Skate

"Tony Hawk Finally Has a Contender!"

I would like to preface this review by stating that I have been playing the Tony Hawk games since number two came out on the original PS. As a crappy skater in real life, it was nice to have a good THPS game sitting on my desk so I could hook it up and feel better abut myself. Anyways, on to "skate". This is EA Black Box's answer to Neversoft's juggernaut of a franchise. Does it work? Yes it does. Is it perfect? No way.

S T O R Y :
You begin as some local skater waking up from some hardcore reconstructive surgery. After you decide on your appearance, you're given a quick tutorial at the local community center. From there, you goal is to get maximum coverage in both Thrasher and The Skateboard Mag, completing tasks for both whenever you want in the huge California-esque skate mecca of San Vanelona.

G A M E P L A Y :
This is where Tony Hawk and skate go their own separate ways. In Tony Hawk, success depended on your ability to sting together 100-trick combos, using the face buttons to tell your little avatar what to do. skate is all about nuance. No longer do you have a button for flip tricks, a button for grinds, and a button for grabs. Now, for a simple ollie, you must pull back on the right stick and then flick it forward, rather than simply holding and letting go of X for the Tony Hawks. Flip tricks feature variations on the ollie, from flicking it forward, yet slightly off-center, to holding it back and to the left or right, then flicking it forward and in the opposite direction. Grinds are accomplished by ollieing towards a grindable surface and adjusting your board to match your desired grind. Grabs are performed by holding down the left and/or right triggers (which represent your left and right hands) and moving the right analog stick. It seems overwhelmingly complex at first, but the more time you give it, the more accustomed you will become. It must also be mentioned that skate is hard. And I don't mean hard, I mean HARD. Be prepared to spend half an hour trying to nail a nollie 360 flip to grind. You know what, though? It's fun-hard. Never once did I desire to redecorate my wall with a broken Sixaxis. And the feeling of accomplishment you get when you beat that stupid goal is difficult to put into words. You'll actually gain an appreciation for the difficulty of the sport, unlike the idiots who think that just because they can land a 1080 Darkside Japan on a game, Tony Hawk can do it in real life.

G R A P H I C S :
Very good overall, featuring realistic textures and physics, though I did encounter the occasional "invisible cannon" physics glitch. The Hall of Meat is a pretty well-executed feature, making nice use of the physics system. Nice character models and motion blur effects as well.

S O U N D :
Pretty great soundtrack, especially the custom playlist feature. For some strange reason, the music is set to "ambient" by default, which I recommend turning off if you have picky musical tastes. Covers punk, classic rock, and hip-hop.

T H E B R E A K D O W N:
STORY: 7/10
GAMEPLAY: 9/10
GRAPHICS: 8/10
SOUND: 7/10
OVERALL: 7.75/10
TILT: +0.25

SCORE:8/10

PROS: Revolutionary controls, great environment, good graphics & sound
CONS: Similar trick inputs, the need to go AROUND stairs, limited create-a-skater

If you are kind of sick of the stagnating Tony Hawk franchise, or just want to try something new, give skate a try. It's a game for those who truly believe that patience is a virtue.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/28/07

Game Release: Skate (US, 09/24/07)