Xbox Game Pass subscribers have been treated to two new games, one of which is the highest-rated PS2 game ever released. And both games in question are Activision games, which means both should be permanent additions, as Xbox owns Activision. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers have already been enjoying the two games in question, but now it is available to substantially more subscribers because they have been made available via the Premium tier. Consquently, all subscribers other than Essential subscribers can now enjoy some great PS2 nostalgia.
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The PS2 has one of the best libraries in gaming history. To this end, some of the highest-rated PS2 games of all time include Resident Evil 4, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto Vice City, Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, God of War, Devil May Cry, Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec, and Madden NFL 2003. Above every single one of these games, though, as the highest-rated PS2 game on Metacritic, is Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3, which has a 97 on Metacritic. This is the same score as the aforementioned Grand Theft Auto III; however, the former is closer to 98, so it ranks higher. The other new Xbox Game Pass addition is Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4, which is the 9th highest-ranked PS2 game of all time. That said, neither of these additions is the original, nostalgic versions, but the remake versions released last year as Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4.
2025 Remakes
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 costs $49.99 on the Xbox Store, so these additions are saving Xbox Game Pass subscribers a considerable bit of money. That said, the remakes aren’t as good as the original games, or at least not as relevant. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and skateboarding in general were massive back in the early 2000s. Now, that is no longer the case. To this end, where the original games are some of the best-ranking games of their generation, the remake has a Metacritic range of 81 to 87. These are very solid scores, but not incredible. And unfortunately, the remakes don’t pack the same nostalgia because a considerable amount of the original soundtrack is not in the present. Further, the stripped-down career mode did not impress fans of the old-school series.
Those who check out Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 now that it is on Xbox Game Pass should expect an average runtime of about 8 to 16 hours; however, completionists will need closer to 40 hours with the nostalgic Activision games.
All of that said, and as always, feel free to leave a comment or two letting us know what you think, or join the video game conversations happening over on the ComicBook Forum.
