part 2. And it no longer feels like you're hanging in the air for infinite periods of time. Finally, the challenge was back again. This doesn't mean insane-tricks aren't possible; actually, with the addition of reverts, the tricks can get even more crazy. But the challenge of the quicker pace balances that ability quickly.

For anyone who fell in love with THPS 1 and thought THPS 2 was a little too forgiving, THPS 3 will make your dreams come true. For anyone who fell in love with THPS 2, sit down with THPS 3 for an hour and you'll fall in love with it as well.
(...)

THPS 3 takes an already superb franchise and makes it even better. Kudos to the guys at Neversoft for making this a must buy for any dedicated gamer.


one of the best PS2 games to date   November 3, 2001
jon lee (cupertino, CA USA)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

hey this is probably the best game for any system. i got this game today and it rules. It has the best graphics, eveyrthing is so smooth in this game, there are no pop-ups and polygonal problems like in the 1st 2 games. This game features 8 huge levels, i mean HUGE. these stages are really big and detailed. If you thought the stages in THPS2 rocked, you are gonna be blown away by these stages. Did I mention the create-a-park mode, because it;s back. They have many outfits for all the skaters now, like you can even put on little details like do-rags and kinds of socks, so thats a nice addition. You only get Bam Margera as a new skater but you lose Bob Burnquist. This game is far superior to Bob's PS2 game. You also get new tricks, like the revert move and new flatland tricks. The sound track is excellent, features a mix of punk, hip-hop, and rock. there are now 9 goals per stage so you are gonna play this for a while. new additions include interactive people on the stages, you can run into them and stuff but still its a nice feature to have. the 2-player mode has 2 new games so you go call your friends to come over to play this baby. But the bad things? yup there is only one complaint I have: WE HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL 2002 TO PLAY ONLINE, yup but still at this rate by 2002 you still wont be done with this game,why dont you stop reading this, and GO BUY THIS GAME!!!!!! YOU WONT REGRET IT, ITS WORTH EVERY PENNY YOU SPENT ON IT!!!