Skate

Following on from yesterday's blog about skateboarding, I felt the need to go into a little more depth about what has become one of my favourite games of all time; Skate 2.

Though the original Skate will always hold a special place in my heart, Skate 2 is the more refined, more sophisticated game. It's for this reason that I'm constantly going back to it, both online and off. EA Black Box managed to create something so addictive and so rewarding that over a year after its release my friends and I are still returning to its streets. And though there are plenty of games that I'll rummage out of my collection to stick on every once in a while, Skate 2 is a game that I always have to hand. This isn't merely putting it on for a quick blast, I play it for the same amount of time as I did back in its early months.

Take this evening for example. This evening has consisted solely of me attempting to jump from a high up balcony to the street below. It has taken me three hours to successfully execute, and in that time I have done nothing but jump, reset and jump again. How can a year old game command such dedication from me? Well probably because I have hints of autism swimming around in my brain, but it's more likely to be the freedom to do whatever you like that Skate 2 provides. Within Skate 2's San Vanelona City, there are a huge amount of movable items - all physics objects - that can be dragged around wherever you can manage to take them. This pretty much means that if you can think it up, you can do it (keeping within the laws of physics of course).

Far more subtle than a mere 'create-a-park' mode, everything is manipulated in-game, in real time. Building up an obstacle course for performing lines and set pieces is as easy as holding down a button and dragging them into place. Sure your character feels like a wheelie bin to control, but once you've got the knack, the skies the limit. It's this that has brought me back time and time again, as my creative juices get flowing every time I boot the game up, and I spend unhealthy amounts of time attempting a single trick.

And then at the end of it all, you can upload the footage and show everyone just how good/obsessed you are. To a lot of people the videos will be meaningless, it's difficult to appreciate the level of skill required to perform a lot of the tricks and grinds in Skate. It's also difficult to appreciate something as simple as jumping down a set of stairs, or doing a kick flip under a single barrier. To those who've never tried Skate, or to those who've only ever known the Tony Hawks series of games, the tricks performed in Skate will no doubt be considered little more than a few button presses. To those in the know however, the true skill behind what is a frustratingly difficult, but overwhelmingly accomplished video game.

On that note I leave you with this. This is what I spent three hours of my evening doing. Was it worth it? Fuck. Yes.

(The video was meant to be embedded here, but apparently they only do one size and it messed up the blog layout, here's a link instead)