Skate 2 [PS3]

However, there are presentation problems that make the whole thing feel like it's duct-taped together. For example, two of the goals in the game are to get on the cover of both Trasher and Skate magazine. In both cases, but with the Thrasher set especially, you're constantly told that completing this next goal will get you into the magazine. And then it doesn't. But then the next one says it will. And then it doesn't. And so on. When you finally make it onto the cover, you only get one sort of crappy image with very little fanfare. If I wound up on the cover of Skate next month, I'd have a party and all sorts of stuff. Here, you just get a note on Slappy's blog and a single crappy image.

One new thing about the goals that, like numerous other elements of the game, has its plusses and minuses is the fact that you can now jump directly to them from the map. Whereas you had to track down subways stations in the last game and then skate from the closest station to the goal, you can now magically appear right in front of your next objective.

This keeps things moving at a quicker pace, obviously, but it also cuts down on exploration a fair bit. The result is that the city, which a nice remix of sorts from the first game, doesn't feel as important this time around. Since you don't need to skate from place to place, it can feel more like a series of goal situations than goals that are situated within a living city.

One element of the game that has wholly been improved is the online component. Very similar to Burnout Paradise in many ways, you can now partake in all sorts of location-specific cooperative goals. These can be things where the group must reach a certain score without anyone slowing down, bailing or leaving the area (which with six people is way harder than it sounds). Or, you might find that everyone needs to grind a single rail at the same time, or that you have three minutes for the entire group to drop off a building, hit a half-pipe and clear a gap. You also of course still have access to Spot Battles and all of the competitive stuff from before as well. On the whole, the online component is very cool and very well handled.

Closing Comments
Skate 2 is technically an improvement over the first title, and anyone who hadn't yet played the original should skip it and go right to the second. It's a really fun game that allows you to play it the way you want with a control scheme that is second-to-none at the moment. However, it's far from perfect. The story presentation has issues, the on-foot controls suck and it can feel a little too similar to the first game on the whole. Again though, for all its issues, Skate 2 is still a hell of a lot of fun and anyone into skateboarding titles should look no further for the best thing on the market right now.

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