Tony Hawk 4: Awesome (1 Viewer)

[Dave Falasco]

Thanks for the impressions, fellas. Sounds like a winner! Aw, who was I kidding--it's a new Tony Hawk game; there's no way I could keep from buying it. Hell, I'm surprised I've lasted this long...

 

[Sean Moon]

Thats the spirit Dave! I feel the same way...I cant live knowing that somewhere out there there is a THPS game I dont have....knowing there are new levels to play and master, new punks to school in how to combo.

Also, as far as difficulty goes, the game is hard. But the high score challenges are WAAAAAYYYYY too easy this time through. On the London level the proscore is like 125,000 in 2 minutes. Is that a joke? Thats half of a lame ass combo! I got that one done in 15 seconds. Or am I the only one that finds the high score things really easy?

The c-o-m-b-o things are hard though. What a great idea, you have to collect all the letters in the word in one trick line. The shipyard stage has one of the most horrifying combo lines to get.

 

[Mike Pattee]

Anyone played any THPS4 online yet? I want to hear some impressions of that.

 

[Sean Moon]

Just unlocked the Carnival level. Damn is this level cool, and immediately they hit you with a doozy of a goal. You have to get a 500,000 pt combo. Got it in one try, but seeing as how the last stage before it only had you get 200,000 point run in 2 minutes, this is a pretty steep increase.

I havent tried online yet, I cant afford a router right now and dont feel like setting up my ethernet adapter on PS2 until I unlock all the stages. I am a completist first.

 

[Dave F]

I'm still undecided on this one. I LOVED THPS1 + 2, but 3 was horrible. Maybe I'll swing by blockbuster and give THPS4 a rent first

'Ceppin fer the Blockbuster part ( ), those are my thoughts exactly. It's getting to be so easy to link that it will soon be a challenge not to combo.
-Dave

 

[Andre F]

I'm still undecided on this one. I LOVED THPS1 + 2, but 3 was horrible. Maybe I'll swing by blockbuster and give THPS4 a rent first

I loved THPS 3! I'm dying since I have not run out and bought THPS4...

 

[Sean Moon]

Just unlocked the Prochallenges on the game. Good god almighty! If you thought the game was tough wait until you get a load of these things! Beating a prochallenge also opens up more objectives on all stages!
So far I have only tried two prochallenges, Tony Hawk and Bob Burnquist. Bobs I gave up on after a while, as I am too tired toPull off combos while jumping a gap in a loop. There is a hole at the top of a loop! And the hole gets bigger with each trick!

I beat Tony Hawks, which aint easy!Pull off three tricks of the games choice while gapping between two half pipes that are elevated some 50+ feet in the air. Pull of the first set, the gap gets bigger, and the tricks get harder. Pull off that set and the gap gets massive, and you have to pull off THREE super moves while gapping the pipes!

 

[John Royster]

I can't wait to get THPS4.

But here comes a difficult decision. Do I get it for ps2 or xbox?

The ps2 controller is just made for THPS while the xbox one is still very clunky for me. So are the better graphics/sound/720p worth it even if the controller is well below the ps2?

thanks for any help.

-edit- THPS1-3 were always played on the ps2. I received THPS2 for xbox last christmas...played it for one hour and have never opened it since.

 

[BrianB]

John, you've got a PM

 

[EdR]

The ps2 controller is just made for THPS while the xbox one is still very clunky for me. So are the better graphics/sound/720p worth it even if the controller is well below the ps2?

I'm going through this right now. I rented the Xbox version, and it's a revelation at 720p...simply incredible. But the Xbox controller (I'm using the 'S') so far doesn't seem as good for the game as the PS2...

I haven't played it at 480p yet, but I can tell it would be painful to go back to lower resolution.

I wish someone made an Xbox controller with PS2 style shoulder buttons...if only for games like this...

 

[Mike Pattee]

Most of the people who I've heard adapting to the xbox s controller for THPS said it took time but after the were used to it they didn't see an advantage to one over the other. I think it all comes down to what you learn first. If you learned on a xbox full size controller it probably wouln't be a big issue to use one.

