SKATE
At its recent Ubidays event in downtown San Francisco, Ubisoft had a number of big upcoming titles on display, including the latest from the Splinter Cell and Brothers in Arms franchises. But perhaps its most anticipated title was left for the finale with Assassin's Creed getting the You've already read about the innovative new skating controls in our first hands-on preview.
EA has dubbed its latest right-analog evolution as Flickit -- you basically perform a number of Fight Night controller motions to ollie and execute a variety of kick flips and tricks. Grabs are performed with the triggers, X kicks with your left foot, A kicks with your right foot and B breaks. It's that simple.
Performing these moves feels great. While they are not as over the top as the arcade style we've seen in the Tony Hawk series, there is a tangible feeling of reward as you pull off a simple nose grind on a rail. When you ollie or nollie into the air, the position of your board dictates the type of grind you pull off. We watched as a producer ripped off a backside noseblunt with ease.
There is no balance meter, but the producer did shift his weight over the nose with the left stick to hold the grind even longer. If he didn't, he simply would have fallen off the rail and continued skating. As you probably have already guessed, Skate is a technical game, and even a simple session in your basic skate park provides a challenge. The camera is located almost on the ground so you can get a great look at your skater's feet as he rips off tricks.
While kickflips and grinds are all well and good, we gamers want to get vertical. The only levels we had seen so far were a warehouse and a mom-and-pop skate park. Each features a fair set of bowls and ramps, but we really want to fly. I was worried there wouldn't be enough air.
And everyone that plays Skate. The mega compound is one of the final areas you'll unlock in San Vanelona, a fictional city based on the architecture of San Francisco, Barcelona and Vancouver (where Skate is being developed). It features a MegaRamp, a giant loop, and enough giant jumps to keep you busy for a while. And even though Skate is an open world, you can set a waypoint for yourself and warp back at any time. The top of Way's MegaRamp is not a bad spot to put one. On one jump, we grabbed with both hands and tapped the B button to execute a coffin -- laying flat on your back on the board. It's hot, but don't try to land this way. Even though these jumps are massive, they are still based on Way's real-life exploits, which actually adds to the satisfaction of landing a trick that only the world's best can pull off.
After that, simply pause the game, save a video clip and upload it to a Skate website for all to see. We watched as EA created a clip and uploaded it in seconds. You can also jump online and continue to edit camera angles and add effects.
We obviously spent almost all of our time during our brief play session in the Mega Compound, but we do know there will be a huge variety of environments in the San Vanelona sandbox, including mansions and the obligatory empty swimming pools. Online, other players will be able to jump in and session with you at anytime.
Offline, players will take turns pulling off big tricks rather than a split-screen approach. EA said this is because it has found that players enjoy watching the game almost as much as they enjoy playing it.
In terms of story, your skater will progress by competing in a variety of challenges, all of your choosing. If you want to hit up professional events and mainstream competitions, you may find yourself on the cover of Thrasher or The Skateboard Mag, both included in the game. And while this is pure speculation, don't be surprised to see an X Games presence because of the ESPN and EA partnership.
If you want to go gangster, you can terrorize the city's pedestrians and outrun security guards as you trespass into hard-to-reach skate spots. While other skaters may be enjoying their commercial success and magazine covers, you'll be enjoying street cred with the underground set. Pros you'll see wandering San Vanelona include Danny Way, Mark Gonzales, Rob Dyrdek, Mike Carroll, P.J. Ladd, Chris Cole, Jason Dill, Pat Duffy, Jerry Hsu, Paul Rodriguez, Dennis Busenitz, Alex Chalmers, Chris Haslam, Colin McKay, John Rattray, Ryan Gallant, Ryan Smith and Terry Kennedy.
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Πιστεύω ότι και αυτό το Tony Hawk που 'ρχεται θα 'ναι πολύ καλύτερο από το Skate... Βασικά παίζουν 2 πράγματα ρόλο στην άποψη μου. Πρώτον ο Tony έχει να ρθει δυνατός νομίζω αρκετό καιρό, και ίσως είναι η ώρα του (από ότι έχω δει έχει πολλά καινούργια στοιχεία αυτό που έρχεται). Δεύτερον δεν έχω και τρομερή εμπιστοσύνη στην ΕΑ 
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