Skate 3 Demo Impressions

It’s quite obvious that Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater games do not stand up to EA’s Skate games. Skate 3 continues that trend with ease. Especially with Tony Hawk Ride lurking about, it’s almost no contest. On the 15th, the Skate 3 Demo was released it’s a blast to play. Plain and simple.

The first character you see in the game is Coach Frank, who has a striking resemblance to Jason Lee from the TV show “My Name is Earl.” He will be your trainer for the game. He’s a very balls to the wall, in your face type a guy and it’s very, very funny to hear his little antics. He’ll take you through basic maneuvers such as ollies, all the way to the dark slide and kickflip-underflip. The game at it’s core is more or less the same. You still use the left stick to steer and the right stick to execute tricks.

You will have the ability to choose between 5 pre-fabricated characters, all completely different from one another. No character customization option is available in the demo, but no doubt will be in the games full release. The demo however only gives you a 20 minute play session, so after you’ve completed the training, most of your time will be done. When your game ends, it will take you to a screen asking whether you want to replay the demo or quit to the dashboard. Just make sure you don’t do the training next time.

Enter, Port Carverton. This is where your skater will be skating for the next 20 minutes. This is essentially any skateboarders’ dream. There’s an endless supply or rails and stairways at your disposal. Your first task is to perform a trick over a gap for a Thrasher magazine photographer. After, that you’ll be given more challenges to complete by the schools security guard. He will have you completing various themed challenges such as grind gap for example. You can do these or just simply free skate and do what you want. The demo area isn’t that big but you have enough space to do what you want and feel satisfied with what’s given to you.

You have two areas to skate in: The Chan Center and Clock Tower. You’ll start off in the Chan Center but  can easily make your way to the Clock Tower in no time. Surprisingly, both areas are completely different and forces you to adapt to what’s around you. It’s a really cool aspect of the game that will definitely separate the stronger and weaker skaters.

Skating around by yourself and simply just exploring the world of Port Carverton makes you want to become a skater. Landing a 360 dark-slide down a set of 20 stairs is one of the most rewarding feelings I’ve ever felt. You just feel cool doing it, and others around you want you to make that trick.

It’s just a cool feeling that Skate has been providing to us since their first installment. The fact that doing these tricks actually take so much more then pressing the triangle and square button. Timing, skill, and practice all play a major role in this. It’s much more of a skating simulator then a game.

That’s not to say it will be too hardcore for casual gamers. It’s still a fun exciting skateboarding game. One mode in particular will draw a lot of attention. It’s called Hall of Meat.

The Hall of Meat mode requires you to bail on purpose and break as many bones as possible for points. We’ve played modes like this before, and it’s just as fun as ever. Skate’s little tweak is the cool x-ray mode that happens when the skater hits the ground, highlighting the broken bones. Believe it or not, someone doing a head plunge head first into the concrete is hard to watch at times. It’s not just falling though. You’re given objectives as well. Which, at least in the demo, just asks you to fall on certain objects and varied distances. It makes that mode more fun because you have an objective that’s more then just obtaining points. So doing a judo kick off a clock tower into a vending machine is pretty fun.

If playing solo isn’t really your thing, then the game does give us online play as well which is probably the most addicting part of the demo. They give you two modes to humiliate your friends in: “Domination” and “Own the Lot.” Domination is basically what it sounds like. There are several points on the map that you can control when you execute a trick in the designated area. The other player can overtake your area if they score more points in that area. It’s fast, aggressive, and games are always nails biters. There’s nothing worse then losing a game of Domination by less then 10 points. Definitely a tear jerker moment for me at least.

The other mode is Own the Lot. This takes you and several other players on a series of competitions. Such as first to grind on 4 planters or first to complete a certain type of tricks. These games are extremely fun and will have everyone yelling at the top of their lungs because they choked on a simple game winning grind. This is my favorite of the two modes. Having people fight over one rail to grind on has no other alternative but to be hilarious. I can not wait for the other modes EA and BlockBox have to offer. Endless fun without a doubt.

Skate 3 is going to be one of those games we will be playing for a long time after it’s release. Skaters will flock to it when it’s a rainy day outside, and lazy people will flock to it rather then learn how to skate. Everyone wins. The game ships May 11th.