Man, it’s kinda nice going back to College after all we’ve been through. From world tours with the gang to fighting for a spot in the Projects, and heck, even having to restart from zero a few times over. So, to come back to college, so to speak, with some of the skills you acquired over the years, feels weirdly nostalgic.
And that’s what I got from playing the Demo of Tony Hawk’s latest Pro Skater offering of 3+4. It’s familiar yet a bit different. It’s still the same map of both Foundry from 3 and College from 4, but I just couldn’t get the flow right with our two characters so far.
Tricking Like It’s 2004
The fundamentals of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater are simple. It’s just YOU, a skater, a level and two minutes to see how high you can get in that time frame. It’s arcade gaming at its finest, and the tricks are almost fighting game-like with the button presses and motion that aren’t exactly similar to real life.
But it’s the joy of pulling the combos to see the numbers go up, to see how high you can chain them within that time limit, is one of the few reasons why the THPS series is renowned. Heck, it’s many skaters’ dreams to be in the game as one of the rosters still. And while I cannot skate properly in real life, this game still manages to capture that feeling well in this demo.
And while I can admit to being a bit rusty with how to spine transfer and how tight the revert window is for combos, it still has the same game feel from its 2020 remake. I do appreciate how quick and easy it is still to pick either the Hawkman or Rayssa Leal and shred for a few minutes. And without any Goals to be done, it’s quite barren, to say the least. Though that wouldn’t stop the fun, no?
My one gripe is that the tricks listed aren’t included when you enter a level, but rather are readable on the main menu when you’re picking your characters only; it just hinders new players who are trying it out for the first time, or even jumping back into it after a 5-year hiatus. Though it is a demo, so some leeway could be given.
As for the level redesigns, its new fresh coat of graphics paint does make the two levels stand out from each other, with the College level getting more breakable parts that make the campus area more lived-in than its counterpart from a few decades back.
And while the Foundry’s more interesting parts aren’t in the demo (like grinding the power to activate the big machine), the goals and objectives are there, and for the likes of the floats in College, moving around too. So, I consider myself curious to see how their new timer rules would work when the full game releases soon.
Verdict
Is the Demo worth pre-ordering?
Not really. It’s not like the day when you could pick up a demo via pizza delivery and game on it till your heart’s content. But the fundamentals are already there, so it’s going to be quite a nostalgic trip game when it launches later this month to see how it does.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 is set to launch on July 11 for the PS4, PS5, PC (Steam, Microsoft Store, Battle.net), Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. The Demo was provided by the publisher.