Skate 2

Overview

Skate 2 is a skateboarding game developed by EA Black Box for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It is published by EA and is the sequel to the game skate, released in late 2007. The game was released on January 21st, 2009 in North America and January 23rd in all other regions. Like skate, Skate 2 is a realistic take on skateboarding utilizing the flick-it controls. In this control scheme, the player's legs are mapped to face buttons, while their arms are mapped to the shoulder buttons, the board is controlled by flicking motions of the right thumbstick.

Story

Skate 2 takes place five years after the events of the original game. In the time between games, the player has been in jail for attempting to skate down the San Vanelona Dam. Upon being released, he returns to San Vanelona to find a greatly changed city. A disaster had left the city in ruins allowing for the corporation Mongo Corp. to come in and rebuild it. The newly rebuilt city has been labeled "New San Vanelona" and, as the name suggests, the city has been greatly changed. The newly rebuilt city replaces the suburbs with "The Projects", a high rise residential area with large gaps and air time. An entirely new area has also been added, dubbed "San Van Mountain." This area can be seen in the skybox of Skate 1 and brings downhill gameplay at great speed.

San Vanelona is no longer a skaters paradise, however. The corporation Mongo Corp. hasn't taken kindly to skaters and has done things such as putting caps on many of the cities rails. According to a developer, the goal of the story will no longer be about proving your skill as a skater, as this was accomplished in Skate 1; rather the goal of the story will be about proving your worth as a skater to the community. According to a Gamespy article, the player will need to do challenges that will earn him money so that he can build skate parks and "stick it to the man."

New Features

Skate 2 has a number of new features.

1. The player now has the ability to get off of the board. This is done by pressing Y on the 360and triangle on the PS3. Not only does getting off of the board allow for greater freedom and control, but there is also a major gameplay change attached to this mechanic - The player has the ability to interact with the environment by moving objects around. The player may move "anything that doesn't look bolted down." Any item you move will stay where you leave it, as long as it's somewhere it won't interfere with the cities inhabitants, such as in the street.
2. The amount of tricks at the players disposal has been doubled. Among the additions are handplants, foot plants, bean plants, and hippie jumps.
3. The default camera has been improved, but for those who would prefer a more standard camera, the option has been added.
4. The character creator is much more robust, akin to the Tiger Woods games. Among the improvements is the ability to create a female character.
5. The game still takes place in the fictional city of San Vanelona, but the city has been redesigned for a better gameplay experience. The newly rebuilt city replaces the suburbs with The a high rise residential area promising large gaps and air time. An entirely new area has also been added, called "Cougar Mountain." Also added is a Waterfront area, that bears an uncanny resemblance to the cruise liner level in Tony Hawk 4. This part of the map has been seen as less than satisfactory due to its lack of realistic terrain, including a quarterpipe in the wall of a cruise ship.
6. An improved session marker system. Session markers no longer trigger a load screen if the player is close to the selected area.
7. The game also sports reduced load times as well as 60 frames per second on both the 360 and PS3. The frame rate tends to drop at some points, however.
8. An improved replay editor, including the much requested ability to set up a tripod and film from a stationary position.

Game Modes

Career

The basic mode you'd find in any modern skateboarding game. The challenges are almost exactly the same as in skate. They include:

• Photo and Video Challenges, in which the player is asked to complete trick-based goals for a camera.
• Pro Challenges, in which a professional skateboarder will ask the player to complete a task, which may vary depending upon the professional's style and the location of the challenge.

• Jam Sessions, in which the player must outscore computer opponents at a specific location. These last 3 rounds of varying time limits.
• Death Races, in which the player will race computer opponents from one location to another.
• Own The Spot Challenges, in which the player must beat a predetermined score at a specific location.
• S.K.A.T.E., in which the player will attempt to repeat the trick that a computer controlled professional skateboarder completed, while attempting to make the professional skateboarder miss their own trick.

Freeskate

Freeskate mode lets your roam the city without having to worry about challenges. You can even skate as any of the playable characters (if you've unlocked them through career mode) if you want or your career skater. Freeskate mode will let you adjust the amount of pedestrians and traffic before you start. You can turn them both completely off if they get in your way and you can even turn off the mongo corp zones. Those are the areas that you're not allowed to skate at in the career mode.

