good review, + I agree with it. Thought I was gonna get to post it first 
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Skate 3 review
Game Review | May 17, 2010 5:00 pm
By Meta
Developed by Black Box and published by EA, Skate 3 is an "action sports" game where you (gasp) skate on a wheeled board while completing challenges, build your company and hire new teammates. It was released May 11, 2010.
In lieu of a story mode where you go from a hobbyist to pro-skater, Skate 3 has you starting a brand new skateboard company. After customizing your skater, company name and logo, you go out and start completing challenges that reward you with board sales for your company and unlockables like new clothing and usable objects.
These challenges comprise the meat of the game, both on- and offline. They come in a lot of different flavors but most of them involve doing certain tricks in certain spots. Afterward, you can often edit and save photos or videos to upload and share with friends. As in past Skate games, the editor is surprisingly thorough with the range of options it gives you, though serious enthusiasts will likely still prefer vid-capping their sessions and using actual movie editor software to make truly impressive reels.
Other parts of the game will have you completing goals like racing, competing in tournaments or throwing yourself into the pavement. These last ones, dubbed "Hall of Meat", were particularly funny and challenging as you have to land in specific spots and break specific bones to meet the completion requirements.
Lastly, the game has a pretty extensive park editor mode where you can edit existing spaces or even start from scratch and build the exact kind of skate park you want. Like Skate 2, you are free to move around objects either in editor mode or in the regular game mode. Dragging, rotating and placing objects is easy and intuitive, though effectively using them once you’re done can be a bit harder.
Online integration takes center stage in Skate 3. You can invite friends to freeskate or form persistent teams to complete challenges cooperatively or compete with others in HORSE-like 1up games or tournaments. You can also share custom skate parks you’ve created, video reels you’ve saved, and skaters you’ve created. The online community is full of photos, videos and parks you can view, rate and download. There is even a ticker that lets you know what friends are up to.
Skate 3 also includes some small but great features that enhance playability. The tutorial stars Jason Lee as Coach Frank and is absolutely hilarious--it’s worth going through even for Skate veterans. You can set up a marker in any spot you want, and quickly return there with a quick button press. This makes it easy to return to the beginning of a line over and over again to maximize your score. You can also sign up for and teleport to any unlocked challenge from the map instead of having to run or skate there.
There are three different difficulty modes, changeable at any time, which is very nice for Skate newbies like myself and others used to years of Tony Hawk-style controls. Easy makes it, well, easy to learn the game’s specifics and complete challenges, Normal is about the same as Skate and Skate 2, and Hardcore is for those people that like their skateboarding games grounded in realism. On top of this, every challenge has two ways to complete it--you can Own It to receive the regular reward, or Kill It by meeting the requirements in a specific way which will net your company more board sales. Completing any challenge online will also add a few bonus sales.
Graphics-wise, Skate 3 is nothing special. The visuals are clean but lack any heavy special effects like HDR lighting, and depth-of-field is only really present when editing photos. Most people that played Skate 2 agree the visuals here are the same or only slightly upgraded.
The sound in Skate 3 is great. Skating effects sound right, and the licensed soundtrack is varied and interesting without ever becoming intrusive or annoying. The voice over work is also nicely done.
Control- and gameplay-wise, Skate 3 hits all the right marks. The trick system is based on using the Right Analog Stick precisely, and the game facilitates this with good tutorials and references, selectable difficulties and an optional meter that monitors your Analog Stick moves and shows you how close you are to exact tricks. On easy, the game is a fun, free boarding romp, and on hardcore it will reward precise timing and exact placements with an experience unlike any other skating game.
Overall I give Skate 3 an 8 out of 10 IF you are going to play with friends and/or go online. It does everything Skate 2 did and more, and is fun for players of almost all skill levels.
If you don’t have friends to play with or aren’t going to go online at all, I would give Skate 3 a 6 out of 10 because the single player career is just a loosely-tied assortment of challenges that you can get in previous Skate games or even Tony Hawk titles and for less money.
Rating: 6.0 of 10
Reviewed: Skate 3
Keywords: None
) redemption review I'll write it in a few days