So, the demo came out yesterday. Any thoughts?

Personally, I wasn't disappointed at all, even if it was a little short. The fisheye lens is a little intrusive, hopefully it can be turned off. Apart from that, it's everything I hoped it would be. Still feels great just to roll around trying things out.

Can't wait till the 23rd!

I liked the first a lot, and I'm looking forward to the second. If they can keep the same style and flow of gameplay, make a couple of the challenges just a tad easier and not mess up lip tricks, I'll be satisfied.

Also, I didn't know there was a demo out. My 360 picked a great time to crap out; right when all the things I was looking forward to about are coming out.

Skate 2 is probably my most anticipated game for this year, I still play the original a lot with friends, and I can't wait to play the game. I'd have loved to play the demo, but unfortunately my 360 stopped working, but hopefully I'll have it back by the time the full game comes out. Also, from what I've heard the flip tricks are now slower, as is the turning, apparently. Any word on that?

I'm going to finish downloading it tonight.
I've never played the first one but I've always been into the Tony Hawks games, I suppose the controls are slightly different in this game?

ROFLross:
I'm going to finish downloading it tonight.
I've never played the first one but I've always been into the Tony Hawks games, I suppose the controls are slightly different in this game?

Very much so. I'd been a long time THPS fan when I picked up Skate, and it blew me right out of the water. I liked the new way of controlling the board and how well it captured skateboarding's "flow", but if you play for too long at a time it can become frustrating.

I wrote up a review three months ago (that swiftly bombed) if anyone's interested.

Novajam:

I wrote up a review three months ago (that swiftly bombed) if anyone's interested.

I look'd over your review (laughed at the Rage picture), I'll have to try the Skate2 demo out tonight and see if I really want to buy, if not I'm going to wait for a new Tony Hawks, apparently the user wont be using a controller? Eh.

i hated the demo at first but after playing it a few more more times it grew on me. then i played the Hall of Meat mode (i think thats what its called) i was sold because watching Eric Koston and Atiba Jefferson ragdollize down a hill never gets old.

I love Skate 1. I still play it all the time just to, well, skate (and not give a crap about the objectives). I will probably end up getting Skate 2 just for the fact that I can get off of the board and run up stairs instead of hopelessly running into them and having to find a different way around.

Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 is the best and always will be. Best skating game EVARR and I would want to see any reason why Skate 2 will be better than a game where you can play as a naked female version of Satan and ride up the ladder of a fire truck. Also, THPS3 had the best damn music in any game ever made.

I started downloading the demo yesterday, then completely forgot and turned the 360 off. Oops.

My main gripe with the first game was that, as a left-hander, I don't like being forced to do the complicated dexterity-tastic bit with my less responsive right hand... this very fact has stopped me being able to complete the game. I'm at a dead stop. If they could patch in an option to switch the thumbsticks, I and many others would be so much happier with it.

I'm very much looking forward to skate2. Skate captured the creativity of skateboarding beautifully and although it had a few problems here and there, they never got in the way of the fun. A very justified sequel.

I finished the demo through a few times, and I have to say, this may actually be worth buying. It is immensely fun, and was tricky to get the hang of, considering I never played skate 1.

popdafoo:
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 is the best and always will be. Best skating game EVARR and I would want to see any reason why Skate 2 will be better than a game where you can play as a naked female version of Satan and ride up the ladder of a fire truck. Also, THPS3 had the best damn music in any game ever made.

Problem is, the THPS games have fucking nothing to do with skateboarding.

Indigo_Dingo:
I never played Skate 1, so why is this called the best sports game ever?

Because it emulates the feel of skateboarding up to the point where it almost becomes scary, and actually requires training and finesse to learn how to play correctly. Just the level of detail and the amount of style you can inject into your skater sets this game so far apart from the THPS series, I'd feel embarassed if I worked at Neversoft.

I love the game but for some reason can not justify paying full price for a sports game so i will probably by Skate when Skate 2 comes out and then Skate 2 when its price drops.

NOTE: This is in Australia where we are ripped off completely. Thank god for my PC needs i have Steam which charges more reasonable prices but for console I will have to shell out for the good games.