Multiplayer

There are multiple modes you can play online with up to six players. All modes can be played in ranked and unranked.

Freeskate

You can do whatever you want in this mode. Just skate around with other players and have fun. A player can also activate freeskate activities that other players can join if they want. Some activities are easy like "Everyone boardslide this rail" but there are more complex ones where all the players must nail a sequence of tricks.

Spot Battle

In spot battle all players take turns and get 3 tries to set a high score on a specific skating spot. Some spots are "one trick only" spots, meaning you can only perform one trick on the spot and your turn is done. Some "one trick only" spots will allow you to manual and link your tricks but some will stop adding your points as soon as you start your manual. There are also "session spots". On these spots you have a time limit, usually about 45 seconds, to rack up as many points as you can on the spot. These spots are usually pools, fountains or verts.

Death Race

Death Race are races down mountains and hills. Points don't count in this mode, just make it down to the finish line first.

Jam

In Jam mode there are 3 rounds where you try to score as many points as you can in the area you're at. All skaters skate at the same time in Jam. At the end of a round, the player with the highest score gets 6 points, the player with the lowest gets 1. Which ever player has the most of these points after all 3 rounds wins the Jam. There are other variations in Jam. Some rounds, instead of seeing who can get the most total points, you'll need to see who can do the most spins or who can get the most points from only grinding or the most points from only doing flip tricks.

SKATE

SKATE is essentially the game of HORSE. A player will be asked to "set the trick". That player will need to do some sort of flip trick since grabs don't count. If the player lands the trick then the next player will have to copy his exact trick. If he doesn't copy the trick exactly then he will get a "S". If you fail at doing the tricks enough you will spell out SKATE and you will be knocked out of the game and have to wait for the next game to start. When a player is setting the trick he has to do something original. This means someone can't just keep doing triple kickflip 540s over and over. If a player repeats a trick his turn will be forfeited and it will be the next players turn to set the trick.

Hall of Meat

The Hall of Meat mode is about as easy as it gets. All players need to do is crash. The more damage you do to your body, the more points you get. The amount of points you get will also go up depending on how fast you were going when you crashed, if you hit objects, how many rotations your body does in the air and how long your wipeout lasted.

Party Play

Party play is the local multiplayer mode. In party play you can play the modes Spot Battle, SKATE and Hall of Meat with up to 4 players. Your career skater won't be a playable character here but you'll be able to choose from 30 other skaters. The cool thing about party play is you only need one controller to play 4 player, you just have to pass the controller around. You can also play with 4 controllers if you want to.

Annals of Meat

Crashing has a new meaning in Skate 2. You can earn big bucks by crashing and doing Challenges which involve bailing in a specific way, this somehow implies that all skaters have impeccable insurance. You can access all of your bail statistics from Slappy's.

blog by clicking on the Annals of Meat.

Top Bails

The first of the three tabs is your "Top Bails" that Stores your top 10 bails and shows what bones you broke, when you did it, where you did it and how much damage you received.

Bail Stats

The second tab is your "Bail Stats" which shows you all of you stats.

On your bail stats you can see:

• Breaks - Shows how many bones you've broken overall. This is simply a bragging right reserved for real-life skaters, or sadists.
• Dislocated - Shows how many bones you've dislocated.
• Sprained - Shows how many sprains you've gotten overall.
• Bruised - Shows how many bruises you've received overall. Little known fact: Real life skaters brag about how many bruises they've accumulated over the years
• Scraped - Shows how many Scrapes you've gotten.
• Tweaks - Shows how many Tweaks you've done in the air.
• Cars hit - Shows how many cars you've hit.
• Pedestrians hit - Shows how any pedestrians you've hit. This is another highlight of skaters giving themselves a good reputation.
• Time Bailing - Shows how long you have crashed overall.

Total Bails - This shows how many times you have fallen off your board overall. This usually outweighs all of the above listed bails, at a rate of about 3 to 1.

