Multiplayer

One area where the original Skate received criticism was the online offerings. Skate 2 thankfully remedies this, and there are a number of online options available when you get bored of skating around on your own.

There are the usual competitive challenges, such as races, trick competitions or battles to see who can hurt themselves the most when bailing – something which is not quite as easy as it sounds.

The world has woken up to the idea of co-operative play over the last few months, and Skate 2 is certainly keen to cash-in on this trend. As well as the competitive challenges, there are also a number of co-operative challenges open to those who would rather play with their friends rather than against them.

Some of these co-op games are really challenging, such as having all the players in a group perform tricks to reach a certain score, with the counter being reset to zero if one of the players bails or moves too slowly. Getting all the players to grind a rail at the same time takes some not inconsiderable co-ordination and if you didn't have a headset for your console before now, some of the co-op games in Skate 2 almost demand one if you and your group are to succeed.


The addition of co-op play into the online mix is something that takes the online element above the singleplayer game – after all, you race and perform trick competitions in the offline game, so there's nothing really new in the competitive online matches. Online co-op gives you the chance to do something that you don't normally do in the singleplayer game and should keep you coming back even when you've got bored of playing the singleplayer game.

Conclusion

Even though I might have never skateboarded in my life, that doesn't mean that I can't appreciate a skateboarding game. After all, I've never flown a spaceship or fired a pulse rifle, but that doesn't stop me from playing sci-fi games and enjoying them. As a complete skateboard noob, Skate 2 allows me to do something that I wouldn't normally do in real life, and that's a good thing. Being able to skate without the risk of injuring myself has got to be good and it's something that Skate 2 helps me to achieve.


OK, so there are a few minor niggles. The control system is a little flawed and needs tweaking before it's perfect; the controls for walking are abysmal and need reworking completely – we've had FPS games for a long time now, walking around shouldn't be this much of a battle. There's also the little issue of filming your tricks: in the original Skate game, you had the option of applying film effects before you posted your tricks online for others to marvel over.

In the sequel, there are no effects included in the game, and if you want them, you're forced to pay for DLC containing the effects. Sure, it's only a few quid, but it does stick in the craw that you're expected to pay for something that was included for free before. Still, what Skate 2 does well, it does really well. The challenges are varied and numerous enough that you'll be playing for many hours before you exhaust them, and the online play, especially the online co-op matches are an absolute blast.

You may be missing your Tony Hawk fix, especially now that the franchise is in the hands of another developer with no release date in sight, and Skate 2 fills that gap quite nicely. I'd even go as far to say that Skate 2 has forced Activision to rethink its plans for the Tony Hawk franchise – there's no longer only one option if you want a bit of nosegrinding action.

In fact, I'd go even further and say that Skate 2 has quite resoundingly snatched the crown from the ageing Mr Hawk and given it a bit of polish in the process. There may still be a little bit of tarnish left, but skating has a new king.

Bow down and pay feasance to your new king, the un-named champion of New San Vanelona.

Score Guide