Skate 3 is the best in the series, and generally one of the best skateboarding games made.
The story of Skate 3 is that you are a skater who is deemed a legend by many, and now you are coming up with a team and building your own skating company, which involves making your own logo, performing several tricks on film and camera, and competing in many different skating events in order to sell your line of skateboards. You can choose between Easy (new to Skate), Normal, and Hardcore (most realistic physics which makes it harder to do tricks). This story comes after what Skate 2 gave, which was you trying to become a legend. Skate 3 performs the story well, as it doesn't go from A to B. It is your decision whether or not you want to advance by competing in a Deathrace, Owning the Lot, or doing the Hall of Meat challenges. You are free to go through it as fast or slow as you wish, which is a great way to make a story for a sports game.
The physics in Skate 3 are better than its predecessors, and while they do come off as realistic and fun, some of it could use a bit more work. First off, sometimes the trick you want to do doesn't happen due to a slight slip of the analog stick, which is a major problem for competitions and online play. Another small issue is that while you have an enormous amount of tricks to perform, some of the time, the flips will not read correctly, and you cannot do more that a quadruple of a kickflip, heelflip, etc., which isn't a complaint so much as a disappointment very quickly recognized as you play. All in all, the realism is there to a high point, ut many things could have been improved.
Music selection and audio is superb. Many of the songs are generally not known by people, and they are very good, which is a bonus. Not to mention you are able to play your own songs over your system. The sounds of the board flips and bails and people and announcers are incredible as well. It's all synced properly, and makes for great entertainment when you do a very intense bail.
The graphics of Skate 3 are detailed and sharp enough so you know exactly when, where, and how to perform a trick or grind. Nothing much more to say, despite there being minor glitches that happen occasionally when you bail, and your board/character will flip out (does not cause any hindrance to the gameplay).
Online play is very addictive in Skate 3, despite very minor freezes during waiting periods. It is too much fun to play a mode with one of your friends, or even just with strangers online. You can freeskate online in areas that you have beaten in the career mode, which does not take as long as it sounds.
A huge part of Skate 3 is the ability to customize your own skate.Park. There are hundreds upon hundreds of items and options to choose from, and it is an extremely satisfying feeling when you complete your own creative design and shred like a pro.
All in all, Skate 3 is a beautiful, addictive, mus own game for any skateboarder and gamer alike. It offers a challenging career mode, unlimited creativity, and fun gameplay. Worth the $20 to $30 it is priced at right now.