Skate adds a whole new dimension to the skating genre and creates a beautiful environment to go with it.
One thing that immediately takes some getting used to in skate is the fact that physics play a more important and realistic role than in other skateboarding games you might be used to.... (tony hawk) Pushing is necessary to gain speed and landing a trick involves timing. Remember the days of pressing a magic button to land and grind a rail? In skate, you must actually land on the rail in order to grind it. It sounds like a daunting task at first, and there will be some crashes, but with practice you will prevail.
So there's no grind button. As a matter of fact there is no ollie button either. Instead you have to use the flick it control system. Flick it is easily comparable to the Fight Night fighting system, in which the right analog is used to different sweeping motions for different effects. To perform an Ollie you must bend the knees by holding down, then push directly upwards to launch into the air. Flip tricks like kickflips and heelflips are down and then slightly to one side and up. It also takes some getting used to. However, after spending some time practicing the tricks and landing on some rails, the feeling of accomplishment really pays off.
The feel of the controls is very innovative and next gen. The graphics for Skate are also on par with what we should be expecting from these powerful consoles. The character models are great and smooth; animations are also very well done. Everything seems to flow well. The environments steal the show though. The sun reflects brightly off of cracked pavement. The colors are vibrant and real. The draw distance is absolutely stunning, with buildings far in the distance still standing tall and beautiful. The city of San Vanelona has different sorts of areas that all have their specialties. For instance one is filled with steep hills for speed while others have more rails and parks to skate in. Bottom line: Its a beautiful world with a lot to do.
There are missions to win certain areas and skateparks. They can be pretty fun to do for the most part. They set up challenges and make you try and try again to land certain tricks and get them on camera. Nothing about it is significant but it can be fun to challenge yourself. The boards and gear however do nothing for you, so its not like your ranking up in ollie power or anything like that. Skate is perfect for the person who wants to leisurely kick back and cruise a skate park from the comfort of their couch. Although its not fully fleshed as far as missions and challenges go, the massive beautiful area to skate makes it more fun. And the fact the the tricks take skill and practice makes the feeling of nailing a laser flip to a board slide one of the most gratifying in video games out there. A must buy for 360 owners.