I think it's hilarous that the first 2 people in this thread excited for the game have broken 360's.

popdafoo:
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 is the best and always will be. Best skating game EVARR and I would want to see any reason why Skate 2 will be better than a game where you can play as a naked female version of Satan and ride up the ladder of a fire truck. Also, THPS3 had the best damn music in any game ever made.

chin_strap has it right.

THPS may be great for gamers, but it doesn't serve skateboarders very well. It's fun for what it is, but sadly, the THPS series has never focused on capturing the challenge and reward of actual board control, much less provide a scheme flexible enough for the player to inject style into his skating. Where THPS is spastic and stiff, Skate is fluid and zen. I picked up an old THPS: Proving Ground demo I had lying around and the results were laughable; the experience was so contrived and stiff that I can't go back to it. And don't get me started on the music. The Tony Hawk games had some terrible music and only a handful of songs that might actually reflect skateboarding culture.

Before Skate, the high water mark of skateboarding videogame realism was Thrasher: Skate & Destroy for PlayStation.

Skate was good but I hope that they fixed some of the control issues.

Alright then! My Xbox came back repaired yesterday, and I immediately had to check out the Skate 2 demo. The graphics are amazingly sharp compared to the first game, the bailing system is awesome, flips and especially turning is a lot slower, and getting on and off your board is extremely wonky, but hopefully that just takes some getting used to. All in all, I think it'll be a huge success, as long as people can get over the steep learning curve.

"Official thread"?

Which mod gave it the OK?

Knight Templar:
"Official thread"?

Which mod gave it the OK?

I'm sorry, I didn't realise these things needed mod approval - there is nothing in the posting guidelines to that effect. No-one had made a Skate 2 thread, so I made it.

Anyway.

Nice to see Thrasher get a mention on here, it was such a brilliant game. Flawed, but a great alternative to Tony Hawk. Ever since then, I kept saying that someone should have another go at making a realistic skating game, and everyone I talked to said it was a bad idea until Skate came out. It's just so much more satisfying when the things you're doing in-game are actually possible in real life.

Grimm91 - what control issues? There weren't any.

Anyone managed to get out of Slappy's park yet?

mintsauce:

Knight Templar:
"Official thread"?

Which mod gave it the OK?

I'm sorry, I didn't realise these things needed mod approval - there is nothing in the posting guidelines to that effect. No-one had made a Skate 2 thread, so I made it.

You won't get in trouble for it, I was just asking because they made Offical threads for fable 2 and fallout 3 so I was just checking if this was another.

On topic, I never saw what made skate so great, I only ever played the demo but it seemed, "Meh".

mintsauce:
Anyone managed to get out of Slappy's park yet?

I tried the glitch where you hold a ramp and it's supposed to push you out, but I can't get it to work. It does push me into the fence, but I usually just bail and respawn.

One thing I've noticed is that doing flatground 180s has become a bit weird, because you turn unbearably slow if you hold the left stick to the side before ollieing, but you turn very fast if you start turning after you ollie. That can't be right, it's the exact opposite in real life.

I hope they fixed the revert springboard glitch I've seen people using in multiplayer in Skate 1. There's apparently a glitch where you do a revert and quickly jump somehow, and it catapults you 20 feet into the air from a near-standstill, allowing you to do 720's in a round of S.K.A.T.E.

Beyond that, the demo looks sweet...brighter graphics, better framerate, more tricks, better bailing, etc. Plus Game Informer gave it a 9 and their Game of the Month medal, so I have high hopes.

Just thought I'd give this topic a bump, as the full game came out last week. Any impressions?

I personally bought the game saturday morning, and finished the career mode on sunday. It's not an important part of the game though, so I don't care about it being somewhat short. As for the gameplay... wow. The controls of the original have been improved upon in practically every way, the new city is great (though some bits are a bit THPS-ish, and Suburbs are a lot smaller), and the create-a-spot feature is going to make this game replayable for years to come. Which is good, because Blackbox are apparently out of business now.

All in all, if you like skateboarding in any way, or like a game with a difficulty curve that pays off amazingly, definitely check this out, or at least give the demo a try, and don't get put off if you spend most of your time bailing.

