The fourth Skate has been in early access for a few days now, but many fans of the series are anything but enthusiastic.
In 2007, developer Black Box and publisher Electronic Arts launched a direct attack on one of the most popular sports series ever. Skate was intended to be a counterpart to Tony Hawk Pro Skater and, above all, to take the trend sport much more seriously.
Where the Tony Hawk games were often silly and casual, Skate focused on a realistic portrayal of skate culture, a realistic skate simulation (complete with surprisingly bloody injuries), and an open game world. The concept was well received, but after Skate 3, it was long gone by 2010.
15 years later, skate. , the fourth installment in the series, has finally been released and is currently playable in Early Access. It is also being played extensively, with over 130,000 people simultaneously on their boards on Steam at its peak. However, the joy is lacking. The free-to-play game currently has only 62 percent positive reviews.
Why skate. is often criticized
Basically, skate. is not considered a bad game. Many people say that they still enjoy the gameplay a lot – which is probably also due to the fact that, compared to its predecessors, few risks were taken in this area and everything remains largely the same.
However, there are many other aspects of the new Skate that fans of the series in particular find less appealing. Roughly summarized:
- The new Skate is Free2Play, and instead you’ll find microtransactions in the game. According to many fans, this aggressive monetization detracts from the basic gaming experience.
- The game’s rather clean look is not well received by many fans. In particular, the somewhat cartoonish characters, but also the flawless city, hardly exude a real atmosphere.
- The lack of a story mode and the general tone of the few characters in the game also leave many fans quite unsatisfied.
However, it should also be noted that skate. is still in early access. The team could still address many of the criticisms, such as the lack of a story mode.
For example, there were a few nasty bugs at release that prevented some people from playing the game properly – the team has since fixed these, which has also improved the ratings (at release, only 49 percent of reviews were positive).
What the reviews say
The game isn’t completely panned, but there are plenty of disappointed voices among the many comments. We’ve picked out a few for you.
This game somehow feels like buying a skateboard at Walmart. Yes, it looks good, but it lacks soul. Technically, it works, but the quality is poor, the atmosphere is watered down, and you can tell it wasn’t developed by people who live this culture.
This isn’t Skate. It’s a hollow, commercial money-making scheme that strips away everything that made the originals so special.
As mentioned, however, this is not the opinion of the entire player base without exception. Many also see good approaches and hope for improvement in the coming months in Early Access:
It has its problems and the skater slang can be pretty embarrassing, but overall it’s a free skateboarding game that I can play with my friends, and so far no content is locked behind monetization, there are no signs of P2W, everything is cosmetic.
So the mood is gloomy, but some people are just happy that Skate is finally back after all these years. Overall, skateboarding games are making a stronger comeback than in recent years. So if you want to get back on your board digitally, there are plenty of options available right now.
