EA Skate Video Game Review

EA Skate is a fun skateboarding game, but hard to master. Which, in my opinion, adds to the fun! EA Skate goes for a more realistic skateboarding experience, using Next Gen gaming system's advanced controls to try and simulate skateboarding. The graphics are beautiful, the game has plenty of extra features, and if you are looking for a skateboarding simulation game, you won't be disappointed with EA Skate.

In EA Skate, you play a guy who just got into a horrible accident, and was rushed to the hospital. There, you were put back together (this is how they incorporate you building your character the way you want), and then released you into the world, ready to ride. luckily, a weird guy with a camera wants to help you re-learn how to skateboard, and the game takes off from there. Your goal? To get on the cover of two skateboarding magazines. However, the game is pretty open, and you'll likely just have fun skating all over to place for a while before you get serious about setting goals!

EA Skate - Flickit Controls

EA Skate stands out from other games in the way that you control yourself in the game. All of the controls are done through flicking the two control sticks on your game controller in different ways - one stick controls your body, and the other your legs. It's tough, but very rewarding. A lot more rewarding than simply pushing the ollie button. Instead, you have to flick the stick back and then forwards to ollie. Or, forwards then back to nollie. The controls all make a lot of sense - you can see where they were going with most of them.

This is where I think EA Skate is brilliant - the fact that it is tough to play. But yet, it's not. You can explain to someone in a few minuets how to do everything, but it will take them a LONG time to master it all. In fact, even in the game, you probably won't hit everything you want. For example, to grind you simply line up with whatever you want to hit, then ollie onto it. How you angle yourself determines what kind of grind you do.

Piles of Pros - EA Skate

EA Skate features a pile of pro skaters, most notably the entire DC team (and Plan B, which are basically the same people). In the opening cinematic, you while you are being rushed to the hospital, all kinds of famous guys play funny little parts, like ambulance drivers, jerks on the road, doctors, everything. It's pretty funny, but you can't skip it and it's VERY long! so, if you want to make another character, just start the video and then go to college. When you're done, the game should be ready.

These same pros are all over the huge city - and I mean the city is huge, with no load times whatsoever. There are places to unlock (like the Plan B warehouse, and the X Games park), and plenty to do. The game feels very open. The game also doesn't pull you too strongly with the storyline, unless you want to follow it. But it is there, and easy to find.

EA Skate's graphics are beautiful. Everything has a strange touch to it all, like it's been shot with a filter on the camera. It softens things, adds depth, and makes it all look more real.

Your character also looks and acts pretty real, as do everyone else in the game. The voice acting is good, and the people you meet are genuinely funny. Your first buddy, Shingo, is a little obnoxious, but that's how friends work, right?

You can design your skater however you want, and change your skater later if you feel like it. You can get new clothes through challenges and stuff, and develop your style.

EA Skate also has a huge built in video and photo editor. You can stop, and look at what you just did, from any angle. You can upload your pictures and videos for everyone online to look at and rate.

Multiplayer Online and Off

You can also skate online, with friends, or just the rest of the world.

This brings me to one of the BEST features of EA Skate, in my opinion - multiplayer. The online multiplayer is great, but you can play 4 players on one machine! I've been waiting for this since Tony Hawk 2. You see, I have lots of friends who actually live near me, in the real world, and we like to play games together sometimes. But, there's not a lot out there to play. It's pretty much Halo, or maybe something downloadable like Worms or something.But now, you can play SKATE with your friends! And I mean SKATE - the game where once someone lands a trick, the other players have to land it or get a letter!

And, with EA Skate's intuitive controls, it's easy for a new player to pick it up and figure it out. It shows right on the screen what they have to do in order to do the trick, it's just a matter of skill in flicking the controls right. The end result is a lot of laughing and a lot of fun.

Should You Buy EA Skate?

For complaints, I don't have very many. There are little load screens that pop up whenever you are trying a certain challenge over and over (and you keep messing up), that really bog the experience down. I wasn't a big fan of the soundtrack, but it seemed right for a game focused mostly around Plan B / DC skaters! And while I love the flickit controls, sometimes it can get frustrating when you SWEAR that you are doing something right, and it's just not working. But that's a player issue! I also kept wanting to have my right thumb both on the stick and on the buttons at the same time, which was tricky.

But to be honest, these complaints are weak. EA Skate is a GREAT game, and I highly recommend it. If you are looking for a skateboarding simulator, then EA Skate is it! It's beautiful, the video editor was SUPER easy to use, the controls are fun and challenging, and you will feel like you've accomplished something when you do well. EA Skate is a great game, and I think any skater who likes videos games would really enjoy EA Skate (as would anyone who doesn't skate, but thinks it's cool!).

Check out the EA Skate photo gallery for screen shots, and the EA Skate Vs. Tony Hawk's Proving Ground if you are trying to pick between these two skateboarding games.