We had a reader review for skate for the Xbox 360 sent in by Schwing007. Good review, so read on my friends…

Having played skate. since its debut nearly every day exclusively (Bungie did release a game of some importance recently), a fact keeps occurring to me every time I put down my wireless controller: I still have things to learn, I can’t frickin’ wait.

Having played every Tony Hawk game since its inception so many moons ago( along with countless clones), skateboarding games had finally settled into their own dusty corner of the shelf of innovation, being blown upon occasionally with tweaked control schemes and online options. You knew what to expect is what I’m saying.

So along comes this EA skateboarding game which didn’t seem like….anything, really. Looking at the screens and videos, I was expecting just another TH clone with an inconsequential twist. Until I had the chance to play the demo.

And that as they say. Is that.

What it all comes down to unsurprisingly is the controls, the left stick is your body, the right is your board. Triggers are your arms (for grabs) and the buttons are your feet. Fluid, natural and innovative joystick movements make simple move feel significant. In TH, a 720 is really no big deal, in skate., you feel like you’ve actually done something, which feels pretty good. It takes about forty-five min to get used to, and from there, the game begins.

Graphically, the game is above average. Characters look pretty true to life (some eerily so, some not so much *AHEM* Jerry Hsu), up close things can get a tad blocky, but nothing to detract from the experience. Animations give a nice lifelike feel to everything. The areas are great looking with lots of nice little niches to explore with a wide variety of terrain. However, after some time playing the game the world begins to feel smaller and smaller.
Still, theres plenty to do. Create a character is a nice touch (if not expected nowadays) but somewhat barren. Good options and locked items give you a reason to get your sponsers (which you’ll need to do to move forward in the game). The game focuses a little much on brand names almost, but not quite enough, to be sickening. Eeh, whatever.

The music selection is filled with tracks you may not have head in a while, if ever (Sister Nancy- SWEET). And being able to select your own play list is a great thing. You can lose yourself in the movie editing sections and sharing your best/ worst moments with friend and strangers alike can eat up obscene amounts of time. The ranking system is great for what it is, and gives some more reason to streak headfirst into oncoming traffic (hilarity ensues). Go get ‘em I say. Heh.

And lastly the one thing that makes the biggest difference, the one thing some people take for granted, is the overall feel of the game. The rush to race up the ladder and to become pro isn’t on the forefront, You can waste countless hours just chillin and scoping out the city and lazily grinding a few curbs here and there and not feel your time has been wasted, your pace is your own and the game designers understood that. Thanks guys. So go ahead, invite some friends over and try your hands at the party play, hang out with a headset online, relax and putz around. Or challenge opponents for a ranked/ unranked match to see who comes out on top- which is, of course, a blast.

So even if your someone who has an aversion to skateboarding game, or think the apex was 720 for the NES (oh yeah, I know your out there), try this game out and don’t be surprised if you run down to your nearest retailer and grab a copy. Just remember I told you so.

Overall: 4.25 out of 5