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Tony Hawk’s Style and Gameplay Challenged by Skate
By Lance Yerelian | September 9, 2007
I am not a closet Tony Hawk fan as I have played and beaten every Tony Hawk since the first one, in fact THPS was the game that caused me to buy the original Sony Playstation. The addictive and arcadey gameplay initially hooked me and trying to get every combo, I thought possible kept me coming back. Despite the multitude of THPS games released (They have had a yearly release since their launch in 1999), the core gameplay has been strengthened by additions such as the manual, revert, and new focus moves.
I was very skeptical when I initially downloaded the Skate demo off the XBLM because EA has been throwing around the word “Tony Hawk Killer” and there has also been mixed reviews from the gaming population. From what I had been reading on other blog/mainstream video game sites, the controls and camera are way different, and the gameplay relied on much more realistic maneuvers rather than the 100 trick combos I’ve been busting out in Tony Hawk.
The first thing I noticed when I fired up the demo were the amazing colors, they are saturated and beautiful. Next, I fell right on my face as I ran into a curb because the A button no longer controlled jumping. As with most of EA’s new sports games they have tried to eliminate buttons as much as possible and gone with a dual stick control mode. Ollies, flip tricks, manuals, and tweaking grabs are all done with the right stick, while the left stick controls your body. While the quick tutorial gave me a good idea how to use these new controls the bigger obstacle for me was the new camera. Being used to the camera sitting above and behind me and pretty much being locked on, the camera in Skate explores a much more stylish and fluid system. The camera sits below the player, but still behind, and catches a view that resembles the the type of views found in actual skate videos. This new view initially caused me to crash into rails, and mis-time my jumps, causing me to crash into curbs. Let’s just say the first time through demo was rough. I played through the 30 minute time limit and left confused but intrigued.
After playing the demo a few more times, my video game instincts kicked in and the controls began to feel more natural. The camera didn’t seem so bad as I got to know the layout of the skate park. The dual stick controls make me feel as if I was immediately responsible for the moves I was pulling off rather just pressing button combinations. To do a nose slide I would actually have to time the ollie correctly, approach the ledge/rail at the right angle and make sure my distance was correct. While trying to pull off the new moves, the camera recognizes what you are going to bust a trick on and swings around to give you a better view. Watching my character with this new view made it feel like a real skate film and looked really stylish.
If you are looking for the high combo fast twitchy gameplay from Tony Hawk you should wait for the next THPS release. But if you are a fan of skateboarding and want to try something fresh, don’t cheat yourself by not trying this game. Also, the game also has an in depth video editor which should be great for those who want to truly customize and glorify their awesome Skate lines .
Topics: XBox 360 Games, XBox 360 General | 1 Comment »
September 13th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
This is a fantastic article. Skate sounds like it will be very fun and revolutionary for the skate game genre.
I need to download the demo and check it out.