Starting up Skate 3 you'd be forgiven for wondering what makes this game any different from the previous two titles. Its got the same slick intro movie featuring scores of famous skaters and the same feel to its gameplay. Heck, it even feels like its just the other day that Skate 2 came out. After a short while with Skate 3 you'll soon realise that while it might not be as revolutionary as the previous titles it's still a solid game that's worth a look for any fan of the sport.
The main component that Skate brought to the skateboarding genre is the Flick It control scheme which sees you controlling your skater's feet position and tricks using the right stick. It might sound complicated but all you need to know is that a few simple flicks of the stick can be combined with the face buttons and triggers to perform a multitude of tricks. What's great about it is that it's actually very easy to pick up for new players and has plenty of depth for the more dedicated skaters out there.
The one flaw is that the analogue sticks don't always pick up the precise trick you're trying to perform, which meant any challenges that required a specific combination of tricks required a fair amount of luck, leading to hours of frustration trying to perfect the precise sequence needed to pass events. Luckily this year Black Box has changed the way you complete events and rather than asking you to do specific tricks they'll usually only require you to get over gaps or reach high scores for runs, leaving the precise sequence of tricks up to you. Events do still give you the option to perform specific tricks but they only net you more board sales so less skilled players need not worry too much.
Skate 3's career mode is all about you and your board, or more specifically, your company's boards. The aim here is to sell as many skate boards as you can for your company. This is done by taking part in events throughout the skater friendly city of Port Carverton. As you progress, and meet specific sales milestones, you'll be rewarded with more team mates who will help further your cause.
Skate's online play is brought to the forefront this year with an emphasis being placed on joining online teams of friends and taking on rivals in the career events. The net code is rather robust and despite my slow line I managed perfectly fine to find online games and there wasn't a hint of lag. What's also rather cool is that all your wins online count towards your board sales for your character, so any wins online will help your offline career as well.
While the ability to customize and create your own parks was something that was introduced to a degree in Skate 2, this year's title sees the idea significantly ramped up by giving you massive empty parks of your own that allows you to create every element of your skate park from scratch. It's a simple matter of entering the skate park editor and selecting from the various park elements and then lining them up and putting them into place. What makes it all the more fun to play around with is the ease at which you can spawn and move objects in and around your park using just the two sticks. I can actually see myself spending most of my time in the game creating challenging obstacles than playing through the career. As an added bonus, you can also share your creations online via skate.reel.
The graphics engine is the same as Skate 2 with no noticeable changes and while it still looks okay and runs well enough, I doubt it will be acceptable in another iteration. The soundtrack is made up of the usual array of hip hop, rock and metal tracks that we've come to expect from these types of games and the best that can be said about it is that it doesn't grate too much on your ears.
When Skate first came along a few years back it had a mammoth task on its hands: it had to try and dethrone the king of the skateboard game, Tony Hawk. Now that Tony Hawk is all but dead the skateboarding genre is left wide open for Skate to take charge. Hopefully EA will realise that constant innovation is the only way to starve off the same fate that Tony Hawk suffered and while this third game has had a few improvements made to it in the form of adding team play and giving the player more control over creating their own challenges, it hasn't really managed to add any killer features to make it a must have game. Unless you're a die hard fan of the series you won't be missing out on much if you stick to your old copy of Skate 1 or 2.
Pros:
- Flick It controls are still the best in the business
- Great online functionality
- Creation tools are vastly improved
Cons:
- No revolutionary features added
- Graphics are starting to age
Rating: 
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