I've been meaning to write something about the Skate franchise ever since i first started playing Skate 1, and now that I've mostly completed Skate 3 i guess i can put into words how much i enjoyed the way this franchise managed to use with mastery two concepts that the industry are still struggling to apply properly in their games: realism and the open world.
Let's start with the realism; a big selling point to the franchise in its early days, as it presented itself as a true skate sim, in contrast to the already declining arcade skaters from THPS, it provided an innovative control scheme which brought more precision and challenge to doing tricks, in a committed attempt to translate the feel of skateboarding to video game. Yet, in retrospect, was Skate even really that realistic? When you look at spiritual successors such as Skater XL and Session, you see a level of accuracy and skill needed to perform even the most 'pedestrian' tricks that the EA franchise always tried to avoid; a common experience with players of those bone fide skate sims outside of their main communities is frustration and alienation, with such a steep learning curve and wealth of mechanics with no real progression system it moves away from the video game world a bit too much while leaning over into the skateboarding territory. Skate, however, balances the best of both worlds, there's an at least serviceable progression system in every game, an arcadey score system just like Tony Hawk's, a variety of challenges of different types, difficulty options, and a few characters and story that attempt to bring a little life to the game. After the dunk on realistic skate sims and praising of the more 'gamey' aspect of these games one might think there's no point in the quasi-realistic mechanics, yet the magic happens when the difficulty, the physicality, the punch brought on by the realism makes progressing, exploring and expressing yourself all the more satisfying, successfully blending a process akin to that of real skateboarding to a feedback loop that's inherently tied to games. In short, it's realistic enough to be challenging, yet accessible enough to be fun (for non-skaters specially).
Arguably, not many genres of games fit so well with the idea of the open world than the skateboarding sim. An already tired trope of modern gaming, open worlds have been remixed in many different forms since the release of Grand Theft Auto III, with an obvious appeal tied to how effectively it sells the idea of freedom to the player, with endless possibilities for different sessions and playthroughs. Yet, unfortunately, as many have already pointed out, not many games have been able to live up to the potential of the open world, but the few that did – which includes this one – understood one key thing about what makes a great sandbox world: much more important than how detailed the world is, is how interactive it is.
And skateboarding, in essence, is all about interacting with the environment in creative ways, with this game coming with the premise of using the open world format to bring the feeling of spontaneously 'shredding' spots and places around the neighborhood into game, which again, it delivered brilliantly. The first aspect that makes this such a great open world game is how well the semi-realistic mechanics and physics fit with the also steeped in realism map; this way the game ditches the more gamey level design like that of the THPS games, with more obvious cues about what is and what isn't "skateable" and combo lines bouncing off each other in a pretty linear fashion, in favor of a much more freeform and intuitive approach: if i see something ressembling a rail or a ledge, i'm pretty sure i can grind it; if i see a ramp or elevation of sorts i'll try to use for speed or transfers; if i see a bump or object there's a good chance i can trick over it – and so on; not to say there isn't telegraphed information in the levels, but the developers were way more subtle with it. The fact you're not always sure when and how you can hit a spot or a line and the experimentation that comes with it is what makes this such and interesting open world to explore, where there's really a wealth of possibilities for tricks at every corner, but you have to put in the work to create them, by honing your skills, being observant and creative.
The main reason i chose this game to represent the entire franchise is its map, New San Vanelona, an enhanced version of the map from Skate 1. An amalgam of three of the cities with the most popular skate scenes (San Francisco, Vancouver and Barcelona), it's for me not only superior to Skate 3's Port Carverton, but one of the best designed video game maps I've ever played on. The key thing about it is, with the expert work of drawing inspiration from actual places, interconnecting different areas in a seamless way and even introducing a little bit of lore regarding the city's locals, their skate culture and the happenings that changed it drastically, it starts to feel a lot more like a lived-in real place than a video game world, which makes it so much more fun than the sterile world of Skate 3 that felt much more like some THPS maps stapled together than an actual city. The downhill gameplay in Skate 2 is specially amazing, with nearly no equivalent in Skate 3 since the map is split into different "districts". My only critique about how Skate 2 presents its world is basically how i wish it went further with the characterization of the city and its inhabitants, there's attempts at that of course, but they felt a little too shy in my opinion.
