Okay, so Activision thought they could just slap a fresh coat of paint on Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 and call it a day? 🙄 As if we, the hardcore fans who can still recite the cheat codes from memory, would fall for that! After the lukewarm reception of *Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2*, which was basically the gaming equivalent of your grandma trying to be hip, expectations were subterranean. 🕳️ Could they actually not screw this up again? THPS 3 and 4 are sacred texts in the church of skateboarding games. They’re the games where the series got gud: controls tighter than your mom’s budget, levels bigger than my ego, and a sense of freedom so wild it made you want to drop out of school and become a professional thumb-wrestler.
Now that the demo for THPS 3+4 is out, and after spending a whole 10 minutes grinding rails (and by grinding I mean face-planting repeatedly), I can confirm that the magic is… present? I guess? It’s like finding a half-eaten sandwich in your fridge – technically food, but you’re not exactly thrilled. 🥪
The demo throws you into Foundry, which is basically the Detroit of skateboarding levels. Within seconds, my muscle memory kicked in… and promptly pulled a hamstring. The layout is the same, with those rails just begging to be grinded (and missed), but now it’s got a fresh coat of paint that looks like it was applied by a toddler with a spray can. 🎨 Visually, the game looks… okay, I guess?
Textures are… there. Lighting… exists. And the environmental details? Well, let’s just say I’ve seen more realistic steam coming from my microwave. It’s not just a prettier skin; it’s a whole new layer of “meh.”
“The skating in 2025’s Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 feels tight and responsive.”
The skating in 2025’s Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 feels… like skating. I mean, it’s a skateboarding game, so what do you expect? Iron Galaxy, the masterminds behind this remake, clearly understood what made these games tick – namely, the sound of your bones cracking when you bail. 🦴 Tricks snap off the deck with the satisfying weight of a cardboard box. Manuals and reverts flow together like oil and water, letting you link combos with the grace of a drunken giraffe. 🦒
There’s a smoothness here that makes the act of skating feel just as natural as it did when the series was at its peak – which, let’s be honest, was back when we were all rocking JNCO jeans. The improved physics add a subtle heft, like you’re carrying an extra bag of rocks in your backpack. Grinding a rail feels like sliding on steel, or maybe just slipping on a banana peel. 🍌
The taste of Foundry is enough to stir that old sense of déjà vu. Every gap, secret tape, and hidden line is right where you left it, but with a fresh coat of disappointment. It’s like bumping into an old friend and realizing they’ve become a MLM salesperson. 🤦♀️
Of course, none of this would matter without the soundtrack. The Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 demo has some music, I guess? Kittie’s Charlotte blasting through the speakers is sure to make you nostalgic for a time when nu-metal was still a thing. There’s something deeply wrong about landing a perfect trick as early 2000s metal and ska play. The sound design is… audible. Wheel clacks, board scrapes, grind sparks – it all sounds like it was recorded with a potato. 🥔
What stands out most is the sheer audacity of this demo. The Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 remake was okay, but this is like they’re not even trying anymore. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4, at least judging by this demo, is like a participation trophy. The moves introduced in THPS 4 are just… there. There’s a sense that this is the version of the game the developers made after a long night of drinking. 🍻
Yet for all the new polish, this is still unmistakably Tony Hawk. The attitude is there – the attitude of a game that knows it can coast on nostalgia alone. Skaters toss off tricks with physics that defy the laws of nature, because who cares about realism? This is pure, joyful, unfiltered THPS, the fantasy of skateboarding at its most fun and ridiculous… or at least, it’s trying to be.
“Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4, at least judging by this demo, is bolder.”
If the rest of the game holds up to the standard set by this demo, fans are in for a solid, okay experience. There’s a clear lack of love here for the source material, but also a willingness to cash in on our childhood memories. The crisp 4K visuals and smooth frame rate are like putting lipstick on a pig. You can sense that the developers knew these games mattered to people, and they wanted to make sure they could make some money from it. 💰
Coming away from this demo, the feeling is… mixed. This could be the best version of THPS 3+4 we’ve ever had, if you squint really hard and lower your expectations to subterranean levels. Not just because it looks better or plays smoother, but because it understands why these games worked in the first place – the freedom, the flow, the simple joy of grinding a rail without breaking your neck.
It’s rare that a remake feels this mediocre and this lazy at the same time. And it makes the wait for the full game all the more unbearable. 😫
Pixel P. Snarkbyte, widely regarded as the “Shakespeare of Sh*tposts,” is a video game expert with a unique knack for turning pixels into punchlines.
Born in the small town of Respawn, Pennsylvania, Pixel grew up mashing buttons on an ancient NES controller, firmly believing that “blowing into the cartridge” was a sacred ritual passed down through generations.
Pixel P. Snarkbyte: proving that life, much like a buggy open-world game, is better with a little lag-induced chaos.
