SKATE 3 Dives Headfirst 💥💀 - Square Eyed Jak 

My main memory of this was from the demo, with me (at the time) not knowing that Jason Lee was a pro skater... and just being confused and amused at Earl Hickey being the tutorial guy.

Now this game got me addicted for 13+ years

I PUT ONNNNN 🗣️

Dude, your EA Skate videos this month are literally the best Skate videos I have seen so far. :) Nice job man. Keep that passion going.

I agree with you on the map 100% and I feel like it's the main reason I never played Skate 3 as much as the previous 2. Something about San Van really felt right. It had the right vibe to it. Love seeing you cover this series!

There is something so fascinating as a non-skater getting so much enjoyment out of your annual deep dives and anecdotes growing up with these games Jak. Super stoked for you to cover Skater and Session tomorrow too.

San Vanalona is the map I prefer. I definitely agree with you on that that's one of the gripes I had about skate 3 for years as well.

It baffles me that no company has made a purely create-a-skate game, where there is huge investment in character creation options, level customisation options, the amount you can actually place being very high, and the ability to share/play other peoples designs online :)

I don't know how I've never noticed that everything isn't in all one map. That 100% explains why I've always felt somewhat underwhelmed by it compared to New San Van.

Agreed on all points. The segmented map just highlights the weaknesses of each area. I ended up playing the dlc maps most often because at least they had a cohesive theme (or were just remade areas from the first 2 games). Skate 3 is still the one I return to the most, not only for the tight controls, but there's something to be said about backwards compatibility on modern Xbox consoles. The 4k enhancement on Skate 3 looks amazing!

I think the intro cinematic represents this game perfectly”jumping the shark”

That LA stage recreation actually looks very fun, the editor truly is so full of potential, a genuine shame that there's no longer a way to share one's creations with other players, that's actually one of the reasons a good lad of mine passed on this title recently

To put it this way, i replayed Skate 3 maybe two or three times. But Skate 1 and 2 i have done over countless times

I've got over one thousand hours racked up on this. It's better in every way except for the level design and story. Which are very important, especially to me. But the gameplay is so much more smooth and complex, it's kept me coming back to this one way more than the others. Even though I do like to pop on skate 1 for fun quite regularly.

The popularity boost this game had a few years after the initial release was insane

I just love how you can defy the laws of physics and throw your skateboard. 😂

The last few main campaign missions are stupid difficult. The ones where you have to do a massive list of stunts within a time limit.

San Van. Also I do prefer the way of Skate 1 with the Hall of Meat being a background thing or in Skate 2 when you decide to do the challenge in open world instead of doing those preset one that limits you

FINALLY! someone agrees with me about the map being sub-par because its not a fully open map like skate 2 (or even skate 1!). it really brings the game down for me, its honestly my least favorite one out of the three

The intro and it's song to this game is still the best though, dissapointed you barely mentioned it compared to the intros of the past games

Bro i'm like actually shocked your channel isn't in the millions of subs. soo underrated. high quality shit always

This game got me to get back into skating, this game will always have a special place in my heart 💙🤙🏾

Really enjoying these as a new sub to the channel.

I personally love the Skate 3 map Something I do quite a lot when I feel horrible is go into Skate 3, free play so that pedestrians are turned off, and just walk about the plazas and stuff, the entire Urban area.. And have the audio way up City ambient noise is just.. Magical to me

as someone that also grew up with this series and watched 3 get its second life, i couldnt agree more!! everyone always seems to tout skate 3 as the height of the series, but 2 had so much more personality, character, story, etc and the map had much more flow and just felt better to play. One thing I really never liked about the skate 3 map was how hollow and incorrectly sized everything felt. Skate 1 had some of the most authentic real obstacles in the franchise, 2 went bigger but still kept its realism, but 3 was just full of comically large rails, impossible sized pools, and even the non skate stuff all felt wrong. doors would be 3 times the size of the skater, areas of the map made no walkable sense at all, things were all just wonky and wrong feeling. And the separation of the map meant more loading screens which really takes you out of it. And I missed the crunchy bails from 2, the run aways were a nice addition but skate 3 felt like it took a step backwards from 1 even by making the player feel like hes made of rubber instead of a human. It was all just so silly and unrealistic, which is not what I was into the franchise for but I have yet to hear someone talk about it until now!