Another aspect that edges out Skate 2's predecessor and sequel are its challenges and the way they're organized and presented. My favorite ones, whose absence was felt in Skate 3 are the team film challenges and hall of meat challenges, which instead of placing you in specific places for a specific trick/line, they leave you free to explore and pick your favorite spot to achieve that goal, rewarding exploration like only the best open world games do (even if i wish there were more of them like in Skate 1). The other, more specific challenges are also a lot of fun, and i specially love how in this game they are grouped together into types as you unlock one after the other and are rewarded by unlocking a new place at the city, forming those neat little "questlines" that feel very rewarding knowing at the end you can open even more possibilities in the open world, instead of endlessly filling a bar like in Skate 3 while gaining only pointless props and accessories. The worst challenges, though, are by far the ones you have to hit specific difficult tricks, most likely in a line with other tricks, those are often way more frustrating than fun since the controls are not precise enough to for you to hit specific tricks consistently. It should be mentioned as well the many quality of life features, such as the brilliant session marker system, instant retry available for most challenges, and an elegant fast travel system; all seem pretty obvious but since i recently played a similar game (Burnout Paradise) which felt endlessly frustrating for the lack of those features, it must be noted how much of a difference they make.
With all that said...it feels sacrilegious to put that thought into the world, as a longtime THPS fan, but i feel like Skate 2 is probably, to this day, the closest we have to a definitive skateboarding video game. Its brand of realistic controls coupled with a highly interactive and interesting open world and tons of varied arcadey challenges brings it close to the skateboarding ethos and culture while managing to craft a very fun and replayable experience even for people who never were on top of a skateboard. Like Tony Hawk's franchise, though, no game is really flawless, and all of them have their own quirks and differences that set them apart from one another: Skate 1's San Van has quite a few spots that i dearly missed from Skate 2's iteration, and i preferred its blue sky summery aesthetic to the sequel's orange filter; Skate 3 has a robust custom park editor, much more varied and polished mechanics and some cool spots in its Port Carverton. But the middle child of EA Black Box's franchise, to me, balances out all of its best elements while having some great stuff completely unique to it. It makes me wonder if it's even possible for the much awaited Skate 4 to live up to it, if such a simple, small, yet highly charming and interactive map like New San Van can be done nearly 2 decades later. It's harder than you think, it's a beautiful thing.
BONUS: Favorite tracks from the OST'S
Band of Horses - The Funeral (Skate 1) classic
Booker T. & the M.G.'s - Green Onions (Skate 1)
Cheap Trick - Surrender (Skate 1)
Gang Starr - Now You're Mine (Skate 1)
N.W.A. - Express Yourself (Skate 1)
The Returntables - Teenage Imposters (Skate 1)
The White Stripes - Girl, You Have No Faith In Medicine (Skate 1)
Oh No - Heavy (Skate 2)
Anubis - Anubis (Skate 2)
War - Low Rider (Skate 2)
McRad - Weakness (Skate 2)
Koushik & Percee P - Cold Beats (Skate 2)
Fujiya & Miyagi - Collarbone (Skate 2)
ELO - Showdown (Skate 2)
The Specials - Ghost Town (Skate 2) best song on the franchise
Money Your Love - For Kristoffer (Skate 2) so catchy
The Clash - Death Or Glory (Skate 2) just another storyyyy
Public Enemy - Harder Than You Think (Skate 2) underrated classic
The Riptides - Return to Blood Beach (Skate 2)
The Gaslight Anthem - I'da Called You Woody, Joe (Skate 2)
Sly & The Family Stone - Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (Skate 2)
Canned Heat - Going Up The Country (Skate 3) that fluteeeeee
Dinosaur Jr. - Almost Ready (Skate 3)
Dr. John - Right Place Wrong Time (Skate 3)
Dream Evil - Immortal (Skate 3) hated at first but its so cheesy i always have fun with it lmao
Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers - Born to Lose (Skate 3)
Joy Division - Disorder (Skate 3) nearly jumped from my chair when i first heard it in game
Neil Diamond - Cracklin' Rosie (Skate 3) like many others a weird pick for a skate game but somehow works
Ol' Dirty Bastard - Shimmy Shimmy Ya (Skate 3)
Pixies - Debaser (Skate 3) quintessential riff
The Thermals - A Pillar of Salt (Skate 3)
Them Crooked Vultures - Dead End Friends (Skate 3) recognized josh homme right away, was so confused this wasn't QOTSA
