Our sheer elation when Activision announced Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 for Switch has sadly bailed in light of news that the fourth entry will be subject to some pretty seismic changes.
In short, as confirmed by Kotaku (thanks, Push Square), Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 won’t offer the original Career Mode, meaning you can no longer roam freely and take on challenges at your own pace. Instead, challenges will work in the same way as the previous three titles, giving you a 2-minute time limit in which to complete as many as possible.
As we understand it, a Free Roam mode will still be available, meaning you can explore the levels for as long as you like, but challenges won’t be offered in conjunction. So effectively, developer Iron Galaxy has “streamlined” the experience to form a more cohesive package, making the leap from THPS 3 to THPS 4 a more seamless transition.
We don’t like it, though. Granted, the first three Tony Hawk’s games are fantastic and we’ve no doubt that the fourth entry will still be worth playing with the proposed changes, but for goodness’ sake, the levels in that game were built with free roaming in mind. It just won’t feel the same.
We’ll reserve our full judgement until we play the game for review come July, but this is a devastating blow to fans of the original. We can only hope that Iron Galaxy and Activision will listen to fans and add a proper Career Mode via downloadable content later down the line.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 will launch on Nintendo Switch on 11th July 2025.