Online stats

• My top Bail - Shows your best bail
• Friends Rank - Shows the best bail from your friends and compares them to yours
• Overall Top Bail - Shows the all time best bail from the entire community

Challenges

The third tab is the "Challenges" tab, which shows your progress in the Hall of Meat challenges. The challenges are separated into 4 groups: Points, Body Damage, Style and Grab Bag.

Points

1 5000 pts at GED High - 100$

2 10,000 pts at Upper Stacks - 300$

3 15,000 pts at Sunset Heights - 300$

4 17,500 pts at Mini Mega - 400$

5 20,000 pts at Dueling Snakes - 500$

6 22,500 pts at Lighthouse Park - 1,000$

7 25,000 pts at Boneyard - 1,250$

8 30,000 pts at Mega Compound - 1,500$

9 35,000 pts at Cougar Bridge - 1,750$

10 40,000 pts at The Dam - 2,000$

11 45,000 pts anywhere - 5,000$

12 46,000 pts anywhere - 6,000$

13 47,000 pts anywhere - 7,000$

14 50,000 pts anywhere - 8,000$

15. 55,000 pts anywhere - ??? ( You can do this challenge anytime and keep getting money for it.)

Body Damage

1 5,000 pts of Body Damage - 100$

2 Break Both Hands - 300$

3 Break Both Forearms - 300$

4 Break Both Legs - 400$

5 Break 12 Bones - 500$

6 Break Your Shoulder to Your Fingertips - 1,000$

7 Break Both Feet and 10 Toes - 1,250$

8 Break all Ribs and Crack Your Skull - 1,500$

9 20,000 pts of Body Damage - 1,750$

10 Break Your Groin - 2,000$

11 Shatter All Your Teeth - 5,000$

12 Break Your Head to Your Hips - 6,000$

13 Break Your Hips to Your 10 Toes - 7,000$

14 Break 19 Bones - 8,000$

15 24,000 pts of Body damage - ??? ( You can do this challenge anytime and keep getting money for it.)

Style

1 Do a Cannonball and a Spread Eagle - 100$

2 40.0Km/h and a Hand Gesture - 300$

3 2.5s of Air Time - 300$

4 2,500 Rotation pts - 400$

5 10.5m Drop and 3 Body Tweaks - 500$

6 5.5s of Bail Time - 1,000$

7 3.0s of Air Time and 3,000 Rotation Points - 1,250$

8 64.0Km/h and 5,000 Rotation Points - 1,500$

9 5 Body Tweaks and 2 Hand Gestures - 1,750$

10 Do 2 Body Tweaks and Bail for 10.0s - 2,000$

11 15,000 Rotation pts - 5,000$

12 Bail for 20.0s - 6,000$

13 64.0Km/h and 3.5 s of Air Time - 7,000$

14 64.0Km/h and All 4 Body Tweaks - 8,000$

15 31,000 Bonus Points - ???( You can do this challenge anytime and keep getting money for it.)

Grab Bag

1 Hit a Pedestrian - 100$

2 Cannonball into a Car - 300$

3 40.0Km/h and Hit 2 Objects - 300$

4 Break a Leg on an Object - 400$

5 40.0Km/h Torpedo into a Pedestrian - 500$

6 56.0Km/h and Judo Kick a Car - 1,000$

7 1,000 Rotation pts and Hit 3 Objects - 1,250$

8 56.0Km/h and Judo Kick a Pedestrian - 1,500$

9 Cannonball into 2 Cars - 1,750$

10 Break Your Groin on an Object and 1 Hand Gesture - 2,000$

11 25m Spread eagle drop onto an object - 5,000$

12 1500 rotation pts and a 25m drop onto 2 objects - 6,000$

13 64.0 Km/h and Hit a Pedestrian - 7,000$

14 20.0m Drop onto a Pedestrian -8,000$

15 Hit 3 Cars or 2 Pedestrians - ???( You can do this challenge anytime and keep getting money for it.)

skate.reel

Skate 2 has an improved replay editor featuring three different camera types. You can use the normal game camera, a free camera, or a tripod camera. Each of these cameras can be aimed, and with the free and tripod cameras repositioned. The clips you make can then be uploaded to the skate.reel website. Additional cameras and clip space may be purchased in the Filmer Pack DLC available for both XBOX 360 and Playstation 3 consoles. The update adds much more customization to the cameras, allowing custom panning and paths. It also increases your clip allotment from the default ninety seconds to five minutes.

