When EA announced that they were creating a new Skate game, many fans of the series cheered, but that was back in June of 2020. Since then, the studio has revealed new details, by a very slow drip, but that changed for me a few weeks ago when I was invited to learn more about the game and of course, get hands on with it. With the game now set to launch into early access next month, has the time been worth it, or are they flipping off the wrong ramp?

Hearing from the developers that one of the things that they wanted to ensure that they brought in was a lot of new features, but more importantly, they wanted to ensure that long-time fans were brought into a familiar space. Hearing that gave me hope that things would play out just as I remembered them. Now I will fully admit that while I have played each of the four console skate games, the three main ones and the Wii’s Skate It, I am not a massive fan of the series. This is not a knock against it, but as with most games, I enjoy it and then I move on. The same could be said for the Tony Hawk series, I love those games, but once I am done with them, they just become a game I have played. So going into skate. I was unsure how long it would take me to get done with the game, given it has a few things I dislike about modern gaming, namely forced online multiplayer.

I am happy to report that while you are forced to see other players around you, once you are actually playing the game, there is not a lot of interaction with those other players, if you choose for there not to be. Right, before I dive into that, lets talk basics as this is the area that has seen the biggest change so far. Mostly because while the game offers the familiar and great control scheme from past games, there is a more modern option that players can choose from. The big difference between them is that the new style takes the forward motion off the stick and puts it on a face button, beyond that, most everything else is the same. Yes, that means that no matter which option you select the game still has all their tricks assigned to the right stick, with the update Flick-It System. Now I do understand that for some folks, they might have preferred the jump function being set to a button, but this is one of those things that once you play, you will understand why it is not.

After a decent tutorial, you are taken by water taxi over to San Vansterdam proper and the area known as Hedgemont. The full city is broken up into four districts but we were limited to the one area for our time with the game. While the city was a normal city at one point, it is now the home for skaters, which means that almost everything has been reset to be a skating point. Curbs, stair rails, planter boxes, parked cars and more, all are open for your tricking pleasure. Because the city has been reconfigured for skating, that means while there are stairs, you are going to find a lot more smooth ramps between different heights and of course, gaps to clear. Some of those gaps are pointed out to you in tutorials, but the rest are ones you will need to find for yourself. It is not just the ground that you can play on, because at any point you can get off your board and climb up to the top of anything you can. That means if there is an awning above you, or a rooftop you think is hiding a secret, you can get up a climb to find out. Of course, once you are up there, you might have to get down occasionally and that would be the perfect time to pull of some sick tricks.

Tricks and your skating skills are what build your rep, hit a great line, discover a gap or pull off an insane trick and people will respond. As you gain rep you level up and are rewarded with Rip Chips, the currency used by the skaters of San Vansterdam. Spending your Rip Chips can be done via a menu, but the more interesting way is to head to the Extra Vert shop located in each region, here you can buy things like new boards, shorts, shirts and more. The game will also let you spend your own money to buy the premium currency San Van Bucks, but that is not something I did. It is important to note that you do not need to spend anything in skate. not your own money or what the game gives you, everything is just cosmetic. The only thing you need to do, in order to level up your game is skate around and find the music. Next to the Extra Vert in Hedgemont there are speakers and as they play new songs, you can claim them for your own library. Cars that are driving around, some of them will be blasting their music and you guessed it, you can take it for yourself. As new seasons take place, the game will add new music, which means even if you visit the same spot 50 times, there is always a good chance for new music. They will also do the same with clothes and other accessories, so the game will also give you a chance to find new things to like, which I like.

The final thing I wanted to talk about was the online, because I personally hate being forced to play games online. Don’t misunderstand I love games that I can play with others, I put a good number of hours into the recent Battlefield 6 beta after all. For those curious, skate. can not be played offline or solo, you are always connected to the world, just like all the other players. When you find a line you want to conquer, you can choose to play it solo, which just means you do it on your own. At no point do you need to engage with the other players, you can move up to them and inspect their stats and all that stuff, but if you don’t want to do any of that you don’t have to. Now the one thing I was quite unsure about with this forced online was the collisions between players, because even at the best of times, you will find someone stacking a grind somewhere in the city. It seems the developers were ahead of me here, as there are no collision physics in the game, you just pass through them and I like that. It means if you are about to land a perfect line, you don’t have to worry about r@z3rsk8r69 knocking you off course. The game will also let players drop new items in the world, but that was not something I did in my hands on with the game.

skate. was a game that I knew I would enjoy playing, while I am not a skater in real-life, skating videogames just appeal to me. What surprised me was just how much fun I was having watching other players go for big tricks, only to faceplant hard. I also liked when people landed an impressive trick as it gave me the urge to try it as well. Given the game will always be evolving as times goes on, will I feel the same way after a year or two, who knows, but right now I am keen for more.

skate. launches into early access on PC via EA App, Epic Game Store and Steam, PlayStation and Xbox on September 16.