Let's start with the realism; a big selling point to the franchise in its early days, as it presented itself as a true skate sim, in contrast to the already declining arcade skaters from THPS, it provided an innovative control scheme which brought more precision and challenge to doing tricks, in a committed attempt to translate the feel of skateboarding to video game. Yet, in retrospect, was Skate even really that realistic? When you look at spiritual successors such as Skater XL and Session, you see a level of accuracy and skill needed to perform even the most 'pedestrian' tricks that the EA franchise always tried to avoid; a common experience with players of those bone fide skate sims outside of their main communities is frustration and alienation, with such a steep learning curve and wealth of mechanics with no real progression system it moves away from the video game world a bit too much while leaning over into the skateboarding territory. Skate, however, balances the best of both worlds, there's an at least serviceable progression system in every game, an arcadey score system just like Tony Hawk's, a variety of challenges of different types, difficulty options, and a few characters and story that attempt to bring a little life to the game. After the dunk on realistic skate sims and praising of the more 'gamey' aspect of these games one might think there's no point in the quasi-realistic mechanics, yet the magic happens when the difficulty, the physicality, the punch brought on by the realism makes progressing, exploring and expressing yourself all the more satisfying, successfully blending a process akin to that of real skateboarding to a feedback loop that's inherently tied to games. In short, it's realistic enough to be challenging, yet accessible enough to be fun (for non-skaters specially).
Arguably, not many genres of games fit so well with the idea of the open world than the skateboarding sim. An already tired trope of modern gaming, open worlds have been remixed in many different forms since the release of Grand Theft Auto III, with an obvious appeal tied to how effectively it sells the idea of freedom to the player, with endless possibilities for different sessions and playthroughs. Yet, unfortunately, as many have already pointed out, not many games have been able to live up to the potential of the open world, but the few that did – which includes this one – understood one key thing about what makes a great sandbox world: much more important than how detailed the world is, is how interactive it is.
And skateboarding, in essence, is all about interacting with the environment in creative ways, with this game coming with the premise of using the open world format to bring the feeling of spontaneously 'shredding' spots and places around the neighborhood into game, which again, it delivered brilliantly. The first aspect that makes this such a great open world game is how well the semi-realistic mechanics and physics fit with the also steeped in realism map; this way the game ditches the more gamey level design like that of the THPS games, with more obvious cues about what is and what isn't "skateable" and combo lines bouncing off each other in a pretty linear fashion, in favor of a much more freeform and intuitive approach: if i see something ressembling a rail or a ledge, i'm pretty sure i can grind it; if i see a ramp or elevation of sorts i'll try to use for speed or transfers; if i see a bump or object there's a good chance i can trick over it – and so on; not to say there isn't telegraphed information in the levels, but the developers were way more subtle with it. The fact you're not always sure when and how you can hit a spot or a line and the experimentation that comes with it is what makes this such and interesting open world to explore, where there's really a wealth of possibilities for tricks at every corner, but you have to put in the work to create them, by honing your skills, being observant and creative.
The main reason i chose this game to represent the entire franchise is its map, New San Vanelona, an enhanced version of the map from Skate 1. An amalgam of three of the cities with the most popular skate scenes (San Francisco, Vancouver and Barcelona), it's for me not only superior to Skate 3's Port Carverton, but one of the best designed video game maps I've ever played on. The key thing about it is, with the expert work of drawing inspiration from actual places, interconnecting different areas in a seamless way and even introducing a little bit of lore regarding the city's locals, their skate culture and the happenings that changed it drastically, it starts to feel a lot more like a lived-in real place than a video game world, which makes it so much more fun than the sterile world of Skate 3 that felt much more like some THPS maps stapled together than an actual city. The downhill gameplay in Skate 2 is specially amazing, with nearly no equivalent in Skate 3 since the map is split into different "districts". My only critique about how Skate 2 presents its world is basically how i wish it went further with the characterization of the city and its inhabitants, there's attempts at that of course, but they felt a little too shy in my opinion.
