Skate 3 PS3

Product Description

In the world of pro skateboarding, there's always some cocky unknown kid coming up from nowhere, bidding to blow away the established stars using sheer outrageous trick-power. In the world of skateboarding videogames, Skate was once that new kid on the block - but with Skate 3, it has honed its skills to such a huge peak of perfection that it's now the undisputed master.

So what's it like?

Format-wise, it's reassuringly familiar - you design your skater (using an awesomely powerful editor), and a logo, then you're unleashed into the fantasy skaters' paradise otherwise known as the city of Port Carverton. Forget reconstructed bits of real cities - Port Carverton is what you'd get if skaters planned cities - it's huge, vertical and diverse, with skate parks galore, the biggest multi-storey car park you've ever seen, a deliciously rusty abandoned shipyard, all manner of overblown architectural features begging to be skated on, plus rails and stairs everywhere. No wonder, then, that it's full of virtual versions of all the world's top skaters - you'll recognise the likes of Ryan Smith, Rob Dyrdek (star of the reality show Rob And Big), Chris Cole, Joey Brezinski, Dennis Busenitz and pretty much all of their peers. Port Carverton is so skater-friendly that even the security guards skate.

No shortage of challenges

After an insane intro movie, in which you see the process by which trees become skateboards, your mission begins: to sell as many skateboards as possible by inspiring skaters with your antics. There are vast numbers of challenges which allow you to do this, and of several types. To be specific: Deathrace, Film, Hall Of Meat, Own The Lot, Own The Spot, Photo, Pros, Team Promos, Street Contests, Training and Tranny Contests. Within those basic categories, there is plenty of variation - in the Pro challenges, for example, you might have to track a pro as he heads to a new spot without falling behind, nail a specific trick on a specific object, or take him on at a game of 1-Up, in which you vie to land the highest-value tricks in a series of timed runs. For us, particular highlights are the Street Contests, which mix highest-value trick sequences with timed jams in which both teams occupy the street-furniture at once, and the vastly improved Hall Of Meat, in which you have incredible fine control over your body positioning once you've bailed, and some awe-inspiring vertical drops from which to break every virtual bone in your body. The Own The Lot challenges, in which you have to pull of lists of specific tricks, are a great test of your skills, too.

Social skating

Skating is a sociable pursuit and, for the first time, Skate 3 reflects that, with a bunch of seriously cool features allowing you to play it with your mates - helping each o