The late 2000s skateboarding video game series “Skate” is back with a new installment after 15 years. A complete reboot of the series, the game shines in its gameplay and feel but lacks in nearly every other aspect.
Developed by Full Circle, a new studio created by EA dedicated solely for “skate.”, the game is currently in early access — and it definitely feels that way.
The gameplay, arguably the most important part of a video game, is fantastic. It takes what “Skate 3” had and builds upon it. Tricks feel great to string together with the return of the series staple “Flick-it” system.
“skate.” allows for lots of creativity in modifying spots and creating your own through the quick drop feature, which allows players to add obstacles such as ramps, grind rails and couches to the world.
If you get bored of just skating around, you can complete activities scattered around the map. Activities range from park sessions, “own the spot” and bearing runs (where you accumulate most of your “rip score” district-by-district.) The rip score is how you level up, which unlocks new items, fast-travel points and lootboxes.
The activities are fun and offer a good challenge, but it doesn’t take very long to run through them all, especially if you’re playing with friends. More activities will be added, according to Full Circle, but one can only hope they’re added at a decent rate to keep players engaged.
Acknowledging that it’s difficult to make missions consist of much else in a game built around skating, the least Full Circle could do is make the end-goal of activities mean more than just acquiring currency for lootboxes.
This would be forgivable if the lootboxes weren’t so subpar. Board stickers, neon green socks and lame grip tape patterns make for underwhelming rewards after grinding missions. For comparison, previous “Skate” installments were filled with real-life skate brands and actually decent clothing items, making character customization fun, free and interesting. Paid cosmetics in a free-to-play game are fine, but when most of the free cosmetics are mediocre at best, it feels disingenuous.
While previous installments had the player build their own skate brand or fight back against an oppressive corporation, the story in “skate.” is practically nonexistent. Instead, it’s a long line of glorified tutorials with no end-goal. Where “Skate 3” had the player complete a line in order to be the star of a Thrasher Magazine cover, “skate.” teaches the player how to grind five hours into the game (something you’d learn how to do within the first 30 minutes.) Every previous “Skate” game had real-life professional skaters like Rob Dyrdek challenge you with fun dialogue. Pro-skaters are absent from “skate.”, replaced instead by Vee, an AI assistant.
Characters, some from previous “Skate” games, initiate random phone calls with no substance. Coinciding with the low-effort character writing, the dialogue comes off as snarky and makes the characters seem like a bunch of smart-ass millennials. I know “footy” is short for footage, but the game insists on mentioning it every 10 minutes.
Not to mention — all of it is delivered in the same flat, bored tone, no matter the character speaking. The dialogue sounds like it was written by a bunch of suits thinking, “What would these ‘street’ kids say?”
“skate.” seems to be going the Fortnite route. Being free-to-play is great, and I can accept that that comes with the necessary inclusion of micro-transactions. Where I draw the line, however, is with the emerging family-friendly nature of the game. The art style change, removal of Hall Of Meat and the inability to assault pedestrians makes for a safer, kid-friendly environment. The series seems to have ditched the aesthetic it’s built that actually reflected real-life skate culture.
It’s important to remember “skate.” is in early access. The developers released an update detailing what’s being added in the coming months. Brand partners, leaderboards and party voice chat are all promised to be added to the game down the line. “skate.” has potential to be a great game, but it has a long way to go.
