Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 (PS2)

Following the success of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 in 2001, the inevitable Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 was released in 2002. This particular entry, however, experimented with a number of brand-new mechanics that would reshape the direction of the franchise for some time. While the effort was admirable, the first outing in this new direction was a bit rough and it shows.

As with previous entries, Pro Skater 4 introduces some gameplay changes that help spice things up and vary the types of combos you can perform. Chief among these are skitching, where you can grab onto the backs of moving vehicles; and spine transfers, allowing you to jump between half- and quarter-pipes to make levels easier to traverse. The lineup of playable pro skaters is similar to Pro Skater 3, except Bob Burnquist has been added back in.

In contrast to previous entries, however, the format of the gameplay has received a major overhaul. Rather than a series of standalone levels with a list of goals to accomplish, each level is larger with a more open-world feel and no time limit, and you have to approach NPCs throughout each stage to receive challenges to perform that have their own time limits, some more cryptic in their directions than others. Completing challenges does, however, grant you Pro Points that are needed to unlock the next level, as well as cash and other random benefits such as trick slots and stat points.

Additionally, not all challenges are available at once, with some unlocked by completing other challenges first, though you can retry any unlocked challenge by selecting it from the pause menu rather than having to seek out the NPC every time. Stand-alone Competition levels have also been removed, instead being worked into the challenges you can seek out in a level. One challenge that I thought was actually funny was a skitching challenge in Alcatraz where Ranger Rob gives you a tour of the prison while going off about how much he hates Ranger Bob, only for it to turn out Ranger Bob was actually evil the entire time.

You have to talk to NPCs in order to receive challenges.

Some challenges can also have a permanent effect on the environment once they are initiated, whether you complete them or not, such as a destroyed dock in San Francisco or an increasing number of ramps in Alcatraz. While these can open up the environment even more, some can also create a minor interference with gameplay, such as a giant loop ramp in the Alcatraz stage. One other quirk about challenges is that they end as soon as you complete them, regardless of how much time you have left. While this can be viewed as a good thing for most challenges, it can be a bit jarring when it comes to score-based goals, especially once you get into a bit of a groove. I will also note here that, while not too overt otherwise, one challenge in San Francisco specifically involved visiting a Nokia store to obtain a camera, which came off as rather on-the-nose product placement.

The cash system from Pro Skater 2 also makes a return, except rather than unlocking the next level, here it’s used to purchase an array of bonus content. Said content includes customization options for your chosen skater as well as other extras such as cheats, decks, bonus skaters and secret levels. One of these secret levels is the Chicago level lifted from Matt Hoffman’s Pro BMX 2, serving as a crossover or cross-promotion with that game.

Given that I was playing the PS2 version of Pro Skater 4, the visual quality is roughly similar to Pro Skater 3, though some environmental details looked a bit rough compared to others. That said, I did appreciate set dressing in places where the player would not go very often, such as set of tables and chairs in a higher alcove of the College level, giving levels some much-needed flavor. Having visited Alcatraz before, I can also confirm that the level is an accurate, if highly-condensed, recreation of the actual prison.

The more open levels can be overwhelming at first until you take the time to
properly explore them first. (I've been using GameCube screenshots
because PS2 screenshots are difficult to find.)

While the games had previously featured some amount of voice acting on the part of the pro skaters, this game introduces full voice acting to the series with some NPCs, with mixed results aside from the pro skaters themselves. While the game has a generally solid soundtrack much like its predecessors, “Dig That Groove Baby” by Toy Dolls stood out to me for similar reasons to “Jerry Was A Race Car Driver” by Primus in Pro Skater 1, in that it sounded jarring compared to everything else and was a song I didn’t exactly look forward to listening to. Then again, as the soundtrack has been expanded to include 37 songs, they can’t all be winners to everyone. That said, some songs that did stand out to me for the the right reasons include “Spokesman” by Goldfinger, “Skate and Destroy” by The Faction, “Blackball” by The Offspring, “All My Best Friends Are Metalheads” by Less Than Jake, “Manthem” by Bouncing Souls, “Shimmy” by System of a Down, “Anarchy in the UK” by Sex Pistols, “Bloodstains (Darkness Version)” by Agent Orange and “The Number of the Beast” by Iron Maiden.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 is a bit rough compared to previous entries, though on its own it’s an okay experience. It’s evident that the game was trying something ambitious with the series, though the concepts it introduces would not be perfected until later down the line. I wouldn’t recommend this game more immediately than Pro Skater 3, however it is worth playing in order to see the transition into what would become the future of the brand.