Skate 3

Did You Know?

• The player character goes by the alias 'The Legend' after proving themselves one of the best skaters.
• The game's plot ends when the player sells one million boards, unlocking new clothing styles.

Gameplay

Skate 3 is an extreme sports game played from a third-person perspective in an open world. The fictional city of Port Carverton embraces skateboarding, unlike the second game where it was treated as a crime. The city is more colorful than Skate 2's desaturated streets, though the gameplay feels similar to earlier entries. Port Carverton has three districts: Downtown, the University, and Industrial. Downtown features slick ledges and rails; the University has banks and open areas; Industrial contains a large quarry with stone bricks. Several professional skateboarders appear, including Danny Way, Darren Navarette, Terry Kennedy, Eric Koston, Chris Cole, Pat Duffy, Rob Dyrdek, and Jason Lee, who voices Coach Frank. Two new difficulty levels were added: Easy Mode, which makes tricks easier and gives greater control, and Hardcore Mode, which aims for a more realistic simulation requiring precise inputs. An optional Skate School, taught by Coach Frank, covers the basics. The Skate.Park mode lets players build custom parks with an object dropper. Three new online modes were introduced: 1-Up, Domination, and Own The Lot. Returning modes include S.K.A.T.E and Hall of Meat. Unlike previous Skate games, no offline multiplayer modes are on the disc; the San Van Party Pack DLC is needed for offline Party Play.

Development

Skate 3 brings in a roster of pro skaters including Joey Brezinski, Dan Drehobl, Benny Fairfax, Josh Kalis, Lizard King, Andrew Reynolds, Chris Haslam, Terry Kennedy, Chris Cole, Jason Dill, and Rob Dyrdek. The game adds new moves like the darkslide, underflip, and dropping into a ramp or bowl. Its soundtrack features 46 licensed tracks, with John King of The Dust Brothers handling the original score. Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo and Del the Funky Homosapien each contributed music for separate sections of Port Carverton. In Interactive Mode, the Music Player’s songs play during challenges and stop when the player exits. In Career mode, instrumental tracks resume once the skater moves far enough from the challenge location. Composer Dan Diaz, who worked on Skate 2 and Skate It, also contributed. The soundtrack includes songs by Joy Division, Pixies, Q Lazzarus, 3 Inches Of Blood, and Young Jeezy featuring Kanye West.

Reception

Critics generally liked Skate 3 on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, according to Metacritic. In Japan, Famitsu gave each console version a combined 29 out of 40. The A.V. Club awarded the Xbox 360 version a B+, while 411Mania and The Daily Telegraph each gave it an eight out of ten, with the Telegraph noting the game’s steep learning curve. Wired also scored it eight out of ten, highlighting the controls, realistic world, and extensive multiplayer. The Escapist gave the Xbox 360 version four out of five stars, calling it beginner-friendly. Edge was more critical of the PS3 version, giving it a seven out of ten for feeling too similar to its predecessor. EA shut down the game’s servers near the end of 2016, but reactivated them before E3 2018 and again in late 2019, sparking rumors of a remaster or a new Skate title.