Skaters

The following is a list of professional skateboarders in Skate 2:

1. PJ Ladd
2. Rob Dyrdek
3. Dennis Busenitz
4. Jerry Hsu
5. Pat Duffy
6. Colin McKay
7. Danny Way
8. Jason Dill
9. Alex Chalmers
10. Ryan Smith
11. Chris Haslam
12. Mike Carroll
13. Chris Cole
14. John Rattray
15. Terry Kennedy
16. Ryan Gallant
17. Lucas Puig
18. Mark Appleyard
19. Braydon Szafranski
20. John Cardiel
21. Eric Koston
22. Darren Navarette
23. Marc Johnson
24. Jake Brown
25. Ray Barbee

Other Playable Characters

1. Giovanni "The Mouth" Reda
2. Chris "Cuz" Parry (skate. 2 Producer)
3. Atiba Jefferson (The Skateboard Magazine Photographer)
4. Michael Burnett (Thrasher Photographer)
5. Slappy
6. Sammy
7. Shingo
8. Mike
9. Christopher "Big Black" Boykin (Unlocked by entering letsdowork in the cheats screen)
10. Dem Bonez (Unlocked by completing all Hall of Meat Paths)
11. Freeway
12. Seb

Skateboard Companies

The following is a list of skateboard companies in Skate 2:

1. Alien Workshop
2. Almost
3. AntiHero
4. Baker
5. Black Label
6. Blind
7. Chocolate
8. Cliche
9. Creature
10. Darkstar
11. Element
12. Enjoi
13. Flip
14. Girl
15. LRG
16. Mystery
17. Plan B
18. Real
19. Santa Cruz
20. Shut
21. Vans
22. Think
23. Zero

Soundtrack

The following is the soundtrack for Skate 2:

• "Uptown Top Ranking" - Althea & Donna
• "Anubis" - Anubis
• "The Dull Blade" - ASG
• "I Want A Snake" - Awesome Snakes
• "Symptom Of The Universe" - Black Sabbath
• "Shockwave" - Black Tide
• "Stay On Or Die" - China Creeps
• "Addictive" - Cut Chemist
• "Beneath The Wheel" - D.R.I.
• "Go Ahead On" - Dayton Sidewinders
• "Heroes Of Our Time" - Dragonforce
• "Show Down" - ELO
• "Collarbone" - Fujiya & Miyagi
• "Step In The Arena" - Gang Starr
• "I'da Called You Woody, Joe" - Gaslight Anthem
• "She Wore Rat Skin Boots" - Goons Of Doom"
• "Piglets" - Guilty Simpson
• "They Fall Apart" - High Tension Wires
• "Freewheel Burning" - Judas Priest"
• "S.K.A.T.E." - Korrupted Hoodlums
• "Cold Beats" - Koushik feat. Percee P
• "Rock The Bells" - LL Cool J
• "Guilt By Association" - Louis XIV
• "Weakness" - McRad
• "For Kristoffer" - Money Your Love
• "Eat The Rich" - Motorhead
• "Made You Look" - Nas
• "Heavy" - Oh No
• "It's Empty" - One Man Army
• "Gator Jaws" - Ponce De Leon
• "Harder Than You Think" - Public Enemy
• "Hold Your Hand" - Queen Sea Big Shark
• "Runnin' Out" - Radio Reelers
• "Sleep Now In The Fire" - Rage Against The Machine
• "Uh Oh!" - Riverboat Gamblers
• "Hold On, I'm Comin'" - Sam & Dave
• "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" - Sly & The Family Stone
• "Alternative Ulster" - Stiff Little Fingers
• "Possessed 2 Skate" - Suicidal Tendencies
• "Superficial Love" - T.S.O.L.
• "Crashing" - Teenage Bottlerocket
• "Los Pool Riders" - Texas Thieves
• "Death Or Glory" - The Clash
• "Return To Blood Beach" - The Riptides
• "Ghost Town" - The Specials
• "Reach Out And Give Me Your Hand" - Tickled Pink
• "Square Ball" - Underground Railroad To Candyland
• "Low Rider" - WAR
• "Protect Ya Neck" - Wu-Tang Clan
• "Leda Atomica" - Year Long Disaster
• "I Hate My Life" - Youth Brigade

