No doubt that Tony Hawk has had some kind of impact on how some of us look at video games forever. With Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, the folks at Neversoft, whose previous accomplishment had been the above-average action game Apocalypse starring Bruce Willis, produced a stellar extreme sports experience like no other, complete with solid playability, a stellar variety of tricks, an extreme soundtrack, a great graphic engine, and hidden goodies galore. They expanded upon that with Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, an even bigger game with more gameplay features, bigger extras, huge levels, and a customization feature from the heavens that, to this day, still finds heavy use.

But what if I told you that this was merely scratching the surface on the appeal that Tony Hawk could have in the gaming universe? That's right, we've seen great, we've seen awesome, and now the word "stellar" can be used to describe what's coming next.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 has been announced across the board for several consoles, including the Gamecube, Game Boy Advance, Playstation, Playstation 2, and Xbox. (No Dreamcast port? Hmmm, that's strange, but, oh, well…) With that, the mania of Tony Hawk is more widespread than ever, and no doubt with the announcement of this game will come even more anticipation for the next generation of video game consoles, particularly the PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube.

The reason I'm mentioning those three versions in general is because they will see the full greatness of THPS3. Mind you, the PSX and GBA games will still be an utter blast, but the next-gen games will see a feature that gamers have wanted to see implemented for quite some time- online play.

Yep, Neversoft, back at work on the sequel, is looking into different online options for the game, where four players can take part in a skatefest to compete for the best tricks and scores. Even if some of the online options may not make it into the final game (particularly if the systems don't have their networks up and running in time for the game's release this fall), though, Neversoft has promised that the same four-player mode will be available offline, where four friends can go at it in all-out shredding war.

But if multiplayer isn't the whole kit and kaboodle for you, no sweat. Activision and Neversoft are making sure that the single player experience is rewarding in its own right. They're introducing missions or tasks that you have to complete in each level in order to proceed into the game. Sure, they've had goals before, but that was meeting a certain score or dollar amount. These are actual interactive goals that change within the level. For instance, one area will have you preventing a liquor store robbery, while another has you saving people during an earthquake in Los Angeles.

All this WHILE doing tricks and earning points. It may be a bit tricky at first, but it adds a whole new level of depth to the game that will add to its replayability for a while.

And the settings themselves promise to be excellent, taking advantage of the next-gen hardware and looking more realistic than ever before. There's now people, cars, and other interactive elements galore, not just some cab driver that tries to run you over. You can knock folks down, jump cars, or just plain coast away from the cops on a good run after shredding the steps of City Hall. The locations vary, from the neon-lit streets of Tokyo, to the concreted steps of Paris (with the Eiffel Tower able to be shredded-WHAA?!), to the beauty of Skater Island, with its tropical settings just egging you to take your mind off the ramp for two seconds. Los Angeles, Rio de Janiero, and Canada are also thrown in for good measure, each with their interactive items all intact and promising a great skateboarding experience.

And this isn't even including the hidden levels within the game. Did

someone say Skater Heaven II? Or maybe even Skater Hell?

The roster goes like this- Bam Margera, Steve Caballero, Rune Glifberg, Eric Koston, Bucky Lasek, Rodney Mullen, Chad Muska, Andrew Reynolds, Geoff Rowley, Elissa Steamer, Jamie Thomas, and, of course, Mr. Tony Hawk, as well as a slew of hidden faces from the past and a few newbies as well. (Venom? Hmmm...) The game will also boast an impressive soundtrack to back up its action, as Neversoft is rumored to be talking to Limp Bizkit about adding some tracks to the game. "Rollin'" and "My Way" sound about right for the soundtrack, as well as a nice rendition of "Break Stuff". We'll have to see if this happens.

The video clips will return, so gamers can check out some neat bails and tricks performed by their heroes, as well as a few other goodies. I want to see that Neversoft guy that never skateboarded before fall over again, like Tom Green did during the ESPN Awards...heh. And then there's the slew of extras, as mentioned above, that will make this game playable for a long time to come, not to mention some gameplay quirks that will bring the Tony

Hawk-playing experience to a new level all its own. The varial should be tweaked to be more on-the-fly, and some new grabs and super moves should be introduced to add a bit more variety. We can't wait.

So there you have it. Interactive environments. Bigger locations. A huge, phat roster; a potentially cool soundtrack and online play. This Tony Hawk's Pro Skater could easily be the biggest and best yet, and no one will want to go without it when it finds its console-wide release this fall. We'll have a better look at the game at E3, so keep watching for full hands-on tests and development details...if we can wipe away the drool from our notebook pages to see what we wrote.

Thanks to the Robert DCD Workman for submitting this to PGC! You know we’re Cloudchaser once the DCD starts contributing to us! WHOOO!

This preview originally ran on Sony Source