I’m not sure if Skate was ever supposed to be a franchise, but after the critical and commercial success of Skate 1, EA put their heads together to start a franchise and make Skate 2. On January 21st, 2009, Skate 2 hit store shelves. Naturally, loving the first so much, I pestered my mother to buy me this for my birthday and play it when I was on school holidays or had free time. (I’d talk about Skate It but never played it, so this is only natural). Set 5 years after Skate 1, your character is tasked with making skating popular again in New San Vanelona that’s been plagued with earthquakes and a ban on skating by a security company, Mongo Corp who rule and protect the city from the “crime” of skateboarding.
The map has had some changes this time around. The Res, Downtown and Old Town return while we get 2 new locations, Cougar Mountain, and the Waterfront. Only Downtown faces big changes here, looking very different from the first game (In the story the entire Downtown was rebuilt) while The Res and Old Town look mostly the same. Cougar Mountain is the highest peak of the game, located North of the map where there’s loads of races and contests all around. Here you’ll see the Dam, the Peak and the Mega Compound skate park returning. The Waterfront is south of the map containing the Stadium (Not X-Games), 2 skate parks and GvR Park. It’s filled with benches for grinds, stairs perfect for jumps and just about anything you’d want for some skating (except the toxic water).
I like the new locations, I really do. The San Van map is amazing in both games (and that’s not the nostalgia talking). But I’d have preferred a new location, a whole new map. This game is a direct sequel, but I feel they should’ve changed it. They changed the map with Skate 3, a new city, and it worked well for my interest and love for the game. There’s nothing really wrong with using the same city as the previous game, I mean if I was a skater I’d be going to the same places all the time, but it would have been nice if this sequel was a new story and not a direct sequel, with a new city to explore and find great trick spots.
Skate 1 had amazing mechanics, Skate 2 took those mechanics and fixed it up and improved them greatly. The Flickit system included new tricks (something like double what Skate 1 had) and better sensors. The physics system improved, with a new challenge series to show it off too, allowing you to break every bone you possibly can for points and story progression. A new mechanic was the ability to get off your board and walk around, this was left out of the first game for being advanced for the time. This also brought in Park Editing where you could make skateparks and obstacles for tricks. Security guards and No Skate Zones return all around the map, and they’re still fun. The challenges and mini-games from the first game also return around new locations with new objectives, characters, and potential.
And now we come to what every good skating game has, that soundtrack. Like the first game, it’s mostly Hip-Hop and Rock and is just as magical as the first. Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Rage Against The Machine, Wu-Tang Clan, The Clash, it’s epic (I’m a huge rock lover but the hip-hop in these games is stuff I enjoy). A lot of the game plays the same as the first, but the soundtrack is what separates 1 and 2. They have the same genres but they’re oh so different at the same time. As much as 1 defined my music, 2 certainly did too. There’s so much subjectivity as to which game has the best soundtrack and I certainly struggle to pick which I love the most myself. They’re all just so good.
Skate 2 is hard to write about for me (I’m finishing this off on a very short note compared to my Skate 1 article). It’s a good game, don’t get me wrong, many say it’s the best in the series. But with the same map as game 1, it just felt the same for me. I was biased to always play 1 because I already loved 1. I can’t really tell you why I did. Maybe 1 was just easier to find on my game shelf, who knows? All in all, I think EA should’ve changed the location as they did in Skate 3. This game is great as a standalone game, but I’d rather just load up Skate 1 and feel my better childhood nostalgia. I like Skate 1’s map more. What made it special was it was new; it wasn’t just a copy from a previous game with 2 new locations. It was all unique and it all worked. I like the music; I like all the adventures I did over the 3 years I had it before I got this game. Skate 2 is like one of those sequels where a few things were changed, a lot stayed the same, just a few new features, and a sequel badge was just slapped onto it. It’s a little lazy really but I did still enjoy this game a lot. Not as much as 1 and 3, but I enjoyed it indeed. It’s a great game if it’s your first exposure to the franchise. Maybe you’d even like it more than 1 if you played it first. But for me, it isn’t it. I love 1 and it will always be my favourite. On to Skate 3.
End of Part 2 Written by Chris.J
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