Playing Skate makes my knees creak. That’s the weight of remembering Skate the first time around. That’s the weight of expectation heaped on a series that had arguably reached its apex with Skate 3 in 2010. That’s the weight of trepidation at a new, free-to-play business model, in something that’s about vibes, not business. Fortunately for my knees, the longer you spend with Skate, the more you find that it is – in Early Access at least – an ideal way to return to this beloved skateboarding franchise.
Skate is about vibes. It always has been, and that is immediately the most compelling thing about this new version. Out in the city of San Vansterdam, you can do whatever you like. Want to find the best line through an interesting set of benches and plinthes? Go for it. Want to climb to the top of a skyscraper and launch yourself off? You can do that too. Want to just pootle about, listen to music and make your character look cool? That’s also an easy, and welcome, option.
Skate has always acted as an antithesis to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. Time constraints, ridiculous combos, blast furnace locations, are plenty of fun, but they only capture a very slim – and utterly unrealistic – vision of skateboarding. Skate has always aimed to capture the lifestyle – focus on one trick, hanging our with friends, the sheer difficulty of pulling off that one trick – and that’s what you’re getting here.
A lot of that comes down to the control scheme. Skate set out to replicate skateboarding as closely as possible, and its authentic, classic controller scheme is here in full, putting the control of your board almost entirely onto the right analogue stick.
Newcomers may be glad to find that there’s also a refreshed control scheme here too. It’s still based around the right analogue, but it’s more straightforward, and removes a layer of difficulty that has always made Skate the boarding game one for true aficionados. It wouldn’t be in keeping with the scene to gatekeep this skaters’ paradise. That makes this the most welcoming version of Skate, without taking anything away from it. Want the pure, unadulterated experience? That’s still here too.
San Vansterdam is a playground, but it’s also a full, open-world city. There’s cars, stairs and all sorts of other things that aren’t very friendly to skateboarders, and it’s fair to say that your face and the sidewalk are going to become intimately acquainted. You have to learn what kind of surfaces work for you, and the designers have thankfully made sure that there’s more spots here than you can shake a skateboard at. If you’re into skateboarding, it’s almost painful to imagine a location this good for riding. At least you can experience it digitally.
While Skate is freeform, it also gives you lots and lots of things to do. Missions and challenges can be found throughout the city, with the aim being to raise your rep in each area through hitting lines and owning spots. It’s all about earning points, grabbing collectables and maximising the flow of your tricks through particular sections, and it feels great. There’s rewards for most things, and within a couple of hours you’ll have a bunch of clothes and different boards to deck your character out with.
That brings us to the free-to-play element of the game. There are two currencies at play in Skate, one premium one and one earned through gameplay. The premium one can be used in the shop to buy specific branded items, with a rotating selection that changes every day or two. The one you earn through play can be spent on lootboxes, with different areas of the city having different gear. You can see what’s in those loot boxes, but you’ll get a random item when you buy one.
The whole thing reminds me of Overwatch and Fortnite, in that it’s completely and utterly superfluous to the game itself, but chances are you’ll end up spending at least a little cash on a cool jumper or the wildest deck in the shop, or maybe splurge on the premium reward track of Season 1. The free stuff is generous enough though, at least in Early Access, and it makes Skate practically essential to check out.
Much was made after the game’s reveal about the more stylised visuals and… well, you don’t notice all that much, except for in those hard-earned replays when you’ve done something really cool. While the boards and clothing all look great, the beards suck, and they look like someone has literally stuck a plastic beard on the front of your face. Here’s hoping that it’s on somebody’s radar.
There are some really nice touches here though. You can grab music from any speaker out in the world – my favourite is grabbing it from a passing car – and add that playlist to your library, with a great variety of music types to go with it, and there’s a nice balance between established artists and underground acts.
The map also shows all the other players on your server and where they’re congregating so you can head straight over there and join in. You can stand and watch others attempting cool tricks or trying to clear a crazy jump, and it just feels like you’re a part of something, part of the community, even if you’re a solo player rather than in a party.
I’ve been waiting for Skate. Tony Hawk’s frantic take on the sport is cool, but it doesn’t feel as good as this. The freedom, the variety, and the community, are already in place, the only thing missing, is you.
