The Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 remaster’s Foundry Demo is now available for those who pre-ordered the fresh upcoming version of the classic titles, and I’ve got a chance to take a look myself and see if Activision managed to pull it off. And, as things stand, it seems like it.
I came in not knowing what to expect, but wasn’t disappointed
Having not been a die-hard fan of skating games as a kid, I didn’t really get into Tony Hawk and similar games as much as some others have. It also wasn’t really popular in my part of the world, nor was skating for that matter, though I did own one and followed all the children’s urban skating shows on TV and aspired to learn how to become a pro with the board myself.
While that never came to be, it seems a higher power had something in mind when it reconnected me to a past passion via the upcoming Tony Hawk 3 + 4 remaster bundle that is reinvigorating classic skating via modern tech and standards.
Being a relative newcomer to such games, I found what the demo offered to be quite good, especially in the technical department. It had two levels to play—Foundry and College—each with its own set of unique opportunities to show off some awesome skating skills.
It did take a moment for me to learn how the keyboard controls work (I tried the game both with a controller and a keyboard just to see how well it does in each department), but once things started falling into place, I was glued to the screen trying to top my previous high score.
The controls felt snappy, responsive, and overall quite intuitive. Landing basic tricks is pretty easy, and you can feel yourself getting better pretty fast. It is much more responsive and pleasurable than the average game in the genre, and it’s pretty awesome to see developers pulling off such smoothness of gameplay in an age where optimization of any kind is almost taboo.
Many classic (and copyrighted) songs also feature in the game, adding to its urban skater vibe. From catchy old school rap beats to the heaviest of metal, the soundtrack is jam-packed with popular songs that elevate the experience to the utmost.
There are a ton of unique tricks to learn as well, with each of the available skaters having their own set of starting tricks that you have available. Naturally, you can unlock and equip more unique tricks as you progress via challenge completion.
One awesome option is the ability to bind unique tricks to whatever combination of keys you prefer, allowing for a lot of personalization that can cover many different playstyles.
Tony Hawk isn’t the only star
Speaking of the available skaters, Tony Hawk himself isn’t the only option in the game. The demo offers him, Olympic skating medalist Rayssa Leal, as well as… Doom Guy. This last is only available for those who pre-ordered the Digital Deluxe edition of the game. While only three skaters were available in the demo, more are set to come in the full release.
It was awesome to see up-and-coming and established skaters of our time be represented in the game, as a lot of time has passed since the original titles first came out. Leal is also 17 as of this article, which just goes to show how appreciative the game is of rising skating stars that might have entire franchises named after them one day, just like Hawk.
Skater and board appearances can also be customized, but the options seem much less robust than the ones related to the tricks. This might be a limitation of the demo, however, and will perhaps be expanded upon with the full release. There’s just under a month left for development, though, so I wouldn’t hold my breath.
The Tony Hawk 3 + 4 remaster is a great return to a classic series, following in the footsteps of the 1 + 2 remaster bundle from 2023. While I only got to see a limited version of the title, I have no doubt that both newcomers and returning fans of the franchise are going to love its smooth and satisfying gameplay.
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