Skate 3 was definitely my most played game In this franchise. I was ridiculously addicted to Skate 3 for so long, I remember making maps on create a park years ago on the 360 but since my old account Is pretty much gone I can't find them anymore.

If there was one game I was hyped for in 2010, it was this one! Despite its flaws, lack of content and rushed feel, it still was a very beloved experience for me. Though I do agree with you here about missing being able to just skate the whole city top to bottom. You're not alone here, Jak. It doesn't feel right in this game. Port Carverton was such a weird city broken down into 3 sections around a river, without any bridges connecting them. What kinda city looks like that?! What I do disagree with you here though is about the inclusion the hall of meat challenges. I just love them so much for how stupid they are! I don't even care if they are part of the progression! They are the most fun and funniest part of the game for me! They would definitely benefit from being side content though, but since they never impact the story, then whatever. I'd do them first anyway! lol

Unwinding with this when I get off work! The one we've all been waiting for!🐢😁

So crazy how different our experiences are lol ! I played Skate and loved it, but didn't like the second one so I stopped playing, and then 3 dropped and imo revived the franchise!

8:35 holy shit iv not thought about that swimming pool in years. I must have repressed that memory pretty hard.

This was a very fair and enjoyable review. I don't think any of your takes are super unfair or strange to be honest, even if I disagree to some extent. For me, skate 2 and skate 3 are damn near equals just because they both are so different while still being a skate game in the end. I have always went through phases preferring one over the other. I think one of the main reasons the map might feel less immersive (besides for it being broken up into 3 chunks) is the fact that it was designed to be skated in first, and a city second. I feel like skate 2 focused more on designing a city that just happens to have some really nice skate spots if that makes any sense. Anyways, I'm really glad that youtube recommended me your channel. Great review once again!

Couldn't agree more regarding the map. The skate 3 map felt like a handout a lot of the time.. I think they even call it a "skaters paradise" at the start of the game. I never wanted that.. I want to search for a cool spot and not just be presented with Tony Hawk-esque areas. Splitting the map into 3 parts was also an insane mistake in my opinion. As you said, being able to stake from north to south and see the world change around you really helps with the immersion. I believe a mod for skate3 is in the works to port in the skate 2 map, and when that happens we will, in my opinion, have the perfect skate game

A piece of media that is good can be Irreverent, Self Aware, but NEVER both. It becomes INSUFFERABLE.

Call me crazy but I have always enjoyed Skate 3 more. Almost everything (bar the funny glitches) has been polished from 2, I love the map of Port Carverton with its varied yet segmented landscapes and that online mode has provided my young self for days of entertainment. A flawed masterpiece for sure.

Had no idea that there’s gonna be a Skate 4! Gonna be interesting to see how it plays out…

San Vanelona all the way! It’s sister city, San Vansterdam is gonna be in the new one. Can’t wait

San Van > PC by a mile

I was actually wondering what you'd think of Session! I went for it as my more real skate game over THPS1+2 and I really enjoy for the chill vibes, if a little rough around the edges.

Summed up my feelings perfectly

My initial feeling with Skate 3 is that EA gave up on the franchise. It feels as if the developers had to either rush this game or had their budgets cut or both. I honestly feel like Skate 1 looked better graphically. The story, soundtrack and map all just feel bland. Solid game overall but, it was clear that EA no longer inteersted in this franchise. The fact that we still haven't seen a sequel all these years later back that up.

I remember I first asked for this game for Christmas because I saw bail compilations on RU-vid and wanted to try them myself. After I ran out of Hall of Meat challenges to do I started playing the game as intended and learned the rest of the game was pretty fun too. Kind of a shame this and the first two never got ported to PC or modern consoles outside Xbox backwards compatibility. They'd thrive for sure.

