As the game progresses the player has the opportunity to create team mates or join others online to create the ultimate skate team and this works very well and provides an excellent online experience. A further good addition is the skate park creator which is very easy to use and again works well when sharing creations and skating on other players parks online.

 

 

The variety of challenges on offer along with the gameplay are where the game seems not to have taken huge steps forward from Skate 2 and favourites such as ‘Death Races’, ‘Pro Challenges’ and the highly enjoyable ‘Hall Of Meat’ return along with the hugely successful twin stick control method which again seems so simple yet so unique and gives the player a real sense of control over proceedings.

 

The lack of progression in these areas are the only downside to the experience and does give a sense of minimal annual updates and if this is the case then we may see the series become slightly stale as with the Tony Hawks franchise and I for one hope that the game will not go down this route and for once I would probably welcome additional downloadable content to keep the experience fresh rather than annual series releases which offer nothing really new.

 

 

The open world environment on offer in Port Caverton is presented well with environments looking nice as well as proving a joy to play and really improves on previous instalments with the amount of skate able content.

 

Sound wise the music fits the pace of the game well and while the musical style may not be to everyone’s taste one needs to remember that it is designed to encompass the skate culture and in this respect it does well and does add authenticity.

 

 

Voice acting is another area which works well with cut scenes proving enjoyable rather than a chore as with some games and as previously highlighted the choice of Jason Lee proved an inspiring choice as this also adds very welcome humour to proceedings and certainly helps to make the game strike a good balance between an enjoyable sports title and a serious skateboarding simulation.

 

 

There is no denying that "Skate 3" is a highly enjoyable feature packed title and adds strength to it’s title as the leading title in the genre. In addition Skate 3 proves that expensive gimmicks are not needed to make an authentic skateboarding game.

 

Whilst the game provides numerous strides forward from previous games in the series it is a little disappointing that the gameplay does not really follow suit and as highlighted in the review I personally hope that this is not a sign of minimal annual updates.

 

As a final word I have to say that Skate 3 will most certainly provide hours of entertainment for fans of sports games and prove to be an essential title for fans of the sport of skateboarding. With the added bonus of a solid online experience this has proven to be the most fun I have had with a skateboarding game since the first Tony Hawks game back in the days of the PS1.

 

 

 

 

 

+ Pretty solid career mode
+ Superb control system
+ Helped to widen the gap between the Skate series and others in the genre