Skate 3 review Archives

The third entry in EA's popular Skate series was released all the way back on May 11, , and we haven't heard a peep from the franchise on Xbox since! Regardless, Skate 3 continues to enjoy an excellent reception to this day, and remains a popular backwards compatible title on Xbox One.

Known for being a more simulation-driven alternative to the Tony Hawk's series, the third Skate entry introduced new features such as improved online features, a more accessible camera angle and the introduction of "Skate School" teacher Coach Frank, played by Jason Lee of My Name is Earl fame.

It's been a long time since Skate or any other skateboarding games last graced an Xbox console, but we've got a few coming this year! Skater XL launches for Xbox One on July 7th, Crea-ture Studios' Session is on the way as well, and there's also that rumour about a new Tony Hawk's Pro Skater game

Do you still play Skate 3? What are your favourite memories of it? Let us know in the comments.

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I have to hand it to EA and developer Black Box. They’ve once again delivered a game that serves up dish after dish of the thing that makes a good game so addicting: gameplay. Building off the momentum of two previous releases, Skate 3 incrementally adds to the formula with a new career style, park editor, and a few new tricks for good measure. And while this third entry makes no remarkable changes, consistency is a good thing in this case, rewarding dedicated players of the series.

Instead of following the tired idea of being a pro that’s building up a career and sponsors, players assume the role of a new skateboard company owner. Not only do you start out by customizing your player, but your company, too. My company, Pants Stealers, eventually grew to the point where I had sold over a million boards and recruited a few AI teammates. While a lot of it seems like just another version of previous career modes, there are a few breakout features that make Skate 3 stand out – most notably in the online component. Not only can players join other companies online, there are full stats, player profiles, and even job-specific roles like street skater or filmer. You can also earn board royalties if other people download your custom content like videos, images, and parks.

Speaking of parks, my favorite new feature is the custom park creator. If Port Carverton, the new fictional setting for Skate 3, isn’t enough, you can go into one of the many dedicated skate parks, tear everything down, and start from scratch. A huge set of tools, extremely deep options, and a large selection of objects mean that creative users will undoubtedly come up with some amazing designs. Of course, these can be shared with the world for download. I was impressed with the real-world physics objects like ramps and rails that once placed, can be moved around by other skaters in-game just like they would in a real city. Because the gameplay in Skate is so solid, this adds a level of replayability that rivals other content creation-focused games like LittleBigPlanet.

Online also returns with many of the previous games’ features like freeskate and proposing challenges. But with the addition of teams, online companies can battle it out in modes like Spot Battle and Hall of Meat. The number of things to do online is staggering. Almost all of the challenges from single player are available online to be played in either group co-op or versus. While it’s not structured like a proper career, players could effectively run through the whole game online together as a team.

I think Skate 3’s biggest strength is its ability to deliver smooth, fun gameplay that fits like a glove. New tricks like the underflip and darkslide throw in a little flair. If you’re a fan, Skate 3 is a sure thing; if you’re just starting out, it’s even better. New character Coach Frank, played by actor and pro skateboarder Jason Lee, will walk you through the basics. Black Box has also added in difficulty settings, which helps new players avoid frustration by saving more challenge for veteran boarders. The physics have been tweaked to be even more realistic, and better emulate the trials and tribulations of real-world skating.

Black Box has once again sucked me back into the world of kickflips and hip tricks. The Skate series’ focus on what’s important means gamers can pick up a copy with a sense of confidence that they will get what they pay for. While this latest title doesn’t take any huge risks, I would argue that’s a good thing. Skate has always been one of those rare games where you can just aimlessly play with no goals or objectives. With the addition of the park creator, this is only increased with the limitless possibility of player-created content.

It can be painful, as well as inspiring, when you see a pupil becoming the master. Activision's Tony Hawk's Pro Skater franchise put skateboarding games on the map, but went from decline to disaster with last year's all-but-unplayable Tony Hawk: Ride. Meanwhile, deadly rival EA's Skate arrived on the scene, initially with little but a more logical control system (largely eschewing button-presses in favour of both analogue joysticks) to recommend it. However, Skate has steadily improved and its third incarnation marks the point at which it leaves the opposition in the gutter, most likely nursing two broken ankles and in dire need of an ambulance.

Skate 3 has plenty of new elements, most notably a massively ramped up social element, which encourages you to form an online skate crew with your mates, and take on rival teams (co-operative online play even speeds your passage through the single-player side). There's an incredibly powerful skate park editor, enormous flexibility when it comes to customising anything to do with your skate team, new tricks (including the Darkslide, where you grind with your board upside-down so you must end it with a flip) and a glorious set of diverse challenges. These include Own That Spot, where you must pull off high-value tricks in specific places; photography and video challenges, where you must perform specific tricks in specific places; Pro challenges, where you follow pros lines or play squash-like games of 1-Up with them; races; and several types of contests (often sponsored by the same brands active in the real-life skateboarding world – if product placement worries you, you'll hate Skate 3).

The hilarious Hall Of Meat, in which you launch yourself like a human rag doll in a bid to break as many virtual bones as possible, has been ramped up, giving you amazingly fine control over your self-immolation. Each completed challenge breeds sales of the board you designed, milestones open up new areas and challenges and downloads of photos and videos of your skills in action add to those board sales.

As in previous versions of Skate, the control system leaves you feeling much more connected to your board than in rival games, and you have to work much harder to nail high-value tricks. But the real star of the game is Port Carverton, the fictional city in which Skate 3 is set. It is, quite simply, a skater's dream, with vertigo-inducing vertical sections, skate parks everywhere, an abandoned shipyard and an unfeasible amount of rails, ledges and ramps. If it were real, it would have long since been abandoned by all non-skaters.

Skate 3 is meaty, has lashings of the attitude and ambience that skaters demand and is hugely addictive. It is, by some distance, the best skateboard game yet, and is surely destined to achieve cult-classic status.