Mmm, I had a bad feeling about this one. Too soon for a third installment, EA and Black Box dove into this with no regard. I've played the first two and had a great time, but now it's getting a tad Tony Hawk. The new tricks, such as Dark catch/slides and underflips bring some freshness, but not much. I'd like to see more flatland tricks such as Caspers and Truckstands, but that's just me. Perhaps they failed to get permission from the Mutt himself to reproduce his magic. The Hall of Meat has gone redonk-ulous with the high flying acrobatics (anyone remember doing 360 McTwists over helicopters ala THUG?). Ay-yi-yi. Some great terrain design, but on a whole, it doesn't connect as one big city to skate in unlike San Van. You basically teleport from place to place, which can be great when you don't want to four-wheel it all the way to a challenge, but I must honestly say, there's nothing like being able to long lines from top of the mountain and ending up downtown.
This whole teaming up and throwing down thing seems a tad contrived as skateboarding at it's purest is a single participatory activity (Coach Frank, the virtual skate coach hilariously voiced by Jason Lee actually addresses this in an onscreen tip during the load screen). Teams, product, magazines, while good is not the heart of skating. On the other hand, I did like the Hardcore mode which is really close to real skating. Nice animations on the bails and semi-bails/recovery. Even the drop board-push-from-standing is a nice touch. I also like that grinds aren't so magnetic and you really have to line yourself up to ledges. Tricking in and out of grinds is almost impossible, but totally rewarding when you pull off them off and those nerve-wracking combos.
If you're a real big xbox live community geek, then the online stuff is right up your alley. Where else can you make a pseudo name for yourself by racking up online points to be a faux board company mogul? You can do most challenges online with your self made "team" or join other skaters online to form a team that way, which I suppose is better than holing yourself up in your bedroom, being anti-social and scarfing twinkies and pepsi max.
Most will find this a fun romp, which it can be, but for me personally, is no substitute for the real thing. Now go skate!Get more detail about Skate 3.
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