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  • SKATE 3 in Review (or, Barnes finally joins the Bones Brigade)

SKATE 3 in Review (or, Barnes finally joins the Bones Brigade)

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There Will Be Games

I was big into skateboarding in the mid to late 1980s.  My parents got me a deck sometime in 1986 or 1987, and unlike most kids that started out with one of those terrible Variflex boards with the day-glo dragons on them and the wheels that had the tightest bearings known to mankind, I came in right at the top with an electric blue Tony Hawk board with Tracker trucks and Slimeball wheels. The kids in my neighborhood would set up a boombox in the cul-de-sac and we’d skate around listening to the Dead Kennedys and Black Flag. We built ramps, traded copies of Thrasher magazine, and had a very communal experience around a quintessentially suburban sport. The problem is, I was never really any good beyond riding around and popping off a couple of ollies. I had trouble landing a decent kickflip and I just about killed myself trying to pull off a revert once. I could do a pretty mean coffin though. I’m tall and gangly; my center of balance always seemed to be just way too off to skate well.

So skateboarding video games, from Atari’s classic 720 through the first TONY HAWK PRO SKATER and now Black Box’s SKATE 3 have had a special appeal to me because they have allowed me to lead the skateboard life I could never really lead in real life. In these games, I can pop shuvit and darkslide with the best of them. I can Christ Air and land handplants in the pools and half-pipes that kind of terrified me when I was a kid. And with SKATE 3, I can even build the skateparks of my dreams and invite friends to come skate with me anytime, any place in the fictional city of Port Carverton, a city apparently built for skateboarding.

SKATE 3 is my first real experience with this ongoing franchise as I have only played a couple of hours of the first game and all I know of the second is that a good friend teased me at length when it was released because at the time I didn’t have an HD console and my only option was the downsized Wii edition, SKATE IT. But taking my experience with the first game as a basis for criticism, I feel that it’s safe to say that the latest iteration is a solid improvement on virtually every level. What’s more, I also have found it a much more rewarding and comprehensive experience than even the best of the PRO SKATER games.

The thing that I find most striking about SKATE 3 is how somehow the developers have managed to introduce a very tangible sense of physicality into the fairly complex control method. The “flick it” system favors popping, flicking, and rotating the right analog thumbstick on your 360 or PS3 controller to accomplish most tricks with triggers and face buttons adding some actions. A quick flick of the stick and you pop an ollie. It almost feels, in a way, like those silly “fingerboards” that were popular years ago but the net result is something much more satisfying than simply hitting a button to trick. Another key differentiator is that skating in SKATE 3 feels much more realistic than anything in previous skateboarding games. Gone are the superhero tricks that Tony Hawk and company were pulling off in the last couple of games in that line- no crazy combos, no impossible airs, and no silly letter collection quests or anything like that. Everything feels heavier, slower, and more subject to gravity. It makes pulling off a great line feel so much more rewarding, but it also gives a real feeling of resistance against the laws of physics when you’re grinding a long curb or dropping into a pool for vertical action.

By and large, the gameplay experience is greatly improved from what I have seen in the first game. The control is much tighter, more responsive, and after three games I feel that they’ve sort of figured out what works and what doesn’t in terms of level design and arrangement. It is essentially an open world game, but you can teleport to any event you’ve unlocked at any time so you’re never more than a couple of seconds away from taking part in whatever part of the game you care to enjoy at any given moment. The game also runs at a better frame rate than in the past- it seems like it’s closer to 60 FPS, and the graphics are by and larger smoother and better defined.

Some grievances have carried over, however. Pedestrians still like to stand literally on the ramp you’re supposed to gap over. At least this time, you can get off the board and punch them. It’s also still very much a trial and error game, some of the more difficult events may have you hitting “restart challenge” many, many times and often to the point of frustration. There are also still some oddly unpolished edges and questionable collision detection that spring up, but it’s still noticeably less so than in the previous game. The overall goals are still sort of vague, which means there really isn’t much of a story or narrative- it’s still really just about skating around and unlocking some new t-shirts every so often. But even with a few bails, I’m still having more fun with SKATE 3 than I did with its ancestors. It’s simply more fun to play because it’s more accessible and streamlined.

Far and away, my biggest complaint about the game is product placement. This is a subject that is emerging as big point of discussion in video games because it both represents a substantial advertising opportunity and also a major nuisance. Some of the contests are “sponsored” by real-world companies and the announcer makes sure you know that. At one point, I was told that we wouldn’t be there if it weren’t for T-Mobile. I was also told about how I should see about their special long distance rates and all this advertising crap that I don’t particularly care to be subjected to, let alone repeatedly over the hour I was playing this particular event. In another one, the announcer literally just says “Maloof, Maloof, Maloof, it’s all about Maloof” over and over again, repeating the sponsor’s name. And in another, there’s a giant Miracle Whip jar you skate around. I am not exaggerating. And I fucking HATE mayonnaise.