 

[Dave Falasco]

I think the "S" controller is almost perfect for this game. After playing (and playing and playing) TH with the "S", I actually find it quite difficult to go back to the (for me) cramped style of the PSX controllers. I hear you on the shoulder buttons, though. That is the one area that I think the PS2 does TH better. The Xbox's analog triggers are awesome for many games, but the PS2 style shoulder buttons do seem to work better for Tony Hawk.
Still, overall it's the "S" controller for me. The overall comfort, excellent D-pad, and textured face buttons (on the Japanese model) more than make up for the long-travel triggers.

 

[EdR]

I like the S contoller in general, and the Xbox triggers are really great for racing games as accelerator/brake. They allow a true analog control where it's important.

I think I need to spend more time with THPS4 on the Xbox, I'll probably adapt eventually. In the meantime the eyecandy is just so nice to look at the controller issues seem small.

 

[BrianB]

*cough cough*, EdR

 

[EdR]

BrianB
Thanks!! That is sweet! I have one of these for the GC, but I have never seen on for the Xbox...this rocks!
Have you used it? The GC one works fine, although I really like the GC controllers anyway.

 

[David Rogers]

I've played THPS since the first incarnation, on PS-1. I love big air, the bigger the better, and grind only as a means to get at air, or to extend air trick strings. Levels with limited half and quarter-pipe opportunities are a waste as far as I'm concerned. I hated manuals when they were introduced in THPS2, yet managed to beat the game back and forth despite not using them (I had to bust huge air tricks to make it happen though). In THPS3, I changed my stance on manuals and also embraced the reverts, and took my tricking to incredible new highs by taking my air skills and linking two and three air tricks together. I still harbor a special hatred/fascination with the Cruise ship from THPS3 ,with its not-quite-good pipes yet a 500,000 sick-score level that took me most of an evening to bust past the first time I tried it. It was there I began to build new tricks that linked 540 and 720 flip-grab-revert-manual airs in sequences of two and three that led to plants and stalls (with revert landings) to finish, to add more combos to the trick strings to make it easier to climb to 500K.
Now in THPS4, I'm again awestruck. Beyond awestruck. THPS4 is easily as much better over THPS3 as THPS1 was innovative and original when it first debuted.
* Removal of the 2min timer for "play", brilliant. Each level loads and you can skate around looking and tricking, just having fun. When you want, you grab an objective and work on it (more on that below); when you're done you just skate off and look for another one. If you're suddenly gripped with an urge to see what trick you can bust on a convenient half pipe and grind bar you might find yourself near, you can just do it without a clock counting down. Also, the music is now full and doesn't end after two minutes.
* "Retry Last Goal", brilliant. Well over half the frustration and non-fun of previous THPS games was from resetting yourself for a goal, particularly combined with the 2min timer. Now you simply lunge out a start-down-x (or for competitions a start-down-down-x) and you're instantly reset to try the goal again. From the start, just right, ready to rip with your skills. Brilliant. Lets you focus on the fun of defeating challenges, and not on skating down to where it was after resetting and going back to the beginning of a level with the 2min timer and a reset song. I can't think of a single goal type this isn't a massive benefit too, including raw score challenges.
* New Goal Types, brilliant. The c-o-m-b-o single trick challenges are great fun, and require you to think creatively about how to string the tricks together. The competitions in the one section of the level, very organic and very fun. "Impress so-and-so" goals, again brilliant and guides you into thinking about your gameplay in ways that will be built upon as the levels progress. Cascading "required tricks" are a damn fun goal type, and I'm looking forward to these goals getting extremely complicated as the levels open up; right now I'm still getting the single tricks for these goals, and I expect to be seeing trick combos soon. The timed "pick items up" challenges are starting to get extremely irritating already, though they are also interesting in the demanding skate path they inflict upon you due to the timer.
The "collect supplies and meet prisoner at the docks" challenge in Alcatraz is …. AAARRRGGGGH GGRRRRRRRR!
The opening set is a one story descending triple grind with transfers, that dumps you immediately (without any run-up space or time) to a quarter pipe where you have to leap-of-faith arc up in a precise vector to get the three items hanging in mid air before you drop down to the pools below, where you have to grind the edges 360 around and dump out onto the flat walkway. From there you must wall ride up and grind, then transfer to the far left and grind the rail around a curve and ollie the gap, then make another curve to dump out flat again. Then you have to make a quarter-pipe transfer gap, land again, then grind a pipe over reset-water and make a second leap-of-faith to get three more items hanging in mid air. If you make it this far, you've done the hard parts; just a final long grind that ends by grinding up a rope to a small yacht.
