New to the game is the ability to buy property. This seems like a good idea but unfortunately there are only two properties available for sale in the game. It’s a shame that the developers didn’t develop this feature more. I guess that this is down to the very short development time.

Skate 2 also rewards you for falling off your board. The Hall of Meat was a nice little feature in the first one where a challenge would require that you do a nasty bail. Rather than HoM being a specific challenge, it’s always available (other than when you are in a competition or doing another challenge). Different types of bail will reward HoM achievements. It’s not a simple case of repeatedly falling off your board, there are some very specific challenges, such as break both hands in one bail or hit a pedestrian in a bail. To make bailing more fun, holding the right stick in a direction will affect the kind of bail that you make, such as slowing down the bail or cannonballing into it.

Structured Playtime

The first game had a loose structure based around getting coverage in two different magazines, amongst this were various challenges which you would complete to further your career. Skate 2 vastly reduces the amount of structure and has a more free form approach. It feels much easier to progress in whichever area you want without having to worry about completing other challenges. If you want to work on competitions you can just keep working at them without having to worry about progressing in other areas of the game.


Not only is there less of a structure, but there are also far fewer tutorials. I’m not entirely sure whether this is good or bad. New players may struggle with the lack of direction and guidance. As a returning player it’s nice to learn the new skills in an organic manner, but it can be frustrating to get to a challenge that is difficult because you haven’t learned and had time to practice a new type of skill.

The game does have a very loose story based around your character being released from prison. To be completely honest they shouldn’t have bothered. A storyless character would have been far better than one with a poor story.

Downsides

So I’ve given the game a lot of praise so far, but the game isn’t without its faults. Skater AI and placement is a little on the frustrating side. Some challenges put you in the same area as another skater. When you are trying o pump a half pipe to handplant a rail above it it’s really annoying to be knocked off your board by another skater who won’t leave the pipe. Especially when he is knocking you down for the fifteenth time. I understand that they are trying to recreate a living breathing world where other skaters exists, but in the real world you would have a little more control over other people. I think in the real world if you had been knocked over that many times by a person you would either learn to take it in turns, stay out of each others way, or at the very least punch each other until someone was knocked out.

I’ve said how the off board controls massively reduce the frustration, but they are not without their own problems. Your character handles like an elephant, his turning circle is bizarre and movement is sluggish.