Demo

A demo was released on Xbox Live on the 8th of January, 2009 and on the 15th of January on the Playstation Network.

In the demo, you are essentially taken through the first 20 minutes of the game, when your narrator and filmographer, Giovanni Reda, drives you away from the jail where you have been incarcerated and San-Van has suffered massive reconstruction at the hands of MongoCorp (a large company bent on terrorizing skateboarders, despite having a skateboarding-derived name, wouldn't Uptight-Corp be a better choice? Or ParentCorp?). You are then reminded how to ride your board, and given instructions on how to get under a horizontal bar. All of this to a soundtrack of Wu Tang and WAR. You are then shown Slappy's park, which embodies the whole "skateboarding is still kinda punk" vibe. You are given further instruction on manuals, fliptricks, ollies and the like. All of the challenges you complete increase your time to skate afterward.

If you complete all of the challenges teaching you how to do tricks, you are given opportunities to skate for film and photography challenges, as Atiba and Reda aim lenses at you.

After all of this gamut and tutorials, you are given time to skate in Slappy's park, wreaking havoc upon the ramps and semi-street that litter the park.

Installations

The PS3 version of Skate 2 requires a 2182MB (just over 2GB) installation to run. The optional installation on Xbox 360 weighs in at 6.8 GB.

Achievements/Trophies

Achievements in Skate 2 are handled a little differently than in the first game. A larger portion of the achievements are tied to the main story line and other offline tasks. You no longer have to get footage rated or master all of the online disciplines to get a full 1000 GS. For a full list of Achievements/Trophies, check the guides at the top of the page.

Downloadable Content

During development, it was mentioned by Blackbox that downloadable content was to be a large part of the game. This is a major departure from the original Skate which saw none at all. Soon after release, the Filmer pack became available, offering advanced camera controls, custom watermarks, some new gear as well as an increased amount of footage time (from 3 minutes to 5) available to be uploaded to SkateReel. The Filmer Pack cost is 600 ms points, or $7.50 US.

On February 19, 2009 Skate 2 saw its first world expansion with Dyrdek's Fantasy Plaza Pack. This includes a recreation of Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory skatepark which is the setting for his new show on MTV. Also included is the surrounding area modeled after portions of downtown Los Angeles. The cost for this is 400 ms points or $5.00 US.

On February 26, 2009, the San Van Classic Pack was released. This pack includes three areas from the original Skate: Parkade, Community Center, and Oliver Elementary School. This is priced at 400 ms points or $5.00 US. These areas, along with the Fantasy Factory, are not physically connected to New San Vanelona. The only way to access them is through a new downloaded section of the location list. All of these locations are available in freeskate, career, and online modes.

Accompanying these new packs are new filmer challenges, own the spot challenges, and jam session tournaments. Ten new achievements also join the ranks, bringing Skate 2 to 1250 total points. These are spread out through both content packs.

On March 5, 2009, The Throwback Pack was released. Originally obtained via special Pre-order codes from Gamestop, players may now download the pack free of charge. Contained within are new Retro clothes that can be used to customize the player's created skater. Clothes include new tops, sunglasses, pants and socks resembling fashion trends from the 70s and 80s.

The Maloof Money Cup Pack will be released on July 9th 2009 for $3.00 US or 240 MS points. The Maloof Money Cup includes a new skatepark inspired by the real world competition of the same name. Both vert and street areas will be included. The Maloof Money Cup holds the largest cash purse for any skateboarding competition. Also included will be new achievements totaling 250 gs bringing skate 2 to 1500 points total.