5% Inspiration,95%Perspiration
Skate 2 Is a game that is quite offputting at first,difficult to master,and incredibly frustrating,as the difference between making a trick and becoming a mess of tangled wreckage is literally a matter of millimeters.However,when it occasionally all works out perfectly,when the pieces fall in place and you ace that one gap or perfect line you've been laboring away at,it almost gives a euphoric sense of contentment and accomplishment.
After fashioning your character(or lack thereof),you start out with the basics which,to someone like myself who was raised off of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater,takes a bit of getting used to.Multiple button presses are fewer and further between,as most of your bread and butter will be done with the analog stick,and a larger emphasis is put on perfect timing and angles.After finishing up the tutorial,you're more or less free to tackle the various competitions and tasks that are offered to you at your own pace,or you can feel free to skate around the various areas in town,which seems a bit more entertaining in a whole diabolical mastermind sense.There's a small bit of story that seems far too easy to ignore(sticking it to the man,blah blah blah),and the soundtrack has an eclectic,if not tailored to please everyone kind of vibe,but strip away all the bells and whistles and you have a really solid foundation of a game.Granted,there are some issues with collision(getting stuck on thin air,inadvertently crashing,etc)and some of the challenges will set you off on a tirade that puts Richard Pryor to shame,but usually it's not enough to ruin the experience,as some of the best and brightest moments tend to keep you involved and blown away for the duration of the game.It also has a solid online mode,where you can skate around with friends,upload video clips and created lines,as well as gives you the opportunity to do some somewhat limited graphic design work on the community website.
In hindsight,the difficulties faced with first getting into Skate 2 now seem like growing pains,a necessary evil in order to fully enjoy the finer points to the entire experience.With the next installment already in the works,this seems like the perfect launch point,a solid groundwork towards hopefully a more richly fulfilled addition.
