Little better than last time?
that said, this is still a pretty awesome game. The levels are much bigger and encourage exploration which is great.
another difference in this game is the addition of missions. You start out on a level with many people who have certain tasks for you(score as many points as possible, grind a certain rail, perform a certain trick) which can mix things up. It's amazing how many problems can be solved by grinding on things, which is sometimes quite funny.
In the end, though you'll come back to find the perfect spots to pull off the best combos. Everything is linked through manuals as usual, and the new "getting out of a half pipe instead of landing right back on it" has been improved greatly.
If you haven't picked up THPS3 yet, then this is definitely an even better place to start. If you have, you probably want to consider how much more Hawk you can take.