Skate 3 (PS3)

Review Score:

Skate 3 is the latest title in Electronic Arts defining Skateboarding game franchise. Your tasks are to form a new skateboard company with the goal of selling 1,000,000 units. Hell, aim high, we say.

Skate 3 begins with a well produced music video that brings well known figureheads such as Joey Brezinsky and Rob Drydek into the mix. I am not a massive follower of the real life sport (it doesn’t get much coverage in Ireland for one) however even I know about Rob and Joey. These guys are well digitized for the game and they bring in good performances with a laid back approach that really set the player in a relaxed frame of mind.

Skate 3 is reminiscent of its predecessor which isn’t a bad thing. You are now based in Port Carverton, a skating paradise and you compete with other like minded people in a variety of challenges to earn fame. This time around however you are no longer ostracised for being a rogue underground grinder, the audiences applaud and admire your skills and even pay you for the entertainment.

Having played a few of these games in the past I have to say that I found it quite overwhelming at the start to master the diversity of control on offer. There is a staggering amount of moves which are all crammed into the Playstation 3 control pad. Waggling the right analog stick into various angles and positions tells the character which move you are aiming to achieve and frequently (in my case anyway), the ones you don’t want to achieve. I am glad we didn’t have a camera on hand for this review as my lack of skills would be extremely embarrassing.

Handling the control to my colleague, who is a Skate pro reaped better rewards, however even he commented that sometimes it was an imprecise science, nailing the correct moves. The shoulder buttons offer tweaked grabs and if you want to remove yourself from the board you have to hold all four shoulder buttons and press both analog sticks – you seriously don’t want to try doing this after a few beers as the controller often ended up on my lap while I sat looking at the screen with a dumb puzzled expression. The controls are certainly not easy but thankfully they haven’t moved down the Tony Hawk route of supplying useless plastic controllers which make matters even more complicated.

While the controls in Skate 3 are complex and rewarding (and sometimes frustrating) they never seem to be unfair – meaning the game never demands ridiculous, game breaking moves to continue. The open world concept means you can approach problems from various angles and tackle them in a manner you feel comfortable with. The learning curve is well structured and you can select from literally twenty challenges at any given moment. This rewards the gamer in many ways – as if you find a particular part of the game annoying, then you can move on without being forced to replay until completed.

The first couple of hours wean inexperienced players like myself into the game and the difficulty level ramps up considerably to become challenging. Anyone familiar with this series will immediately feel at home – all the recognisable challenges are available, from camera photo opportunities and stunt moves off the side of buildings and vehicles.

A new addition to the game comes in the form of team challenges. With a few friends on hand you can create a squad and jump online to compete in trick events which are also available in single player mode. This is great fun and although I didn’t spend a lot of time with it – it is clear to see that this will be popular with the fan base.

There are also a series of mini events called ‘Own The Lot’ which have just been introduced into Skate 3. Each of these consists of eight or nine trick based missions to complete in a single part of the city. To gain the reward you just have to finish them all. This mode also helps to create a feeling of a connected world environment as you travel the terrain properly, rather than just teleporting from location to location.

Graphically the game is brilliant, Port Caverton is a vibrant city that creates a strong sensation of living in a real city. There are ramps, ledges and all sorts of objects which the skaters can use in their daily grinds. Unfortunately the in game camera is not perfect and it can seemingly lose track of your location at times and wander off on its on while you helplessly fumble to bring it back. Some of the trick stunts later in the game were really beyond my ability level so I called upon a younger group of people to show me how it was done, and they literally didn’t want to stop playing, which is a good sign of the games potential.

Skate 3 has proved with my own testing, and the aid of a younger group of gamers I used for this review to be potentially one of the biggest sports games this year. The title gives reward to those who persevere and the online elements will attract a diverse audience across the globe. It is deeply satisfying and comes highly recommended.