Looking forward to the next vid

Makes me glad I got the second game

I think the reason there’s no M-Corp or security zones is because EA didn’t want to support skateboarding being a crime or that it causes violence. Like how Karens use hyper realistic games as evidence that FPS games cause violence

Definitely with you! I love all three but the 2 just resonates with me. I remember when they released the demo for it. Was so exciting. But yeh Skate 3 was like they forgot they were meant to be the more sim game compared to THPS.

14:31 Something about that hill area reminds me of the transition areas in American Wasteland. It's not as barren, but it feels like they slapped a bunch of skateable shit together so it's not literally just a tunnel to the next area.

I was just wondering about hawktober but see this 🔥🔥🔥🔥

I definitely prefer San Van. Like you said in the video, the gritty and raw presentation really adds to the immersion and realism. Port Carveton honesty looks more like a cartoon to me by comparison. I guess that adds to the goofy nature of the game, but it leaves me thinking about how the past games would have been perfection if they had Skate 3's psychics and features. The idea of skating Skate 1's realistic and detailed world with the Hardcore psychics sounds super sick.

I still play this one sometimes. Also nice bully music in the background lol

After completing all three entries recently on Xbox, I would love to have the map of 2 with the gameplay polish of 3, great video 😊

Really excited for the session video

As a tony hawk fan coming to this i never could figure out the controls or even make it past the tutorial i think i snapped it in half out of anger

I wish you wrote every song used in the description :( Because one of the ones used is a song I absolutely love 😁 Bully - Walking Theme

Super excited to hear your thoughts on Skater XL and Session!!

I'll play devil's advocate for Port Carverton and say, it's easy to say that San Van overall was better because we had two games to grow with that city. If there was another Skate game that came out after 3, that had PC, it might have gotten more fleshed out like San Van did. Because if we were honest, in Skate 1 San Van wasn't exactly the rich city we loved. We didn't get that until Skate 2 when we had access to walking. Don't get me wrong, I do find San Van(Skate 2's version) better, because it was more fleshed out, and accessible. It's a shame we didn't get more of San Van in Skate 3, because I woulda loved to explore that city with Skate 3's engine.

Uhhh it actually makes a lot of sense that jason lee was in the game as he was a decently well known pro skater in his day

Skate 2 visuals simulated watching raw skate footage through a VX1000 (the fisheye borders and gold tint) Gave it a very distinct look and feel . I always kept the camera FX on because of that.

loved your team name! what was your favourite location in this instalment of skate?

I couldn't agree more about your entire review, but especially about Port Carverton being worse than San Van. I never liked how the map was split up into three, as well as it not looking as gritty as Skate 2. I wish they would let you recruit the pro skaters in the game to join your team, it would've been cool since in the first two games the pros recruited you to thier teams (basically whichever team you wanted to join but still.) Skate 3 has always been my least favorite of the three but I have grown to appreciate it over the last few years.

Jack my boy , I love your videos as always and I do agree skate 2 is better . But I noticed you didn’t talk about any of the dlcs in this video ?

I completely agree with everything! Most of my friends think this was the best Skate game, and although I do think Skate 3 has the best mechanics, to me Skate 2 felt much more lived in and immersive for the exact same reasons you pointed out Personally, I also don't really like the glossy graphics much

No couch co-op game of skate with my brother instantly killed this game for me...

I've probably played Skate 3 more than the other 2 main Skate games, and I played these 3 games for well over a decade. But I do think that San Vanelona is more well structured than Port Carverton. Port Carverton has a lot of character, but it doesn't really feel like it's realistic. I think Skate 2 does that to perfection, that's what makes Skate 2 very enjoyable and great to play. I love Skate 3, I do. But I think it's fun to play the 3rd for creative reasons, and to play 1 and 2 for the realism sense. That's just my opinion.

