Skate 2

"Skate 2 - Just another review"

Skate 2 is overall and amazing simulation of skating in the outside world. In my opinion it is the best skating game ever to be released. It can be honestly said this game has overtaken the Tony Hawk series by far.

Graphics are amazing. Those old boring Tony Hawk games can never compare to Skate 2. The landscaping and general areas on Skate 2 are so much more realistic than other skating games and it keeps the idea of skating and how to do the tricks rather than just click x, square and triangle to do some tricks.

The actual game play is amazing as well. It truly simulates the idea of skating in the real world and how to do those tricks. For example, to do an Ollie in real life, you must bring your back foot down and flick your top foot upward. You must do the same thing in Skate 2, just using the right analog stick. Tricks such as manuals and grinds are much easier to control than those Tony Hawk games where you have to actually keep your balance or use a cheat to have perfect grind and manuals.

The controls cannot get much simpler than this. The buttons A and X move actually move your skater and obviously, the right analog stick controls your tricks. The game also has a tab in the pause menu to show you how to do certain tricks. With several categories to choose from such as grab tricks, flip tricks etc, you can find the trick your looking for within seconds. It also previews the trick you are looking for, so if your not sure what the trick is called, you can just look for what it looks like!

Overall, this game is a great addition to the X Box 360 system and its games. I have never seen anything as amusing and realistic as Skate 2. There are very few things I dislike about the game. The creators of Skate 2 should be very proud of the work they have done.

Dislikes of the game:
The only things I really dislike about this game are the cops. In the real world, you wouldn't be hit or pushed by a cop if your skating around. But then again, the theme of this game is the cops are trying to take over all the skating areas. So it's not a big dislike because it's just part of the games idea and theme. Another thing I dislike is how the character walks. Now don't get me wrong, I love the idea of being able to get off your board and walk around unlike the first Skate game they created. I just think the character turns too slowly when walking and doesn't walk fast enough. If I'm not mistaken, when your walking and you hold the A button, it gives you a little boost. But even with that, the character walks extremely slow.

Other than that, it's an amazing game, as I have already stated many times.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/13/09

Game Release: Skate 2 (US, 01/21/09)