Skate [X360]

You can use your feet to gain some speed on these runs or you can figure out another subtle technique hidden in Skate. Pumping is a trick that allows you to gain speed without taking your feet off your board and can be useful in half-pipes or just about anywhere in Skate. Like the manual, this is a maneuver that requires a delicate touch to pull off. Your Right Trigger acts as a grab. And you can grab your board even if not in the air. Pull the trigger all the way down and your skater squats and takes hold of his board. But if you pull the trigger only a shade, your skater will bend his knees for just a second before popping back up. That's a pump. Like most things in Skate, it takes some time to nail down.

Throughout San Vanelona (which is a considerably large city) you'll find pros to challenge and spots to own. When you find a spot, you'll be given a point target. Pull off a trick on that spot that matches or beats the target and you own that spot. To make this game of trial and error a little more manageable you have the ability to create reset points. With the press of two buttons, you can set a marker. You can then skate, bail, or wander off to another area of San Vanelona. Press another set of buttons and you instantly return to your marker. This can be particularly helpful when you reach the X Games. There's a mega ramp in the X Games arena that I found myself flying down again and again and again, just to try and pull crazier tricks.

Skate is the kind of game that you can easily get lost in for a few hours. During my long playtest, I could have given a crap about finding challenges or earning points (which can unlock better boards and new clothes). It became a very Zen experience, as I explored the city, finding a few decent lines and trying to discover new tricks. In many ways, the early hours of Skate remind me a lot of Test Drive Unlimited - which is the rare racing game that manages to perfectly capture the peacefulness of a leisurely drive. There are plenty of objectives for those who need a bit more of a linear progression to their games, but I'm most looking forward to late night sessions where I just go where my wheels take me.

At some point, you'll probably want to pursue some of the challenges set about San Vanelona. Similar to Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, the challenges you accept and how you choose to skate will ultimately determine the type of skater you are. But where Proving Ground is a more structured system with skills and a definitive storyline, Skate is far more organic. That's pretty much the comparison that could be made between most aspects of these two titles. While there is a loose structure to the single-player campaign in Skate, it's very lax in comparison to Tony Hawk's more tried-and-true approach. Again, these appear to be two very different experiences that both happen to feature skateboards.

No matter what type of skater you become, your path will eventually lead to an invite from Danny Way to visit his new compound in Hawaii. This is the Everest of skate parks. It starts with the completely insane Megaramp, which shoots you high into the air and lands you in front of a quarterpipe, which can be used to pull some reality-defying stunts. Land clean out of the quarterpipe and you should have enough speed to power through the loop-the-loop, which shoots you off to another quarter pipe and over a massive gap and finally into a deep pool where you can continue to grab crazy air. It's an awesome way to spend an hour.

Though I've only had the opportunity to fool around with Skate for a short while, I'm already considerably impressed. Though visually Skate isn't going to win any prizes (except maybe second place in a beauty contest), it runs beautifully and is a joy to play. Vert skating is a lot easier to get a handle on, at least in the early goings. Finding lines and hitting tricks in the street is far more difficult. But part of the fun is embracing the challenge - especially with the knowledge that the only thing keeping you from succeeding is your own skill.

Skate is expected to arrive on PS3 and 360 in September. Lace up your Chuck's, there's only three months to go.

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