I started with skate 1, got into skate 2 naturally, but lost intrest in skate 3 a few months into the game. Its fun but you really have to find the fun you want to have and not rely on the game telling you what to do. For me I eventually found that fun and now I can't stop. Also san van way better than port carverton

Skate 3 was my first in the series because it was popular with Let's Players at the time like Nerdcubed and Pewdiepie for the glitches and chaos. Their videos caused me to buy it and I used to play it a lot over PSN with my former friends back in high school. I would love to pick it up again and play my custom levels that I made as a wee 13 year old!

I have to mostly agree with you on this one. Skate 2 is just better in almost every way, it just doesn't handle as smoothly as Skate 3. The only thing Skate 3 has over 2, is the ability to create your own parks (which I have invested a shitload of hours into, and still do to this day!)

Anytime SEJ does a skateboard video game video... im there!!

The map and the physics is what I don’t like, back as a teen I didn’t mind

Oooo the bully song 🤣🤘🏻

Okay. Love the video. Your content always been appreciated even if it aint on the same level as what attracted me to it like your og skits. But bro, for th love of god. Burn that Atari sweater.

As a crusty old dude in his 30s, I never realised Skate 3 had a big "Let's Play" scene. I used to work in a record shop that had a small video games section about 8 years ago and always wondered why kids were asking for Skate 3....a then 5 year old kinda sorta o.k sequel from the previous gen 😂

Great job

The skate series should get a reboot

I'm so glad you mentioned how poorly designed Port Carverton was compared to San Vanelona. I knew something was off about it when I first played through it. There really isn't that lived in feel to it and none of the areas connect. They replaced a sprawling city with a vacant sea port and it's just dull and boring to look at. Skate 2 certainly was the best of the 3 in my opinion, too!

I think how people feel about this game depends a lot on how they feel about immersion. A lot of people need immersion, they have a hard time enjoying a game without it. Their are also a lot of people (like me) who don’t really care about immersion and care more about fun, for some, immersion is part of the fun, but for me it’s just kind of a neat detail, and can even get in the way in some games.

You're right about the maps. But wrong when you push mongo lol

It seems the devs thought the open world design could be replaced by the Object Dropper. So the world is mostly empty and flat so you can do it. If it had a lot more props in the game world, it could feel more like skate 2 dragging things around. The other issue is hardcore mode, most of the main story events are unplayable in hardcore, either gaps that are too big or not enough space to get speed. Also, im pretty sure you could actually move from zone to zone in real time through the spillway, I think that did run from top to bottom of the map. It still sucks though compared to 1 and 2.

Man I have to agree San Van was a much better map in Skate 2. Skate 3 is still one of my favourite games of all time to play, but the map is too broken up and kind of empty. you can really feel they were pushed for time seeing as it came out just a little over a year after skate 2. Been loving Skatember so far Jack keep up the good work!

Skate 3 may not be as good as 2, but it was still fine. Been a great series so far Jak! Keep it up!

This was my favorite one.

Skate 3 definitely was the best in the series in terms of smoothness of the gameplay and animation, and the variety of tricks you can do, and I put dozens if not hundreds of hours into the park creator alone, but I definitely agree that the tone of the game and the design of the Port Carverton map was really lacking compared to the previous two main games. San Vanelona wasn't perfect but things were relatively scaled realistically and parts of the city flowed well into each other - Port Carverton on the other hand was weirdly segmented into three separate "islands" basically and things felt scaled way too big with way too much open space where there was just nothing there. Personally Skate 3 is still my favorite for its positives and Port Carverton would be really cool to live in IRL as a real skater myself, but I can fully understand and I don't defend the game from players who feel like Skate 3 "jumped the shark"... after it literally opens with you jumping a shark, lol.

