Skate 2 was, like Skate 1, a financial and commercial success, and just like previously, EA decided yet another game was due. On May 11th, 2010, Skate 3 was released and, wanting a new skateboarding game, I naturally got my hands on it anticipating the new world that awaited me. A new map, fixed mechanics, new skills and oh those glitches that provided me with hours of YouTube montages and entertainment.
Set some years after the events of Skate 2, the player is in Port Carverton, where Skateboarding is encouraged, unlike the previous title. With the new location, we got 3 districts, Downtown, University and Industrial, all unique from each other. The new city is more colourful and friendly than Skate 2’s New San Van with similar gameplay and opportunities for great sessions.
Downtown is filled with ledges and rails to grind. One noticeable feature is, due to the skater friendliness, security was missing which is a shame. I really enjoyed that feature, but it wouldn’t make sense in the given narrative anyway. As skating is encouraged, what would the point of security be?
University (my personal favourite) is filled with banks and open areas and rails, perfect for flips and lines to do and practice some combos under the even more refined mechanics. Want a chill skating session or to practice nailing that perfect trick? University is great for you.
Industrial has something I particularly like, a quarry. This quarry has massive drops for you to use the bone-breaking feature for points, as well as grind spots and a few jumps. Big air, grinding, even chill skating. Industrial has the lot.
All these sections of the map add to a fun location. It’s a more colourful, happier feel than what we got in New San Van from Skate 2. And with all the little mini-events around the city, the tricks to do, the missions, even just the chill sessions all add to a well-executed map to create the feel of a city that appreciates…The Art of The Grind (I’ll see myself out, but I had to drop that somewhere.)
The gameplay in Skate 3 is the same as the previous and even further refined. The Flickit system picked up on sensing tricks much better (A small problem for more advanced tricks in Skate 1). The game also now introduces difficulty modes for the more casual to more professional players. The Flickit system changed with this as well. If you chose Hardcore mode, it was less forgiving and often harder to do rail tricks and flips. Hardcore mode is a more Sim experience for gamers who want a more realistic approach to skating while still on a game. Skate.Park was introduced where you can build a whole variety of set-ups and mini-parks with ramps, plazas, rails, fun boxes, anything you’d want to skate on. The online section added more game modes to play with your friends and in teams to do all sorts of tricks and points to score.
The music is pretty banger as usual for the franchise. Animal Collective, Neil Diamond, Pixies, Agent Orange, it continued to focus on the indie rock and hip-hop scene that skaters grew up with during the 90s and early 2000s. And just further growing the genres of music I listen to and what I listen to on a regular basis. These games just never missed on music. They always had good indie gems and for someone who loves Indie music, I love all of them.
Skate 3 was a high for the franchise. Being the best it had been in terms of gameplay, mechanics, skills, areas, it just fixed everything from the previous 2 games and made them even better than before. Between this and Skate 1, it’s hard to choose the better, I love both maps, both provide me with nostalgia. Both have amazing music and chill sessions just skating around and sightseeing. This game, regardless of how I rank it, is indeed one of the best skating games out there today and can easily get someone into this series and the Tony Hawk franchise. The rather good end to a trilogy that many wanted to continue ended on a great note…and there was always room for more…so what’s in the future of the franchise?
End of Part 3
Written by Chris.J
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