A and Black Box returned with a new trip through San Vanelona in Skate 2. This outing is able to keep the same addictive gameplay from the first game while throwing in some new improvements to keep things interesting.
The game opens much the same as the first one did, with a live action sequence showing off the many professional skaters you'll meet in the game. Things pick up a few years after the first Skate with your character being released from prison after getting caught trying to pull off a massive trick. After your friend picks you up, he tells you that a company called Mongocorp came in and rebuilt sections of the city, making it harder for people to shred like they used to. Once you get filled in on this backdrop you get put into the character customizer; once you're done there you're off to Slappy's skate park to regain your skating reputation. The majority of the game is spent dealing with your return to popularity in the skate scene — the situation with Mongocorp is never really dealt with. It seems that the whole point of mentioning them is just a means to explain why you'll run into more areas with security guards and rails with metal caps on them to discourage grinds. Which is a bit of a shame as a lot could have been done with that premise.
Times two: roughly double the
tricks you could do before.Controls are the same as before. The right stick controls your jumps and tricks and the triggers controls your grabs. What's new this time around is the amount of tricks you can do; roughly double what you could do before. There are plenty of new things to do like handplants and one footed tricks, and if you don't feel like trying these out you can still get by with the old repertoire of actions, but it's nice having more options for things to do. The soundtrack for the game is very enjoyable; the song selection is pretty robust, and you're almost guaranteed to find something that you'll like listening to. An interesting thing that they did with the music in this game is that it only ends up playing when you're close to a popular skating area. This is useful as it helps people who are new to the game find enjoyable areas to trick around in. Sound effects are all crisp and clear but nothing particularly special.
Onto the new stuff, first with the city and map. Even though the game takes place in the same city as the first one, there are still differences. Many areas have been completely redesigned, while a few were left alone or given a few minor alterations. Using the map is completely different from before. Instead of only being able to move from subway station to subway station, you can now move to any found or available marker on the map.
This is great if you don't feel like spending a lot of time trying to get from event to event but the downside to this is that it takes away a lot of the exploration that would otherwise occur. It is your option to use the fast travel feature but I don't see a lot of people taking the time to explore San Vanelona to find its fullest potential.
Another big addition to the game is being able to get off your board and walk around. This is a huge improvement over the last game, as it makes it so much easier to properly align yourself for your run, or run up stairs to take advantage of new building drops and trick-able areas. Although this may be a nice improvement there is one major flaw behind it, which is it is exceedingly difficult to control your character while you are off your board.
The off-board controls do not feel natural and you'll end up fighting with them to get your character to move where you want them. The only reason why you'd want to get off your board in the first place is to take advantage of another new feature: being able to move objects around. This is another great idea as it allows you to add new elements to your lines, whether it be a rail, a bench or a dumpster to try and trick off of. Also brand new this time around is the Hall of Meat.
What's that, Mongocorp?
Skateboarding is not a crime.This aspect of the game is focused solely around causing grievous physical harm to your skater. Your bails are rated with the more damaging or inventive ones being able to earn you in-game money. A mode for the sadistic side to all of us, it's truly a blast to find new ways to injure your avatar.
The online mode for the game has seen a revamp from the first game as well. It's been broken down into two areas; freeskate and competitive. In freeskate you can choose the skate park you want skate in and you'll end up playing with up five other people. While in free skate you can participate in freeskate challenges, which are not unlike the freeburn challenges found in Burnout Paradise. Essentially, they're a series of group challenges. Engaging in the challengesis completely optional. You can just mess around in the area if you so desire. The competitive section is just what it sounds like, and is similar to what was available in the first Skate. There are a few new areas to compete in such as the Hall of Meat, and deathrace competitions. In the competitive area players are awarded experience and money that they can use for the single player. This is a good thing as there are a few items that are on the pricier side.
Difficulty rewards: a little like
pulling off a new trick in real life.As good as Skate 2 may be there are a few issues with it. First up are the challenges. While they start off easy, and are essentially trick tutorials, the difficulty ramps up fast. The offset of this is that when you finally do manage to complete those tasks there is a huge sense of satisfaction — not unlike how pulling off a new trick would feel for a skater in real life.
Another issue with the game is with money. After you finalize what your skater looks like, and get the clothes and board you want, there's not much need for it. There's a handful of skateparks in the game to buy but aside from that money ends up being pointless. It would have been better to get rid of it entirely and just have clothes and boards being gives as awards.
The biggest issue with the game was more of an annoyance, really, but whenever you fail at an event, you have to confirm with the game twice that you want to retry the event. It doesn't make sense why you're asked for a double confirmation. You can quit events and challenges at any time that you wish, but otherwise have to deal with a feature that shouldn't have been included in the first place.
Aside from those minor grievances Skate 2 is well worth checking out. Gameplay is fun and addictive, with some very robust online play.