Another aspect that edges out Skate 2's predecessor and sequel are its challenges and the way they're organized and presented. My favorite ones, whose absence was felt in Skate 3 are the team film challenges and hall of meat challenges, which instead of placing you in specific places for a specific trick/line, they leave you free to explore and pick your favorite spot to achieve that goal, rewarding exploration like only the best open world games do (even if i wish there were more of them like in Skate 1). The other, more specific challenges are also a lot of fun, and i specially love how in this game they are grouped together into types as you unlock one after the other and are rewarded by unlocking a new place at the city, forming those neat little "questlines" that feel very rewarding knowing at the end you can open even more possibilities in the open world, instead of endlessly filling a bar like in Skate 3 while gaining only pointless props and accessories. The worst challenges, though, are by far the ones you have to hit specific difficult tricks, most likely in a line with other tricks, those are often way more frustrating than fun since the controls are not precise enough to for you to hit specific tricks consistently. It should be mentioned as well the many quality of life features, such as the brilliant session marker system, instant retry available for most challenges, and an elegant fast travel system; all seem pretty obvious but since i recently played a similar game (Burnout Paradise) which felt endlessly frustrating for the lack of those features, it must be noted how much of a difference they make.
With all that said...it feels sacrilegious to put that thought into the world, as a longtime THPS fan, but i feel like Skate 2 is probably, to this day, the closest we have to a definitive skateboarding video game. Its brand of realistic controls coupled with a highly interactive and interesting open world and tons of varied arcadey challenges brings it close to the skateboarding ethos and culture while managing to craft a very fun and replayable experience even for people who never were on top of a skateboard. Like Tony Hawk's franchise, though, no game is really flawless, and all of them have their own quirks and differences that set them apart from one another: Skate 1's San Van has quite a few spots that i dearly missed from Skate 2's iteration, and i preferred its blue sky summery aesthetic to the sequel's orange filter; Skate 3 has a robust custom park editor, much more varied and polished mechanics and some cool spots in its Port Carverton. But the middle child of EA Black Box's franchise, to me, balances out all of its best elements while having some great stuff completely unique to it. It makes me wonder if it's even possible for the much awaited Skate 4 to live up to it, if such a simple, small, yet highly charming and interactive map like New San Van can be done nearly 2 decades later. It's harder than you think, it's a beautiful thing.
BONUS: Favorite tracks from the OST'S
Band of Horses - The Funeral (Skate 1) classic
Booker T. & the M.G.'s - Green Onions (Skate 1)
Cheap Trick - Surrender (Skate 1)
Gang Starr - Now You're Mine (Skate 1)
N.W.A. - Express Yourself (Skate 1)
The Returntables - Teenage Imposters (Skate 1)
The White Stripes - Girl, You Have No Faith In Medicine (Skate 1)
Oh No - Heavy (Skate 2)
Anubis - Anubis (Skate 2)
War - Low Rider (Skate 2)
McRad - Weakness (Skate 2)
Koushik & Percee P - Cold Beats (Skate 2)
Fujiya & Miyagi - Collarbone (Skate 2)
ELO - Showdown (Skate 2)
The Specials - Ghost Town (Skate 2) best song on the franchise
Money Your Love - For Kristoffer (Skate 2) so catchy
The Clash - Death Or Glory (Skate 2) just another storyyyy
Public Enemy - Harder Than You Think (Skate 2) underrated classic
The Riptides - Return to Blood Beach (Skate 2)
The Gaslight Anthem - I'da Called You Woody, Joe (Skate 2)
Sly & The Family Stone - Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (Skate 2)
Canned Heat - Going Up The Country (Skate 3) that fluteeeeee
Dinosaur Jr. - Almost Ready (Skate 3)
Dr. John - Right Place Wrong Time (Skate 3)
Dream Evil - Immortal (Skate 3) hated at first but its so cheesy i always have fun with it lmao
Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers - Born to Lose (Skate 3)
Joy Division - Disorder (Skate 3) nearly jumped from my chair when i first heard it in game
Neil Diamond - Cracklin' Rosie (Skate 3) like many others a weird pick for a skate game but somehow works
Ol' Dirty Bastard - Shimmy Shimmy Ya (Skate 3)
Pixies - Debaser (Skate 3) quintessential riff
The Thermals - A Pillar of Salt (Skate 3)
Them Crooked Vultures - Dead End Friends (Skate 3) recognized josh homme right away, was so confused this wasn't QOTSA