Rarely does a new type of sports game come out anymore. It’s even more uncommon for a new type of game to release that is not only satisfying, but also apart of an already existing sub-genre. Electronic Arts’ skate. is that game.

EA’s approach to the skating genre is rather ingenious, and succeeds where other skateboarding games have failed. Simply put, Black Box (the developers of skate.) has created a skateboarding game that is an entirely satisfying and enjoyable simulation for gamers -- skateboarders or not, and does so while never becoming an overbearing simulation. Skate creates an environment similar to that of the first few Tony Hawk games; it’s like nothing else out there, and gamers will now question if anything can ever live up to it in the skateboarding genre.

Yet it’s strange to say that, not every gamer will “get” Skate. The game is utterly immersive, and can be approached in many different ways, but the goal oriented gamer may not enjoy this new EA property. That’s in part due to a relatively short “Career” mode (taking about 10-12 hours to complete the main missions if the player is average at the game) and in part due to real life skateboarding careers being a bit boring when implanted into an artificial world.

Yet while some gamers won’t be happy with the Career Mode, it’s more of a compliment to Skate’s overall quality that a game mode is its biggest fault.

But before discussing why the Career Mode possibly falls short, it’s important to know why the game is worth playing in the first place.

Skate’s core gameplay takes place entirely on the analog sticks. The left stick controls your skater’s body, and the right stick controls his board (sorry girls, no creating female skaters in this game). It’s easy enough to just flick the right stick in a bunch of directions and make something cool happen, but it’s a testament to the core controls that 20+ hours later people will still be trying to fine tune their skating skills. It’s an even bigger accomplishment that trying to pull off a stylish line in various parts of San Vanelona (Skate’s created world) for hours on end can be just as amusing as going and finding the biggest vert ramp and catching extreme air.

The reason there is such enjoyment doing even the most miniscule things comes back to the aforementioned controls. They are streamlined but it’s addition by subtraction. There’s no ollie button, manual button, or grind button, it’s simply up to the user to line up and land on rails, or to balance the left stick enough to get into a manual.

Of course with the simplified controls there are a few negatives, specifically the lack of moves -- namely the lack of inverts, boneless, and no complies. It’s a shame especially because there’s room to get those moves into the game; so perhaps by the next installment the trick set will be expanded.

Also as users become more comfortable with the controls they will soon discover that a few other buttons are important modifiers in the streamlined control process. To pull off some of the more complicated tricks within the game the user must use the right and left triggers to make the virtual skater grab his board with the specified hand(s). In addition, using the B button in unison with one of the triggers allows for the board to be taken away from the skater’s feet -- allowing for moves such as no footed airs, and Christ airs.

As you pull off these moves another distinct change to the skating sub-genre becomes readily noticeable. Since Skate went with the more simulation/street feel, the camera view will be up close to the board of your skater. Since the camera is so close it adds an extra layer of immersion, and also is a good way to show off the impressive momentum and animation system each skater possesses. The camera will feel uncomfortable at first, but it begins to feel more comfortable with time, and the camera does ease the difficulty of lining up grinds.

But the camera could stand to be farther away when you are skating half-pipes. Usually the camera handles the situation well enough, but other times you will lose your skater for a second and thus not realize where on the pipe the skater is. Because of this issue, you will then be unsure of when to ollie or pump into the next section of the pipe.

Camera issues aside, the aforementioned San Vanelona will be the city in which gamers perfect their moves and complete the “Career” mode.

EA really did a good job with its fictional city, as San Vanelona feels very much alive, and truly is immense in size.

In San Vanelona there are 4 main parts: The Suburbs are self explanatory. The Res is a San Fran knock-off with huge hills. Downtown is also the home of what you would expect -- lots of rails, traffic, and skyscrapers. Finally Old Town houses a good amount of racing spots and creative vert ramps. The sheer size of San Vanelona itself makes it safe to say that a few months from now virtual skaters will still be finding new things to ollie and grind.

Furthermore, not only is the city huge, but it also has a definable character, and each section of the city feels distinct in its own right. This is largely due to level design, but also in large part due to the sound. When skating around Old Town your skater won’t only notice the older architecture surrounding him, but he will also hear the cobblestones below his wheels. When flying around The Res your skateboarder’s wheels will quicken to a frantic pace. When cruising Downtown your skater will not only see the tons of cars, but he will also hear them as they fly by.