Heya Jak a little late to watching these videos, but i'm loving every bit of it, just a small tangent your analogy about how hall of meat feels off compared to Skate 2, is exactly how i felt with the Crash mode in the Burnout paradise game, in the same essence that they half implemented it into the game in a weird way, that just doesn't feel right, compared to crashing in Burnout revenge or even 3, sorry for the little rant but i just found it interesting that you sort of gave me a way to express that in words i couldn't really think of myself, thank you hehe ^~^

My first an only skate game. Like said in a previous the controls trip me up sooooo much idk, had more fun watchin ppl play it mostly, doesn’t make it bad game just was eh for me. I am anticipating skate 4 as the adhd riddled fest you mentioned considering how much more people like 3 and it being free to play means micros to really prey on the adhd gamers running round that game. Could be wrong just gotta see. Skater CL was alright at first, played it with my kids and we were like this feels ok, it could be good. Then saw how little content it had and how was getting no more at all anymore basically so felt was a waste money for a few maps basically. Session while rough on the edges, feels like good middle ground on it default control scheme for sim like and casual gamers, while stiff and rough, does have story and side missions to find playing an exploring, and it having historically challenges of real lines you replicate in game was dope thing to offer. Yea it can be buggy as hell at times an janky in some spots but still play it occasionally when I’m sitting round bored an want just something to play it’s def fun and easy to just slide back into.

Skate 3: Rise of the Razor Scooters

Running off your beard isn't called rolling away. That's when you land a trick clean and "roll away".

I’m really enjoying skatetember Jak, thanks for doing this year after year it always comes around so quick l!

I agree with "aimless", for me it's wasted potential. This could have been legit a legendary game, but too many flaws derailed it. Still a good game though.

Your right Much love god bless

awsome vid like always!

Despite the game being a buggy mess and essentially a parody of itself, I can’t help but love it as not only do I have so many fond memories with it, but it also made me fall in love with the sport of skateboarding. (Although San Van is still better then Port Carverton in my opinion)

Jason lee was also underdog 😆😆 thought it was worth adding,

I'm watching these videos every day

Loved the Bully song. Bully review in the future? Also I hate to tell you that Marafa own the lot in the art gallery DLC is harder than burbatron

I think the criticisms are fair but I think it's also worth noting some of the changes from Skate 2 to Skate 3, such as the cleaner look and the city being 3 separated maps were nessesary to get the game at a far more stable frame rate than 2. Skate 2 targeting 60fps was cool especially because it's such a technical, input heavy game that benefits from the better response time, but on the Xbox 360 and PS3 it was never stable. Skate 3 on the other hand during gameplay rarely dips outside of very specific moments like Hall of Meat swapping to 30 when need be, Considering how much Skate 3 refines the controls for the series personally I think changes that kept the framerate as close to locked 60 as possible don't detract considering the massive gain. (Very impressive on PS3 especially as it can output at 1080p with this stable frame rate, the 360 instead only being able to output 720p at most) The actual campaign is probably the weakest part of Skate 3 for sure but I don't think that drags down the game much for me as the pure sandbox is the main pull. Skate 3 giving you so many tools to play around with and be creative you can make far more fun than I think a structured campaign could offer (I still think Skate 3's campaign is better than Skate 1 and dealing with all those video goals gating progress). In that aspect the city being more gameified and segmented might be for it's benefit as the depths of freedom you can have in any one spot imo is easier to manage when you have the 3 distinct districts. The overall tone is going to be up to taste for sure, I get the impression Skate 3 takes itself less seriously to match where the community took Skate and pushing the gameplay to it's extremes. I could see the devs thinking it was weird to keep the story and tone serious and grounded when players were taking the gameplay engine and doing gravity defining, not even close to realistic lines and tricks. The lasting legacy Skate 3 has seems to reflect that, to the point the game is loved equally for it's skating gameplay potential and how much of the game can be broken.

Looks like you gotta cover Riders Republic now 😎

Holy hell, I forgot this game made the rounds that made Pewds, Markimoo, and Jackieboy household names these days. And to think, that was over a decade ago. WHERE'S THE FUCKING TIME GONE!?!?!

Aw snap. New video!!!

Jason Lee was a great choice. He was a pro skater for blind in the late 80's early 90's before he became an actor.

oh boy Three was mid REAL TAWLK

I disagree on the hall of meat thing, I really love those missions, but I see your point.