Skate 2
The first Skate, released on Xbox 360 last year, helped to redefine the skateboarding videogame. Instead of making you press face buttons, players used the analogue sticks to execute wild tricks and stunts, each stick controlling a different foot of the skater. The control scheme meant that inputs approximated their real life counterparts, ollies triggered by flicking the stick down and up again and so on. The shake-up paid dividends, giving players who got to grips with the system’s intricacies an unusual sense of accomplishment. In this world a well-timed jump is just as impressive as a bombastic back flip, something that has helped spawn a vibrant community of players uploading and sharing videos of their most impressive moments.
Skate 2 seeks to build upon this solid foundation, keeping much of the core as it was in the previous game while placing a renewed emphasis on user generated content and drop-in multiplayer action. The game takes place in New San Vanelona, a city rebuilt following an apocalyptic disaster. New to the game is the ability to position ramps and objects around the city. By cleverly positioning ramps and rails it’s possible to set up huge runs which, if tricked together will make for perfect YouTube fodder. You can even share these creations with your friends who can then challenge your own top scores for the area.
Elsewhere it’s now possible to ‘skitch’ a ride from passing cars, hanging onto their rear bumpers for a free trip around the city. This is handy for getting up hills, which was always a pain in the first game. The multiplayer features are also impressive. Now it’s possible to invite friends into your career mode at any point, switching to a ‘freeskate’ mode. From there any player can use the D-pad to pull up a list of freeskate activities unique to your current location.
Once a player proposes an activity, everyone else can either choose to take part or sit it out till the next suggestion. Activities vary from competitive to co-operative and there’s even an award for the player causes themselves the most injury. The system follows Burnout Paradise’s example closely, changing the scale and type of challenges based on the number of players in the city, something indicative of the game’s overall polish and thoughtfulness.
With such a strong foundation to build upon with the first game, Skate 2 promises to deliver the definitive virtual skating experience. Well, at least until the new Tony Hawk game arrives with its supposed skateboard peripheral - but more on that later.