But now returning to the original Career Mode complaint -- since the city itself is so vibrant, it’s all the more strange that the Career Mode is so ordinary and mundane. After all, the opening sequence is the pinnacle of the Career Mode. And that opening sequence is awesome no doubt about it, but the Career Mode itself doesn’t possess that type of character.

Granted, the Career Mode is by no means terrible, but if anyone has played a Tony Hawk game before, it’s essentially the same set-up and objectives. First create a skater with a limited amount of customizations tools. Then from there compete in best trick competitions, repeat the trick style competitions, race events, and so forth. The point of doing all these challenges is to get coverage in magazines, which in turn gets sponsors, which in turn makes you money. That’s it.

Skating certainly is heavily about sponsorships and coverage but it’s just not exciting to do in a game. Perhaps in the future the Career Mode will be one area either EA breaks the simulation mold, or otherwise somehow makes the user care about doing these challenges. And just to be clear, the final prize for completing each of the magazine storylines is unlocking the X-Games location, and unlocking Danny Way’s Mega Compound. Both locations are areas skaters will be getting some huge amounts of air.

Lessening the blow of a shallow Career Mode are the multi-player options. There’s party play where you and three other friends can locally play S.K.A.T.E (think H.O.R.S.E. but with flip tricks and spins) or compete in best trick competitions at specific spots. Also there’s a solid amount of online options such as, spot races (do specific tricks at designated gates to pass through them), death races, best trick competitions, or the best of all, a freeskate option. The freeskate is a bit limited in how far users can spread out from one another, but just getting creative with a bunch of friends is what Skate is all about. The only thing that affects the ability to freeskate with others is how much other users sometimes warp. There’s no discernable lag on the controls, but other skaters still pop around too much. Thankfully in replays the warping does not show up.

Speaking of replays, users do have the ability to save the creative lines they come up with, and the replays can be uploaded for the world to see. While on the subject of replays, it needs to be mentioned that the replay system is a bit shallow. Thirty second clips seem to be the limit, and users can’t save one 5 second trick, and then splice it together with another 5 second trick that occurs hours later. It also appears some people are still having trouble with the skate.reel site. Essentially people are having trouble logging into EA.com and so they cannot find their skating footage. There are some workarounds, but nothing seems to be the definitive answer to the problem.

In the end, the mixture of sound, level design and controls all work together so cohesively that it makes it almost hard to imagine how Skate could improve in terms of presentation and level design once the future iterations reach the market. A stronger Career Mode, along with a refined camera and expanded replay feature could make Skate the strongest game out there in not only its sub-genre of extreme sports, but of the sport genre itself.

In either case, Skate has a solid foundation to build upon, and is certainly going to make skateboarding fans question what is the better game for their tastes this Fall -- Skate or Tony Hawk?

Scores

9.5 Overall Presentation: San Vanelona is a well thought out and visually stunning city that blends perfectly with the sounds that encompass it.

9.0 Graphics: The graphics fit the style of the game. They aren’t super realistic but neither should they be when some things, like ragdoll physics, are way over the top.

9.0 Gameplay: The controls, like the game itself aren’t for everyone. There’s certainly a learning curve, but new users can still pull off enough moves to enjoy themselves.

 8.0 Lasting Appeal: The Career Mode is underwhelming, but there are some other side challenges within the mode itself that make the mode a bit more worthwhile. But Skate is more about what the user makes out of the experience.

8.0 Online Options: The game has a solid amount of online modes as well as a simple replay feature that promotes YouTube style sharing. Other players warp around a bit too much in the online matches though -- although there is essentially zero lag.

9.5 Intangibles: The ability to just skate the same object for hours on end and still feel like there’s some other way to grind it is all that needs to be said for intangibles.

8.8 Overall: A fantastic start to a series that hopefully only improves. Once again the game is not for everyone, but even with a stale Career Mode there's still so much to like in terms of gameplay and atmosphere. Give this game a shot, even if you’ve never played a skateboarding game in your life.