skate. Hands-on Preview

If, like me, you grew up in the nineties or early naughties and were an avid videogamer, you've probably run into at least one skateboarding title; I'd wager one of the many Tony Hawk's games. In any case, gaming had an obsession with doing kickflips and grinds for a while, and I was there for it! As with any fad, however, its popularity soon petered out, and we saw fewer entries in the genre. The current market is, interestingly, experiencing a bit of a re-emergence of sick flips, which is why we were thrilled to experience a preview of the upcoming skate., continuing the series of the same name.

In the game, we step into the shoes of an up-and-coming skater who has moved to the city of San Vansterdam, which is basically built to encourage your hobby! You see, any new resident of Van San is given a Resident Incentive Program (or RIP) card, which makes you eligible for prizes, activities, events, and everything else there is on offer!

To get us rolling, the council has graciously also developed a personal assistant app, Vee, to help us find our way around and get to grips with the skater-centric landscape. This is good, as the city is a big place and we basically have nothing but the clothes on our backs. Vee quickly incentivises us to head to one of the many districts and get to know the local Crews and slowly make our way to skateboard stardom! The plot is pretty simple all in all, but it's enough to keep you going and a good motivator for seeking out new locations and trying new tricks and styles.

The core gameplay is pretty much what it says on the tin: you skateboard! The controls for your veneer plank are pretty intuitive and easy to pick up, with the left thumbstick taking care of movement and the right being used for tricks (more on that in a bit). Unlike some other skateboarding titles, skate. seems to be somewhat more forgiving in collisions, as running or jumping into a railing or street edge will seamlessly transfer you into a grind or other trick, rather than having you fall flat on your face, which I appreciate! It makes pulling off combos more streamlined and doesn’t break the flow of movement.

You can, however, still kiss pavement if you’re not careful. A wrong angle, badly timed jump, or just bad luck will have you flung quite a distance. Thankfully, there is no falling damage in San Van, and your custom skater will soon pick themselves up.

Pulling off tricks is done with a Flick-It system, where the way you move the right thumbstick will determine the trick you are attempting. A quick flick up will do an ollie, whereas one slightly to the side is a kickflip and so on. There are a few stunts you can show off, though the game lets you discover your favourites via experimentation, rather than having a set list. They can even be further enhanced by adding a spin or a grab!

Fascinatingly, skate. also has a very in-depth system for moving around without your board, featuring climbing mechanics, flips, drop-kicks, and even rolling around as a ball — something I did to get around constantly. It speaks to the quality of this movement system that I spent almost as much time parkouring on the rooftops as I did grinding rails.

What I found interesting about skate. was the multiplayer aspect, as you are not the only skater ripping through the streets! As long as you’re not in an instanced mission or offline, you can run into other players doing their own thing or taking part in activities. During the preview, it was somewhat on the empty side, which is understandable, but I can see it being pretty fun to have a bunch of people flipping around!

The city of San Vansterdam itself is a great setting. Though it’s clearly a town of skaters for skaters, it still feels like a proper place with life: cars drive by, pedestrians walk about, and there are more stairs — every skateboard enthusiast's mortal enemy — than you’d imagine. The design quality is also heightened as you are able to clamber around surprisingly freely, with multiple secret jumps and sweet grinds just waiting to be found by the enterprising adventurer. I also appreciate how the different districts reflect the quirks of the local Crew, with a grind-loving gangs locale featuring many pipes, rails, and steel wire, for example.

Musically skate. also delivered, featuring a bunch of licensed tracks and bopping beats. In general, the BGM is blasted through actual loudspeakers in the world, so going farther from them will also make the music quieter. If you go right up to the musical source, however, you will see both the track name and the band associated, but you can also grab the music. Once snagged, the song chosen will then suffuse the world, now playing on top of the game's regular noises, which I honestly really liked. I even went as far as racing after a car, because it was playing a cool song and I wanted it.

Now, onto the topic some may be concerned about: skate. will be free to play. With the modern trend of live services and FOMO exploitation, it is a valid concern to have, especially for a long-running franchise; however, the game seemingly is taking this into account. The main aspect that players can use any funds on is cosmetics, such as clothes and decks. Fashion is important, of course, but you can thankfully earn the same items by just playing the game and using in-game currency to buy them. It is still uncertain how the game will handle “battle passes” or the like, and if other facets, such as tricks or missions, will be either locked behind a paywall or only available for a limited time.

Based on the short preview we were given, skate. is looking very promising. The flowing movement, easy to learn tricks with ample room for mastery, enjoyable characters, and great setting make for a very potent combo. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing how the game performs on launch, what kind of tricks and routes the community find, and how the free-to-play aspects mesh with the gameplay in the long run.