Well.

The Skate 2 demo is here and I have spent a good few hours playing it (again and again) - so I present my thoughts and views on the successes and failures of this newest title from EA and Black Box.

I suppose we have to remember that this game is just the demo - and (hopefully) by no means the last and final version - although they are cutting it a bit fine if they are going to make any changes now.  Small things may be changed, but I expect that this demo is 99.9% true to what we will see when the game is released on the 23rd of January.

Graphics

The graphics do look better than the original Skate and certainly on my PAL 360, the framerate was much higher leading to a smoother and more polished feel to the game and the way it looks.  It does seem to suffer from slow down at some points, like when you crash off your board - but this may be intentional so you can see your face bite the coping in HD slow mo.

There is a difference between the quality and style of the graphics on Skate 1 and Skate 2 though.  Skate 1 seems more realistic to me.  Skate 2 seems more arcade like and dare I say it... more like the Tony Hawk series.

Gameplay

The gameplay is pretty much the same as Skate 1 but does seem better than before.  I can't quite put my finger on what exactly has changed apart from the addition of new tricks, new animations and new environments - but the whole game seems to have had an overhaul.

Getting off the board using the yellow button is a nice addition and I can see that it will be helpful to get to those out of the way places that you can see - but could never get to on Skate 1.

And I will go against my predictions - handplants, footplants and no-comply's are excellent!

Characters

There are lots of the usual pro skaters featured in the game and you play someone who has just got out from prison and has just come back to San Van (hence it has all changed).  One of the skaters/photographers in the game speaks of going down town to skate and is told that there are lots of security guards there.  I hope that this will not be too over stressed in the game.  Getting chased by the over zealous local rent-a-cop was funny in Skate 1 as they were so stupid - but if there are loads of them in Skate 2 it could become a little tiresome.

I also like the extra options you have to customise your skater, adding clothing, customising the deck and changing their body and face design.  I foresee the downloadable content for Skate 2 being in this area!

Replay Editor

Now.  This is the "drop kick you off your chair" part of Skate 2.  If EA get this bit right with the online side, they are laughing.  The editor has been changed to allow you to create "clips" to which you can assign various cameras and effects (effects not present in the demo though).  Even the simple addition of the tripod camera - which you can pretty much place ANYWHERE is amazing.  I was setting my camera to full zoom and getting in right close to the wheels of the deck as it popped a 360 shove it.  Add on the slow motion effect and you have a winner.  I was able to pause the trick mid jump and then position the tripod camera under the skater.  You then get a nice clip of the skater coming towards and over the top of you.

The video editor is going to be HUGE!  And I expect big things from all of those "realistic skate vid" makers out there on YouTube.

Conclusion

• It does feel a bit "Tony Hawk Pro Skater" to me at times - but after playing the demo for the 10th time I kinda forgot about it.
• The camera angle is a little too close at times - lets hope we can change it slightly.
• Moving stuff around is fun.  Try pulling a ramp off a ledge and letting it (and you) fall to make a new weird angle to skate on.
• Hippy jumps are cool.  Try doing it as you drop off the edge of a big ledge and see if you can land it.

Bring it on!

EA have rolled out the list of the Pro skaters taking part in the next installment of the Skate franchise.
Favorites like Danny Way and Rob Dyrdek are present as are many new faces.

What?  No Tony Hawk...?

Pat Duffy
PJ Ladd
Mark Appleyard
Colin McKay
Marc Johnson
Jake Brown
Dennis Busenitz
John Cardiel
Alex Chalmers
Ryan Gallant
Jerry Hsu
Ray Barbee
Mike Carroll
Jason Dill
Rob Dyrdek
Ryan Smith
Terry Kennedy
Brayden Szafranski
Darren Navarrette
Danny Way
Chris Haslam
John Rattray
Lucas Puig
Eric Koston
Chris Cole

EA have not been wonderful and keeping franchises fresh and cool - just
look at the regularly churned out efforts of FIFA or Tiger Woods. They
never get that much better and generally just end up adding more little
tweaks and additions which never amount to much more than the previous
years version!

Here are my thoughts on why Skate 2 will be pants:

1. Walking
I know this was one of the main complaints from the original - but is the ability to get off the board really that important? I think a better version of the ability to set a point to go back to and to be able to do it quickly would be better.

2. Girls
Now - before you get all "you are sexist!" on me - I like girls But I think their place in a skating game is not something that we should be celebrating. If EA had spent more time adding more pro skaters and better decks and equipment we would be happier! Wouldn't we?

3. Moving Stuff About
This is a sure sign that the game is turning into a Tony Hawk clone. Sure, it's fun to move things around and make new jumps to ride on - but seriously - EA Skate was applauded for its originality and back to basics approach! Stick to the game plan EA. Whats next - "Ollie the bum" or collecting hovering letters and hidden tapes?

4. More Tricks
I know everyone wants to be Rodney Mullen and do flatland tricks and flippy finger flips to casper all the time - but come on... The Flick-it controls is the best control scheme available for any type of skateboarding game - ever! It is now going to be more complicated and you will have more buttons to mash until you can pull off the "no-comply finger flip airwalk to fakie" that you asked for. Again - more like Tony Hawk in my opinion. KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid!

5. Handplants
Footplants and no-comply's = yes. Handplants = No. They are so 1980's. Get rid of them.