Skate 2

Straight up I'm going to say it - Skate 2 does not have the same impact as skate.. It does not take a tired genre and revitalise it. In fact, in a small way it works towards a future where this series is the tired future, where EA Black Box follow the same path as THPS (the series they dethroned) by releasing minor adjustments as sequels until... I dunno, Ubisoft, comes along and delivers a skateboarding game that makes your jaw drop.

Here's the thing though... Who. Friggin'. Cares.

Skate 2 is an amazing skateboarding game. It's better than skate., the best skateboarding game out there. Which makes it, uh, the best skateboarding game out there. And at this stage the game isn't a tired rehash of ideas - it's a legitimate, full-fledged sequel with dozens of new features and new ideas. It's still a tad disappointing, but it's certainly not a bad game and it's certainly not worse than skate. - or any other skateboarding game out there.

The concept, as stated, is very similar to skate.. You still skate around a city on your skateboard, doing tricks and challenging pros. The FlickIT system still needs a brand new control pad when trying to pull off some of the more complicated flip tricks. And you'll still find yourself cackling maniacally when you stack it at speed.

The difference lies in all the little changes they've made which add up to one big, worthwhile sequel. The most obvious change is New San Vanelona - an earthquake destroyed the old city, requiring an almost complete rebuild. Fans of the previous game will still recognise some landmarks, but a lot of areas are completely different. The rebuild also introduces the other major difference in the game - MongoCorp.

These guys rebuilt most of New San Vanelona, and as such they feel justified in putting security all over their favourite new creations - be it security guards or simply capped rails (bits of metal which screw up grinding). From a personal perspective this seems reasonable - they spent millions of dollars fixing up the city so if they don't want you skating through the New San Vanelona Museum of Contemporary Art frontsliding a priceless sculpture maybe you should show a tiny bit of respect - but in the game this is an affront to your raging against the machine. So you fliptrick through shopping centres, grind over fountains and smash pedestrians going about their business, and if security or capped rails get in the way you can call people in to deal with them - at a cost.

Calling in help is one of the more unnecessary features of the game - you could probably argue that capped rails simply shouldn't exist and the security is easy enough to avoid, just as it was in the first game. This makes only the capped rails a real beef - spending money so you can actually grind a rail in a skating game is just plain silly. That'd be like paying to have spike strips removed in a racing game.



The other fixes and changes to the game include one doozy - you can walk around. You can hop off your skateboard and - gasp - walk up stairs. If you missed skate. this was the biggest request from players everywhere, and the decision to throw it in was a no-brainer. Once off your skateboard things can be a little... clunky... but I'd rather tank turn (there's no strafing, only forward movement) and run up stairs than simply stack it at stairs every time.

On the subject of awkward controls, Skate 2 still hasn't really mastered controls in some instances. "Pumping" is very, very particular, and more often than not it will result in the player sailing out of the bowl instead of amping up the speed. This makes some challenges extremely frustrating and I found myself quitting these challenges without trying too hard to avoid throwing my control pad at my expensive TV. The design of the various skate parks is a little hit and miss as a result - without a decent drop-in it can be difficult to get the required speed up to do good tricks. Still, most of New San Vanelona is actually street skating, so this is rarely an issue, and when you do pull off huge air it's very satisfying.

Probably the best part of Skate 2 is Hall of Meat. After seeing my mates crash out more often than land tricks in the first game we quickly devised our own game based on number of bones broken when crashing out - Hall of Meat scores you on collision speed, drop height and crash time as well. The ragdoll physics have been tweaked slightly as well - your character will kick his legs as he falls and reach out with his arms to protect himself - as you can see in the video I created. Skate Reel is Metered Content.

Skate Reel is back from the first game, and it still barely works. It's clearly more functional than last time, but thanks to EA's insistence on using "EA Nation" for all its games it's over complicated. Further than this EA decided to remove all the special effects - camera filters and the like - and place them in a DLC package you have to buy. Old habits die hard for EA I guess. The rest of the online experience is solid - instant match-ups, online Hall of Meat and an OK ranking system make it a worthwhile diversion - and online Freeskate is still good for just busting tricks in a relaxed environment.

The only other gripe I have is with the character customisation. You can make your own graphics for your clothes and skateboards, which is absolutely killer. Your character, however, is still very static. You can move all kinds of sliders regarding cheek size, chin size, weight, eye height etc. but most characters never wind up looking like you. It's not a huge issue, just a little bit weird when you look at the EA Sports range of games - where you can recreate almost anyone you want.

This review quite clearly addresses people who have played skate.. This is because if you haven't - and you like skateboarding games - Skate 2 is a must buy for you. Once you get passed the admittedly challenging learning curve Skate 2 will blow you away. skate. fans might end up being a tiny disappointed by Skate 2 at first - this certainly isn't the innovative masterpiece the first game was - but taking the time to learn what Skate 2 has to offer will definitely pay off in the long run. The small issues - the clunky walking controls, illogical gameplay choices and the slightly sloppy vert skating controls - aren't enough to make Skate 2 any less than an awesome game, but they do make me worry about the future of the series. Skate 2 isn't a perfectly refined skating experience but you still want to get it - it is genuine fun.