Putting aside what I think is the most egregious and disgusting advertising I’ve seen in a game to day, I’m particularly impressed at how SKATE 3 brings in other elements of the skateboarding lifestyle and culture beyond the board. Deck art, music, clothes, shoes, photography, video footage, magazines, and the social element are all represented. Even the business element of it, embodied by the sort of abstract and off-screen conceit that the player has started a company and is attempting to sell skateboards, is present. It isn’t just about tricking off ramps or street styling all over the place. I spent 20 or 30 minutes in the paper-doll like skater creation screen just to make sure my character looked cool and represented the skater I always wanted to be. I was thrilled to pieces to see that old-school skaters get a tip of the hat with classic t-shirt designs- it’s a hard pick between “Skate and Destroy” and the old EA games SKATE OR DIE logo.

The music choices deserve special recognition because they are in such damn good taste. Any old-time skater is well aware that thrashin’ and bands like the Misfits or Agent Orange go hand in hand. But who knew how awesome it could be sessioning a really sweet spot to the sounds of Neil Diamond’s “Cracklin’ Rosie” or Dr. John’s “Right Place, Wrong Time”? Some really nice non-Bob Marley reggae tracks and some new music from current acts like No Age, Three Inches of Blood, Animal Collective, and The Thermals make for a good variety as well. There are a couple of great hip hop tracks including favorites from Mobb Deep and Ol’ Dirty Bastard, but I actually would have liked to have seen more since skateboarding is very much a part of underground hip hop culture right now.

There is a huge online component to the new game that wasn’t as prevalent in previous editions. Every event in the game, including races, competitions, photo shoots, and more can be completed online for bonus points. You can even invite people to join your team, share video clips and pictures, or just skate around and listen to great music if you want. The downside is that it really helps to have actual friends involved, and it can really suck if you come out of a jam session with an all-time best score and a random teammate has flopped the event, causing you to lose. I really like how the online component is seamlessly integrated- if you go to an event, the option to do it online is right there. No need to switch game modes or rifle through menus to get to it, you simply make the choice right there and it puts you into a lobby where you can free skate until others join you.

This time around, there’s also a very comprehensive skate park editing feature allowing you to drop whatever hubbas, rails, funboxes, or whatever you want into the gameworld, and you can even build your own park from the ground up if you’re so inclined and share it with the world. It’s a fun feature that I think will never be fully exploited to its fullest potential by any but the most dedicated players, but there are events and challenges that specifically require you to use some of its functions. I’m really considering using it to build a replica of Animal Chin from the third Powell Peralta video. Just for old time’s sake, and just so I can have the opportunity to skate it if only vicariously through a video game.

I think SKATE 3 is a success, but I can see where longtime fans may be disappointed that the title isn’t more of an evolutionary progression from previous games. The new features that are there, however, are substantial and offer some new gameplay elements that were either not completely developed or totally unavailable to SKATE players before. I would definitely advise newcomers to jump right on into the newest game and bypass the earlier versions not only because of the higher level of refinement, but also because the tutorials (lead by “Coach Frank”, played by Jason Lee playing his “My Name is Earl” character) are much more informative and give a better feel for how to play the game well.

There’s something very old school about the game that I love, the sense that skill and perseverance pay off. That it actually takes some practice to get good, and when you finally nail a difficult trick or skate a great line that you’ve actually accomplished something. It may not ever beat actually hitting the pavement with a real board and learning these skills in real life, but I think it’s a pretty good alternative if you’re a klutz like me. Or you just don’t want to skin up your knees.

There Will Be Games
Michael Barnes (He/Him)
Senior Board Game Reviews Editor

Sometime in the early 1980s, MichaelBarnes’ parents thought it would be a good idea to buy him a board game to keep him busy with some friends during one of those high-pressure, “free” timeshare vacations. It turned out to be a terrible idea, because the game was TSR’s Dungeon! - and the rest, as they say, is history. Michael has been involved with writing professionally about games since 2002, when he busked for store credit writing for Boulder Games’ newsletter. He has written for a number of international hobby gaming periodicals and popular Web sites. From 2004-2008, he was the co-owner of Atlanta Game Factory, a brick-and-mortar retail store. He is currently the co-founder of FortressAT.com and Nohighscores.com as well as the Editor-in-Chief of Miniature Market’s Review Corner feature. He is married with two childen and when he’s not playing some kind of game he enjoys stockpiling trivial information about music, comics and film.

Articles by Michael

Michael Barnes
Senior Board Game Reviews Editor

Articles by Michael

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