June 11, 2010

Skate 3 (X360/PS3) Review



EA Games brings us another shred-erific skateboarding game this time with a few more features and more happy thoughts. If you had played the other two titles and couldn't bang out the tricks, don't you worry there is an easier game mode to suit your needs. Are you the opposite? Then look for the harder difficulty that arrises in Skate 3 as well. Tie-up your kicks and and grab that deck...I mean controller (This isn't Tony Hawk's RIDE) and stay balanced as we take a look at Skate 3.




Developed by EA Black Box and published by Electronic Arts, Skate 3 brings the character known as "The Legend" in story mode back from both of the previous Skate titles. This time you and your big-mouthed cameraman have decided to take on starting your own Skateboarding company. You meet back up with character from previous games Shingo who has now travelled to Port Carverton, the location of the game, to go to Film School. This ends up being so very convenient allowing your previous cameraman to screw off and stop being so annoying. Shingo, who is a much quieter cameraman is a nice change from previous Skate titles because of the old cameraman never wanting to shut the hell up.

The visuals of Skate 3 are much brighter than those in Skate 2. This is to bring in an all new atmosphere that embraces skateboarding as opposed to that of Skate 2 which had a "Skateboarding is a crime" type of environment. The player's movements in their customized skater is almost flawless. The motion capture team used professional skaters to ensure the most detailed skateboarding possible. For those who are skateboarders themselves, you will appreciate this advantage of visual pleasing.

Skate 3 still uses the "Flick Stick" system like the previous Skate titles. Once again this is a very cool feature to those who skateboard as you have to do the same movements with your thumb that you would with your feet on a real skateboard. For any players who don't understand the ways of the wooden board on wheels, you may have a hard time getting used to how to do tricks in the game.

Audio in the game is just as snazzy as both previous titles. Aside from some iffy voice acting by some pro skaters, there is also some excellent like Jason Lee from TV's My Name Is Earl and the film Mallrats. He plays Coach Frank who teaches players how to do beginner and more advance tricks. Skate 3 is complete with an excellent sound track of a variety of music types. The songs can go from Metalheads 3 Inches of Blood and Steel Panther, to grunge-rockers Mudhoney, to rappers Young Jeezy and Kanye West. This is much needed in a game like Skate 3 where there will be a variety of different players who won't all like the same music.

Reaganomics dude! Tubular!

New online game modes in Skate 3 include 1Up, where you battle with another person or team and try to get a better score than them in a 20 second time period. Domination, where a team or person must trick on the most obstacles in an area before time runs out, and Own The Lot, where a person or team must complete the checklist of objectives before the other.

Other new features in Skate 3 include: The ability to assemble a fully customizable team in Single player where you can choose what each member looks like, their name, and style. The new tutorial mode with Coach Frank, and the ability to create, and your their very own skateparks to all other Skate 3 players. Oh, and there's a handful of new tricks to practice.

Overall, Skate 3 comes at you with new pros, new tricks, new features, new game modes and an all new shredular environment. For all those who have followed the Skate franchise from the start, you should enjoy the new features and all music lovers will quite enjoy the variety of songs in the playlist. If you've got the money for a new game and like extreme sports, go check out Skate 3 for your Xbox 360 and/or your PS3!

- Jeremy M.

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