Skate 3
By Marc Saltzman,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Grow a company with friends in this realistic skating sim.
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Skate 3
Community Reviews
Based on 13 parent reviews
Great Game
What’s It About?
It's only been a year since EA rolled out Skate 2, a game that proved Electronic Arts was serious about competing against Activision's Tony Hawk series. Despite the short development cycle, SKATE 3 has added even more thrills (and spills) to virtual skateboarding. The biggest change is a heavy emphasis on co-op play, including team-based challenges in the fictitious city of Port Carverton, which features both human and A.I.-controlled skaters. While the story is weak, the deep career mode has you starting your own skateboard brand. Friends begin to sign on to help after you've generated enough "street cred." This is accomplished by taking on solo and team challenges, such as amassing the highest score possible (by pulling off midair tricks), achieving the longest jump, racing against others, and so on. The better you and your crew skate, the more you progress through each player's career, and the more you can customize your board and character with unlocked in-game merchandise.
Is It Any Good?
The new team-focused challenges and online features are well done, but those who purchased Skate 2 might want to first play this game at a friend's house (or rent it for a day) to see if the new additions justify the $60 purchase.
Back again is the fun Hall of Meat minigame that compensates you for brutal wipeouts, but many players will likely prefer the aforementioned team contests that pit your crew against another in multiple rounds of skateboarding challenges. What's more, a new park creator is included and makes it easier than ever to create the ultimate skate park from scratch. Plus, Skate 3 introduces an online social network called "skate.feed" that shows your friends' highlights reel (yes, you can still save your best moves) and allows you to share board graphics.
Online interaction: This online-focused game offers fun social networking-like features. That said, it provides players with access to completely open voice communications. We heard plenty of trash-talk in our headsets during online testing. There is also the potential for the sharing of personal information and inappropriate ideas. Common Sense Media does not recommend online play for children under the age of 12.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about whether the makers of sports games really need to release "new" games for each sport every year. Should they take more time to add enough features to justify the purchase? Or is that too long to wait between sequels? Could periodic -- and less expensive -- downloadable content be a viable alternative?
Families can also discuss Skate 3's realism. Do the tricks look authentic? If so, do you think some players might conspire to try them in the real world? Does the game do a good enough job of cautioning players as to the dangers involved in some of the game's more extreme stunts?
Game Details
- Platforms: PlayStation 3 , Xbox 360
- Available online?: Available online
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Release date: May 11, 2010
- Genre: Sports
- ESRB rating: T for Crude Humor, Drug Reference, Language, Mild Violence, Suggestive Themes
- Last updated: August 31, 2016
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