Skate

Metachronos overall score = 8.4 / 10

Positive
# Trick and control system is unique and a lot of fun
# Good graphics and animation help make the game feel a bit more realistic
# Decent voice acting and choice sound effects
# Community features make sharing your exploits easy and fun

Negative
# Some challenges make demands that are a little too specific for the analog trick system
# Online events often clump too many skaters into too small a space
# Load times and menu animations often get in the way of your skating

Plenty of skateboarding games have come and gone in the years since the long-running Tony Hawk franchise reinvented the skateboarding game. Most failed because they simply attempted to duplicate the arcadelike fast-moving gameplay of Activision's series. After running unopposed for years, Activision's got some new competition in the form of Skate from Electronic Arts. At times, this simulation-styled skating game feels like it was built from the ground up to be the anti-Tony Hawk, and aside from both games taking place on skateboards, the two don't have a whole lot in common. This is largely thanks to Skate's very cool control system, which puts all of the meaningful controls on the controller's two analog sticks and triggers. It's an awesome system that makes tricks feel more involved and entertaining. Unfortunately, you'll be applying this control scheme to a series of challenges and goals that aren't quite as good.

The soundtrack is a really weird mix of music that doesn't actually play through most of the game. On the default settings, music is ambient. This means that whenever you get close to a skate-friendly spot, where skaters might gather and actually have a radio, you'll start to faintly hear music coming from the direction of the spot. If you like, you can set it to directly play the music, but most of the soundtrack is a little sketchy, and the way the game opens with Booker T & The MG's "Green Onions" every single time you load up the game makes you feel like you're turning on some awful Jim Belushi movie rather than getting ready to play a realistic skateboarding game.



Aside from the weird soundtrack, the in-game audio is really great. There are lots of great skateboarding noises, especially the way the wheels skid when you do powerslides or land hard and turn. The game also has something like color commentary, which comes from the invisible kid that's "holding" the in-game camera. He'll call out to other pros as you pass by, congratulate you on good trick lines, comment when you stack and break some bones, or impatiently whine when you set the controller down then walk away. His presence is pretty good and gives the game some personality.

While Skate has a handful of issues that hold it back, it has an absolute ton of potential. It's a great first start for what hopefully will become a regular franchise. With some more refinement and a few more things to do, this could probably be the best skateboarding game around. It's definitely worth playing, if only to get your hands on the trick system, but if you're stingy with your money, you could probably get enough out of it with a rental.

I bet tony hawks series are way better

wrong the lastest release of tony hawk which is tony hawk proving grounds is much worse than this. the creators of this game is EA so it's a good game

e nothing beats tony hawk underground 2(same as need for speed)

i once played tony hawk on the ps1, but never played tony hawk on the ps2. most recent tony hawk games suck

proving grounds and american wastland do suck(american wasteland is good but the story is way too short you can beat it in a day)

but underground 2 is awsome!