Skate 2 Review
February 4, 2009 by Jereme Puik
Skate 2, developed by EA’s Black Box Studios is obviously a sequel to its former title of the same name. You could say that the game has been competeing with the Tony Hawk franchise which was owned by Activision and now unfortunately squirming in its own grave. In many ways the original gave its own unique sense of the skateboarding world apart from Tony Hawk. Now with Skate 2, it’s possible that Black Box could have no doubt improved upon its former entry and given Skate 2 a more refined skating experience.
Gameplay
Fresh out of the jail box, Skate 2 reels in a new skating experience and with the unfortunate demise of the Tony Hawk franchise, it’s up to Black Box Studios to step and take the reigns. Skateboarding as those who may know or may not know is probably one of the most difficult sports around; even the easiest tricks require practice. If you fail, you take a trip to the pavement. With the original Skate it was more of a pain to get a simple routine going and Skate 2 tries to rectify that.
Skate 2’s career mode is where you’ll be spending most of your time, like all sports games it’s where you’ll unlock most of the games content. You are first dropped into the character creator where you’ll obviously create your skater. Later on, after earning some cash, you can customize him/her even further with logos, and custom graphics. Afterwards, you’ll be thrown into the story mode where you have just gotten out of the jail house and attempt to reclaim your reputation as one of the top skaters. It’ll take some kind of feat though as you have to work some magic around the gameplay mechanics. To accomplish this, you’ll have to travel around the city of San Vanelona meeting professional skaters and completing the objectives they hand you.
Most of the objectives have you completing tasks like high score challenges, downhill races and getting shot tricks for Thrasher and Skateboarder magazines. Don’t forget you’ll be avoiding those cops as you try to earn sponsorships from real companies to earn some extra money and points. Rounding out the gameplay modes would be Free Skate which allows you to take up a certain map and skate however you like. This gives you the chance to practice your skills while running away from the cops. Its online counterpart is pretty much the same but offers 3 competitive challenges if you’re gathered with friends. Other modes include the standard multiplayer options with competitive challenges in between. There is also a video editor which lets you organize your best clips and upload them online for others to see. You an even create your own spot which helps to expand the replayability.
As I mentioned earlier, it’s a feat in itself to nail down the tricks you want to hit especially at the right times. It becomes even more frustrating when you’re trying to quickly pull off anything during your objectives. The control scheme takes up different turns at every angle. Flicking the right analog stick it in a certain direction allows you to perform s0ke of the easier tricks such as an ollie or pivot, which is basically what you’ll need to start off any advanced tricks. As the saying goes “Practice Makes Perfect” and that is about as relevant to this game as you’re going to believe it. You will fail and the engine allows for even epic failures during tricks. You certainly won’t nail that trick on the first try and the face plant to the pavement that comes after is about as realistic and common as it gets. With the bail outs, developers have decided to implement it into the gameplay and trigger something called the “Hall of Meat”. The Hall of Meat is the developers way of trying to get you to bail from a trick in as spectacular a way as possible. There are small goals centered behind the idea but it’s mostly just a random addition that doesn’t mean much in the long run.
A big addition to the gameplay is the ability to get off your board, now this might not seem revolutionary for some of you, but for the Skate series it is. It’s a trek mostly because your character controls like a tank. The biggest issue is that movement is difficult because of the limitations it takes on itself. The restricted camera views don’t help either as you travel around to find better spots to skate around and gain higher ground. With this you will find yourself moving around set pieces to create your own spots to skate. Mission objectives are tied into this, so don’t think you have a free ride when it comes to swimming through the career mode.
Graphics
Skate has always been one of those games with a pretty decent presentation as far as the skating world is concerned. Character models aren't the best but are still fairly slick. You can customize your character to your hearts desire and add a different twist with custom graphics you can earn in the game.
The world of San Vanelona is an entertaining piece in itself. It’s fairly well designed and has plenty of spots to skate. This gives the feeling that you are able to create your own park, if you will. Other then that though, the overall presentation is decent and passable considering its skating presence.
Sound
In the audio department, the voice acting treks to the side of skater talk. It gets quite unnerving after a while, but is something to just deal with. All you want to do is skate anyway, so it’s not a big deal in the long run. The game’s music selection is forgettable, which is unfortunate considering a few of EA’s games had a decent selection to begin with. The Xbox 360 version, however, allows you to play your own music in-game. In the game the audio works with the environment around it. You’ll hear every grind against the rail, rolls on the street and face plants on the pavement.
Plasma Factor
For Skate 2 there are certainly a lot of things the game does right. It keeps its consistency at a good rate and manages to be one of those time killers. There are a lot more tricks this time around and more options to get things done according to plan. With the Hall of Meat being a plus to the gameplay additions, there’s at least something to fall back on if you find yourself hitting the pavement a little too often than normal. The online portion of Skate 2 offers a better chance at replayability and is seamless when looking at the overall picture. Don’t be overwhelmed; however, when you first step into the city of San Vanelona, it’ll make things harder instead of easier.
Conclusion
Skate 2 offers a bit more flexibility then its previous brother did and gives you enough options to keep you around for a while. However, its stringent camera and tank like character movement might throw some of you off a little. Skate 2 feels more like a work in progress than a true sequel. With few, if any, updates to the gameplay engine it feels as if Skate 2 was just meant to be thrown out into the wild instead of taking advantage of new opportunities in development. Don’t be discouraged skating fans, it’s still a decently built game that offers a playable skating experience, just don’t expect a true sequel.