Right now I hit the opening leap-of-faith about a third of the time, miss the wall ride-grind-transfer left over two thirds of the time, and am so far from hitting the second leap-of-faith correctly it's not exactly fair to say I'm "working on it". The timer for all of this means you have to "routine" the whole schbang smoothly or you will not be even close to having enough time to collect all the items within limit. There is no time for "try again" in any of this entire connected line of required moves. If you miss any of it, retry last goal is your fate. The two leaps-of-faith are the most irritating parts, the second far more than the first.
* Skater Animations - Wow. Same console THPS3 was on, but the animations and renders are much cleaner, more detailed, more identifiable, and flat out better in so many ways. Bails are impressive and far more varied now, not just a simple "death" animation as was the case in THSPS 1-3. The skaters are recognizable as who they represent, not just a little guy who is labeled "Tony Hawk". The customizable appearance options are better than ever, and the result is an extremely broad range of possible looks for each skater. For friends who play together, it's where it's at.
* Levels - Wow again. Very organic, very natural looking in all respects. Less of an artificial feel as was the case in previous THPS titles, and far far far more skatable area and objects to enjoy in each level. Kona is a skate park, and boy is it! Amazingly well done. College also has a very nice feel to it. Cars no longer are death, but rather are kinda fun to have around (since they don't knock you around, forcing a bail animation you have to sit through). Skitching off cars is something I haven't done outside of the challenges yet, but I've seen a few places where I could skitch into a ramp and possibly get some huge air to trick with … looking forward to trying it.
* Controls. Almost totally brilliant. I don't know where else it could be put, but I don't like SpineTransfer sharing the same button with Revert, as my reflex from THPS3 was to basically start tapping Revert while still not quite near landing. Now when I do that I'm causing inadvertant spine transfers that are causing bails and disrupting tricks. I imagine when I manage to reprogram my reflex to not do this, I'll be happier. Right now it's my only control (sigh) moment. The new feature, to double or triple tap the button to perform a more involved trick (left-square for Kickflip, left-square-square for double Kickflip, left-square-square-square for triple Kickflip) … brilliant. Opens the tricks up so much more, and makes it far more intuitive to bust a longer flip where you can get away with it than before, where you had to remember which sequence were your standard flips, and which were the "I have time for a good flip", etc…
* Goal/Level Design - guides you through learning the controls without being as boring or uninteresting as a tutorial, yet still teaches you the game fundamentals you'll need to advance. A few were almost close to "old style" tutorials, but managed to wring fun into them despite this (the spine transfer, manual, and revert goals early on are what I'm thinking off).
* New moves - Skitching, spine transfers, again open up new trick possibilities and new ways to extend combos. I haven't fiddled with flatland tricks yet, but if they work as I imagine, I'll have an absolutely excellent way to extend the combo on long strings that included two or three airs, a plant, and previously ended in a very slow manual to eek a few final points into it before multiplication.
Neversoft batted a homerun with THPS4 as far as I'm concerned. I expected it to be good, but my God how often do game companies actually offer a good game? Especially in consoles, where the amount of unmitigated, unpatchable crap is staggering. I suppose when your titular celebrity for the game series is an avid gamer himself, who plays the games often and with friends who do the same, and who is also an accomplished skater, … good things must happen. Right now I'm looking at it trying to think of what they could possibly give us in THPS5, and am coming up short.

 

[Dave Falasco]

Damn, Dave, that's one hell of a review! If I was still waffling on this purchase, you have pushed me over the edge. Or out of the waffle iron, as it were.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

 

[David Rogers]

I enjoy writing about things I like!

 

[Sean Moon]

PS2 is online play, that is why I picked that version.

The PS2 to Xbox adapter doesnt work well for tony hawk. You have to mash the buttons for them to register, and the white/black buttons are mapped to l2 and r2. You would still have to mash both triggers on the controller to do a spine transfer on the Xbox.

 

[Mike Pattee]

Has anyone tried the online play? I'm on the fence over ps2 vs xbox version. looks like online play vs custom soundtrack and 480p(for my tv) Anyone tell me if the online play is worth it? Also I love how much faster the stuff saved on xbox hard drive.