Skate 2

Once again I find myself face-first into the side of a hand-rail wishing that I had ollied just a little earlier and positioned my board just slightly more to the right. I find that I spend more time base over apex with my manly parts crushed against various world objects than I do pulling off “killer” moves. This is where Skate has set itself apart from the more classic “god-mode” style skateboarding games.

Whilst in the Tony Hawk’s series it has always been possible to pull off unbelievable combinations of tricks lasting several minutes spanning enormous gaps, it gets boring after a while. Skate takes the basic ideas of skating and tries to replicate the fluidity of motion and precision of the sport using (mostly) just the analogue stick on your control pad. Rather than mashing a button to pop an ollie in Skate, you pull back on the analogue stick and flick it up again. Your thumb on the stick is effectively the same as the skater’s feet on the board and that is where things start to get complicated.

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It is usually assumed that games should be relatively easy to pick up and start playing, but to get seriously good at them takes time and practice. With Skate, you start off able to do only one thing: faceplant. I slowly progressed through the game’s tutorial, learning how to do the basics, but i could never pull them off first time. It took me an incredible 53 (yes, i counted) attempts to even mount a railing I was supposed to grind. Yes, stopping at the 27th try might have been the smart thing to do, but the immense satisfaction when I finally completed the task at hand and got to see it back, in all its slow-motion, crisp detail, was incredible. The first few hours playing the game were incredibly frustrating.

{{ quote I eventually progress to my current standard, spending 5% of my time riding my trusty board. }}

The game’s story mode is relatively standard, and involves you completing certain tasks/races/competitions/photo-shoots and earning money for them. Completing certain goals unlocks more areas and challenges. You are paired up with a photographer who will, without fail, mock your every attempt at jumping up a curb with one of what seems like 5 preset jeers. The voice acting in the game is well recorded (if poorly acted) but the script is unbearable. Endless streams of “duuuuude” and “butterrrrssss” make you feel like your stuck inside another Jay and Silent Bob movie. The skater talk is just dull, and the whole game would benefit massively just by dropping this inane element. The soundtrack, on the other hand, is pretty good. A good balance between hip-hop and some classic rock anthems makes for easy listening and an enjoyable playing ambience.

The graphics are stunning. Standing atop “Cougar Mountain” you can see “San Vanelona“ in all its HD glory. Amazing lighting bloom effects ooze from the screen as you skate detailed and changing terrain. There is some tearing in places, and getting stuck in annoying little holes in the world geometry is quite a frequent hazard, but this doesn’t detract from the overall feel of the game. Skate 2 also suffers some frame-rate issues, most notably in the large open areas of terrain, and in places where timing is such a crucial factor in executing moves this can be a distraction. EA have done a fantastic job in creating a living, breathing city but, as with all skating games, things often appear to be too convenient to be believable. Every ledge is waxed-up for grinding and every planter joins perfectly with the floor to provide a ramp for increased height potential.

The city has, since the original Skate, been changed from a skater’s paradise to a hostile environment, inhabited by an evil corporation who are out to brutalise all skaters. Various handrails and curbs have had anti-skating blocks fitted to them, and security guards patrol various areas on the hunt for “pesky kids.” Skateboarders are portrayed as a massively oppressed collective of hyper-cool athletes rather than the more obvious choice of dorky city kids who have nothing better to do with their time than scuff their knees and break their bones. The fact that every single law enforcement officer or security guard in town is out solely to hunt skateboarders is mind-boggling and adds nothing to the game other than frustrating but unfulfiling obstacles.

Anyone who has ever tried to skateboard before will know that it is impossible to keep up any sort of movement on the standard paving slabs of any real world situation. Yet, in every skateboarding game, you can effortlessly glide on all manner of surfaces without any real impact on your motion. Grass may slow you down in Skate 2 but in real life, wheels dig into the mud and (once again) you end up knee-deep in dog excrement. And another thing, why is it that so many characters in games are aqua-phobic? What, I can’t even stand in water without having to be teleported to a safe location? It’s the same story with sand too, and it bugs the hell out of me. Half an inch of water will cause your skateboarder to bail and require you to reset your position, but soggy grass littered with god knows what will just gradually slow you down. What the physics of this game lacks is consistency. The board and character are perfectly modelled, with believable and fluid motion taking centre stage during gameplay. Your replays will have you gasping in disbelief at that incredible line you just planned and skated. The board flips just as you’d expect it too and, thankfully, your character may only jump as high as gravity (and human calf muscles) allow. So why skimp on the world physics? The new “get off your board” feature is also a shocking state of affairs and is incredibly slow and cumbersome. Turning 180 degrees takes longer than it does to hop on your skateboard and rotate, making the whole thing a pointless and frustrating fumble.

The multiplayer option in Skate 2 really suffers when playing locally due to the massively steep learning curve. Online multiplayer obviously isn’t affected because you’ll be faced with others who have spent the time to learn the game. This is a shame and where Skate falls behind the competition as playing by yourself can get boring.

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The replay editor is where Skate 2 really has me hooked. I really don’t care much for the story mode but I’ll happily sit and tinker with replays for hours on end. After skating around aimlessly for several minutes, you are bound to come across a “line”. For those who are unaware, a line is a series of obstacles which can easily be strung together within a sequence of moves into one elegant ballet of rider and board. You place a marker where your line starts and then set off. Accelerating with your right foot before stopping and letting gravity take its course as you gain more speed towards the first obstacle ahead. As you get closer to it you begin to pull back on the analogue stick in preparation for an ollie, and then flick it upwards. But it’s too late. Your bite marks are still visible in the concrete pillar. You reset and try again. This is the basic recipe to getting a line ready for replay editing in skate. After several attempts you master the line and manage to pull of several good moves in a row. This is where the fun begins, as you enter the replay editor. You are given 3 different cameras (more are downloadable) which are set to view your skater form different positions. Replays can be cut into smaller segments and several cameras can be used along the way to capture every moment of your run from the perfect angle. These replays can then be uploaded online to share with other skate fanatics around the world. Creating replays is so easy and intuitive that it becomes almost as fun as the skateboarding itself.

Skate 2 also adds the ability to move objects and post these object/location combinations on the web with player-set scores to challenge other people to beat. This is a good idea which is poorly-executed due to the fact that object manipulation occurs on foot, which is where, once again, you feel like a beached whale trying to roll over to get the sun out of your eyes.

Skate 2 offers gamers a wonderful chance to experience a fantastic simulation of what is quite a skilful and exciting sport, but is not for the casual. Learning the game takes patience and a lot of time, much like the real thing. Skate 2 will have you at the edge of your seat, screaming at your controller (which, of course, must be broken) as you fail time after time to perform the simplest of tasks. But it’s all worthwhile when that sense of satisfaction comes rushing in to ease your pain.