Games

Taking flight with the Birdman - Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater Remake Demo Review

Gareth Woods spent an entire weekend reliving his childhood, one 2-minute run at a time, playing (and loving) every bit of the Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1+2 Demo. Here are his thoughts

Written by Gareth Woods

3 min readPublished on 20.08.2020 · 07:29 UTC

If you never had a chance to play the original Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater you most certainly missed out on one of the best skating games of all time. Not to worry, because come September 4th (incidentally also Tony’s birthday), you’ll be able to relive the action (or experience it all for the first time – in a way I’m sort of jealous of anyone being able to experience this game for the first time).

The demo was available to anyone who pre-ordered the game and allows you to tear it up on the original Warehouse level from the original game and if you’re like me, rolling down that first ramp with Rage Against The Machine – Guerilla Radio blasting in your ears will teleport you back to being a kid and the endless hours spent in the game.

While the demo just is a teaser for the full release, what I’ve seen so far is enough to continue my excitement for the upcoming release. Unfortunately, you are only able to play a 2 minute run of the iconic Warehouse level, but everything you expect from the OG of skate games is still there now with a slick new coat of next-gen paint.

I played the demo on PS4 and while it isn’t going to win any graphics awards when put next to games like The Last of Us – Part 2 or Ghost of Tsushima, the graphics are light years ahead of the original. The game will be available on Playstation 4, PC and Xbox One and will take full advantage of the hardware to bring full 4K and 60 fps.

While the demo only allows you to play as the birdman himself, the full game will include the original roster with names like Geoff Rowley, Elissa Steamer, Kareem Campbell, Andrew Reynolds, Bob Burnquist, Steve Caballero, Bucky Lasek, Jamie Thomas, Chad Muska and Rune Glifberg as well as some of the biggest names from the modern skate scene. Each character will grant the player access to their epic signature moves like Rowley’s “Darkside grind” and Tony’s original record-breaking “900”.

Perhaps one of the cornerstones of the Pro Skater games is the music and the new version will be bringing back the nostalgia for returning players while introducing several new tracks and artists to the franchise. One of the features I’m most excited for is the ability to play co-op with a buddy online. Each level can be played with many returning achievements to unlock, but this time you can play with a friend, which is certain to add a new dimension to gameplay. We are also expected to see the return of several competitive multiplayer modes.

In the full game, we can also expect to be able to show off our creativity with the “Create-A-Skater” and “Create-A-Park” feature allowing players to create both their own customer skaters, but also their ultimate skate park.

All in all, while the demo doesn’t show off much, what it did do is get our hype train speeding up for the 4th September launch and we honestly can’t wait to be busting some moves on all the epic locations in just a few short weeks.