The Skate legacy

by ERIK LEIJON

With the fall of ’90s fashion trends, a temporary fascination with the XGames and the theatrical releases of Airborne and Lords of Dogtown, it appeared as though the world’s infatuation with skateboarding culture had reached a point of exhaustion. Then the unexpected awesomeness of EA’s Skate proved the scene still had some room for growth beyond mall punks and ridiculous fingerboard toys. Sixteen months removed from the release of Skate, Skate 2 (X360, PS3/EA, Black Box) has been deployed with new features and a few minor alterations.

Sadly, Vancouver studio Black Box was one of the early victims of the recession economy, and this will be their last title before closing shop. The good news is both Skate games will ensure a lasting legacy as a developer that took an over-saturated subject and gave it a fresh pair of wheels.

Skate prides itself on closely emulating actual skateboarding, so don’t expect to get 20 feet of air or to grind for infinite amounts of time. It’s also a unique aesthetic experience, as the third-person camera is positioned behind the skater at his feet. From this view, one can really appreciate the fluid and detailed character animation as your skater flips and shuffles on his board when avoiding targets or setting up even the simplest tricks.

For those reasons, Skate became a surprise critical darling, and although Skate 2 looks and plays exactly the same way, there are some minor differences that feel largely inconsequential to the overall enjoyment factor. One of the biggest problems with Skate was the restrictive nature of permanently being attached to one’s board, so now the skater can walk up stairs with board in hand or move heavy objects.

Controlling the skater on foot plays as a terrible amalgam of the game’s skating physics with bad third-person character movement—thankfully walking only occurs over short bursts of time. There are also new tricks such as handplants, but the difference between a kickflip and a shuvit will only appeal to true skateborading enthusiasts. All the tricks are executed with the right analog stick, and since the movements are so similar, most tricks are accomplished randomly and look quite similar.

Where Skate 2 really faceplants is its inability to correct the most glaring issues of the first game. Perhaps in the name of realism, when a skater hits a curb or any slight dangers along the ground, they either stop dead or get sent flying. Although visually pleasing, the low camera perspective makes it difficult to quickly identify impeding hazards, but there’s really no reason why the skater should completely halt if he nudges the sidewalk.

The skater also has a nasty habit of turning in the opposite direction if he comes into contact with another person, which can be disorienting and hard to manually correct. Whoever takes the Skate mantle should consider cutting down on the cinematics and menu screens that come before every mission. Short goals like making gaps or grinding rails should not have to be accepted before attempted—they should be automatically accessible. RIP Black Box: your deck snapped before its time.

More war

Although I’m still trying to figure out what all the hoopla is concerning Modern Warfare, I’ve been warming up to Call of Duty: World at War (X360, PS3/Activision, Treyarch). Returning to a more familiar WWII environment, World at War plays identical to Modern Warfare albeit with a much desired four-player co-op. I still find myself getting too flummoxed and losing sight of what’s going on as a wave of screaming Axis troops chase me without regard for the concept of foxhole battles—although the chaotic warzones are supposedly part of the charm.