Gnar Sesh
In 2001 I got my fair share of Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3. Living in a house full of college guys, TH3 was constantly being played by someone. After burning out on it, my interest in skateboarding games waned. With this year's return of the Skate franchise, I decided to jump on board.
The folks at EA have completely dominated the Hawk franchise, building a realistic world in which actual physics play a big part of the skating experience. The first Skate refreshed the action sports game market, and Skate 2 continued its philosophy by not overthinking the 2nd edition, but rather adding some key updates and rich gameplay.
The "flick-it" system of controls returns in Skate 2, but also does the variety and quantity of tricks, grabs, plants and flips that your player can perform. The controls are intuitive, and while they may take a while for a button masher to master, they are fairly accurate. My only complaint comes with manualing, which can be a little inconsistent. Overall, however, the plethora of options available to your character is great. One complaint that I have with the game is when it asks you to do extremely specific tricks. The result is hours of mind-numbing repetition, which can wear on a gamer. However, if you master the controls and devote time to the game, these tasks do take less time. There aren't any "skill boosts" or attribute levels that can add to your players ability to do tricks, which I prefer.
The level design of "New San Vanelona", the city in which Skate 2 is based, is clean and consistent. Drawing a lot of inspiration from San Francisco and San Diego, SV offers variety and character, without becoming so cheezy that every single object in the world can be used to grind or launch off of. And while the city is expansive and offers plenty of nuggets to discover, I do hope that EA releases some worthwhile DLC that expands the city.
Added features like the "Hall of Meat" and a teleporting system expand the scope of the game, although I can see some people not liking either feature. Also new is the ability to "step off your board" which is pretty sketchy, to say the least. The idea is fabulous, but the developer needs to flesh out this idea a little more. Being able to move objects around and create your own spots is an awesome feature, and really adds a new dimension to gameplay and level design.
The sound for Skate 2 is well done. Voice acting is surprisingly smooth, given that most of the vocals are sponsored skaters and not professional actors. Some have expressed annoyance with the main voice actor who plays Reda, but I found him to be really funny in a goofy weird way. The sounds of the city match fluidly with the visuals, and the board sounds are well done. The soundtrack is decent, but some of the songs seem a little misplaced. The original Skate definitely wins in the "soundtrack" category.
Skate 2 begins with a bit of a storyline, but strays from a character driven plot after about an hour of gameplay. The majority of the game involves beating challenges, races, competitions and filming specific sequences. Your character can obtain clothing, gear, sponsorships, etc by beating all of these, but again, the story sort of loses it's importance. Once you've completed the main career portion of the game, you are free to continue skating around the city. And that's where Skate 2 really works: simply freeskating and finding places to enjoy.
The online experience is fantastic in Skate 2...and this is where the major progression from the original Skate takes place. A fantastic film editor allows people to post their own movies after cutting and editing them, plenty of challenges, races and games allow your character to win cash, and the overall experience of online play matches up very fluidly with the career mode. Very well done.
All in all, Skate 2 is worth the cash - especially if you enjoy realistic skating. The experience is well-delivered and the replay factor is high.
