The one thing Skate has going for it is that it's a gorgeous game. Electronic Arts has gone out of their way to make this the best looking skateboarding game ever made. From the way the sun finds its path through the tree branches in the suburbs to the gloomy look and feel of Old Town, everything in Skate looks fantastic. Even more impressive is the animation, which at times looks eerily realistic. When you miss a trick you don't just fall down, you can see your legs scrambling to find the board and brace your fall. Players can even help gauge how successful their trick is going to be based on paying close attention to where the character's feet are on the board. This is definitely one of the best looking sports games I have ever seen; I can't wait to see how Electronic Arts plans on topping the look of this game.
It's also worth mentioning that the game's look is aided by an unusual camera angle. Instead of making the skater the focus, Electronic Arts decided to make the central character the skateboard. To do this they actually moved the camera down a bit so that you're always looking at the skateboard. At first this is a bit jarring, but it won't take long before you start to see the benefit of having the camera so close to the board. Because of where the camera is placed your character often looks like he's ten feet tall, throughout most of the game your skater will take up the entire screen (from top to bottom). Generally that's not a problem, but I would be lying if I didn't mention that he can get in the way of lining up some grinds and jumps. Minor gripes aside, I really enjoyed how different Skate looked.
I had a real hard time scoring Skate. While it's easy for me to pick the game apart and tell you all the things I didn't like about it, the truth is that I really enjoyed this brand new take on the skateboarding genre. Most of my critiques are based more on what the competition is doing and less on what EA attempted to bring to the genre. Electronic Arts is off to a good start with Skate and I definitely hope they continue with it and make it an even better game next time around. If you've been looking for an alternative to the Tony Hawk games then this is it, just don't go in expecting this to be the same kind of over-the-top arcade sports game that the Activision series is known for. And in a lot of ways that's a good thing.
More On:
Skate Companies:
EA B-
It may be the same sport as the Tony Hawk series, but don't confuse Skate as being just another over-the-top arcade sports game. Skate is a sports simulator, which means that you'll have to put up with realistic level designs and a learning curve that could potentially turn a lot of gamers off. If you can fight through some initial frustration you will find a worthwhile game that will hopefully spawn a number of sequels that improve on the game's shortcomings.
Page 3 of 3