I'm actually kind of surprised that no-one on The Escapist is talking about Skate 2.

I completely agree Fightbulb, the gameplay is just delicious. The walking does the job but isn't great, but apart from that it's outstanding, just a near perfect refinement of the first game. Soooo satisfying to play.

Some of the challenges are a bit annoying though, the Can You Spell Girl? one is kicking my ass.

Oh and by the way, I don't know if Black Box are actually out of business, but I don't think that EA have actually laid off the Skate team. I think I remember reading that they've been kept on, can't remember where I read it though.

Skate 1 sold really well, actually outselling tony hawk, so I doubt this is the last we see of the franchise.

As for me, Tony Hawk 4 is still the best game ever based on skating, (the series really stagnated after that; instead of making improvements, they didn't.) Skate is the better skating game, meaning it replicates the feel and culture of skating better(or so I've heard), but Tony Hawk is the better game. If you don't skate, like me, Skate isn't all that much fun.

roblikestoskate:

Before Skate, the high water mark of skateboarding videogame realism was Thrasher: Skate & Destroy for PlayStation.

You ever wonder if some of devs that made T:S&D are now employed by EA black box? I need to do some research. Notice the little things like cops/security that wanna beat you down, and music that is fun to listen to.

out0v0rder:

roblikestoskate:

Before Skate, the high water mark of skateboarding videogame realism was Thrasher: Skate & Destroy for PlayStation.

You ever wonder if some of devs that made T:S&D are now employed by EA black box? I need to do some research. Notice the little things like cops/security that wanna beat you down, and music that is fun to listen to.

I've definitely had that suspicion. If nothing else, the devs are aware of Skate & Destroy. Since Thrasher has had some involvement with both games, I'd say that's a factor of influence as well.

I'm debating wether or not to buy it. Killzone 2 and InFamous are around the corner, but I want to save money for NobyNobyBoy and maybe space out my play times with these games.

I liked the demo though, but the controls seemed more sluggish than the first one to me.

mintsauce:
Some of the challenges are a bit annoying though, the Can You Spell Girl? one is kicking my ass.

Yeah, they kind of screwed up the AI for S.K.A.T.E. Also, the contests can get a bit crazy towards the end.

mintsauce:
Oh and by the way, I don't know if Black Box are actually out of business, but I don't think that EA have actually laid off the Skate team. I think I remember reading that they've been kept on, can't remember where I read it though.

Yeah, I'm not too sure about the future of Blackbox either, but I'm not getting my hopes up about another sequel.

dcheppy:
Skate 1 sold really well, actually outselling tony hawk, so I doubt this is the last we see of the franchise.

Skate almost outsold American Wasteland two to one, actually. And it was glorious.

'nother bump!

I went out specially to get the game yesterday, and I'm pretty pleased with it. The controls seem to be tightened up a bit from the first and all the new tricks are good fun, but it's nice that you're not too often forced into them. Off-board controls are clunky, but being able to move around ramps and benches and such is proving pretty fun thus far.

However, the challenges in Skate were hard, but in the challenging sort of way that you can put up with for the most part. But here, oh, my. Sometimes what you're asked to do is just ridiculous. Maybe I'm not good enough or I'm missing something important but there have been a few challenges so far that have inspired ragequits and attempts to wring my controller.

And I don't like the heightened security. For a game that captures the flow and style of skateboarding so well it's a pain to be interrupted for a chase so often. It's kind of how I felt with the first game, that the most fun was had in exploring and finding fun spots to skate in, rather than going gun-ho at all the challenges at once. Baby steps.

Fightbulb:

mintsauce:
Oh and by the way, I don't know if Black Box are actually out of business, but I don't think that EA have actually laid off the Skate team. I think I remember reading that they've been kept on, can't remember where I read it though.

Yeah, I'm not too sure about the future of Blackbox either, but I'm not getting my hopes up about another sequel.

Blackbox is behind Need for Speed as well as Skate, and both franchises are selling pretty well so I think they'll be sticking around for a while. At least I hope they do. I'd like to see more good games coming out of EA. They're really beginning to probe the market and they're releasing some good stuff.