The Skate series managed to come out of pretty much nowhere and establish itself as not only a competitor to the established Tony Hawk series, but the better of the two – especially in recent years, where Hawk games have nosedived in quality. But taking a look at the upcoming third iteration of the series, it’s pretty clear that Black Box isn’t resting on its laurels – a crime the Neversoft series can’t claim innocence for.

Skating is 'rad'. Apparently.

We’ve already been introduced to the faces of Skate 3 – some old, some new and most completely indistinguishable if you have no idea what’s going on in the world of skating these days (oh, to be 16 again...). Nevertheless, it’s safe to say there are big names lending their likenesses to the series with new faces like Andrew Reynolds, Joey Brezinski and Lizard King (Mike Plumb to his mother) backing up the old guard. We’ve already been told about a classic control scheme, an option to make things a bit easier and more forgiving and – something that seems to be a bit of a trend at EA – a ‘hardcore’ mode for those who want things to be represented in a more realistic fashion, but what about the new aspects to the game? It was the third game in the Tony Hawk series that perfected the formula, so could it be the same for Skate 3?

With the information being pumped out on a regular basis it’s safe to say the signs are pointing to ‘yes’. The game picks up where the second one left off, with your character having already established themselves as a skateboarding legend. This handily does away with the usual career mode shenanigans of skating titles by removing the whole ‘prove yourself’ angle – you are already proven. Skate 3 makes you take things to a whole new level, and the basic premise for the game follows as such: create a company (or brand, as they like to call it), form a team, build your own skatepark and do all you can to promote and grow the unit, with the grand goal of selling 1 million of your brand’s boards. It sounds simple and straightforward enough, but it’s how you go about doing it that has us interested.

Black Box is pushing online integration in a big way, to the point where it has huge effects on your single-player experience. Everything you do in-game, online with friends and brand-mates (who can be AI-controlled as well as real players recruited through an in-game ‘classifieds’ system), and through the Skate website can contribute to your company’s standing, and can therefore contribute to how many boards you have sold. Videos can be made by dedicated filmmakers in your crew, edited to look their best and uploaded for others to download; challenges can be completed co-operatively with both players seeing the benefits in their single-player campaign; your company’s progress can be measured with an in-game news ticker that tracks your entire team and each individual’s achievements… the list goes on.

Why not just skate on the ground. That's what it's for.

While it can still be enjoyed as a solely individual experience, the amount of effort being put into the connectivity aspect of Skate 3 is verging on mind-blowing. And that’s without even mentioning the standard online mode, where players can compete in a number of different game modes in a fashion we’re more accustomed to.

… continued