Skate has become a staple in the skateboarding genre. Through its realistic controls and unique mechanics, it paved the path for many other sports titles. Skate 4 has the potential to widen the series' core mechanics, as well as provide players with more of the customization options that help make Skate so unique.
The ability to customize and create skaters, boards, and even environments has allowed Skate to provide fans with a non-stop flow of fresh, exciting content. By learning from its predecessors and adapting to a more modern generation of gamers and skaters, Skate 4 could give players even more creative freedom.
Changes With the Times
The first entry in Skate was released in 2007, and it only featured a limited amount of customization options for players. The character creator was essentially the bare minimum, only allowing players to choose from a small selection of slightly different body types, hairstyles, and features. Later games expanded on the options and allowed for more character customization.
Similar to how video games have grown and developed over the years, so has the skateboarding industry. Each new entry in the Skate series would often feature new and different pros as well as different and up-to-date brands of equipment. A modern entry in the Skate series would surely feature many old-school characters and boards, but also needs to stay with the times and keep fans happy with the options they have.
Aside from only featuring brand-name companies, Skate has previously allowed players to create their own designs and logos via EA’s Graphics Creator. Though this process was slightly limited due to the constraints on importing high-resolution graphics to an Xbox 360 or PS4 back in 2010, modern technology makes designing and exporting graphics simple. The next game in the series should allow fans to easily create, upload, and share their own designs.
The Skater Makes the Game
Unlike other skating sim games, Skate does not rely on stats or skill points, each skater has the same ability, and it is up to the player’s own skill to determine how well they will do in this open world playground. And since different skaters are purely cosmetic, it makes it all that more important to allow players to customize their characters with great specificity.
Series such as Dark Souls and Elder Scrolls have become staples in character creation and have allowed players to create unique and even photo-realistic characters, with fans spending hours adjusting their models to perfectly fit their needs. Skate plays and progresses similarly to an RPG, and could therefore benefit from adopting in-depth character creation tools from these types of games.
The original game put a major focus on both photography and videography. Players were often challenged to complete a specific series of tricks while being photographed or videoed, and could then watch back this media and save or edit it. Skate 3 also included the ability to share and view other players’ media, adding a larger sense of community.
The Hall of Meat has been featured in every game in the franchise, and it is a sort of mini-game that rewards players for crashing and bailing in fun and interesting ways. The first Skate only featured it as a photo challenge, whereas the next two games allowed players to bail manually and control their character with rag-doll physics. This unique experience has since only been available to players in the singleplayer, but could easily be expanded into multiplayer and allow players to share their own challenges.
The next entry in the series could further expand on sharing media through the many different mediums of media sharing that are now accessible. Modern consoles and PCs have made it exceptionally easy to share content, meaning Skate 4 would have the perfect platform to allow players to exchange their unique designs, ideas, and experiences.
Creating a Perfect Park
An addition to the series that really excited fans was Skate 3’s Create-a-park. This feature has been present in similar games such as Tony Hawk Pro Skater, but has a much different feel since these games have a more arcadey approach, while Skate is more realistic.
That being said, players had the option to create a simple skate park or a giant, ramp-filled mega park, all of which could be shared and played online with other skaters. Creating and sharing different parks kept the Skate 3 community together and gave players a creative way to share different ideas. Many games, such as Grand Theft Auto Online have also adapted to player-created content and show just how successful it can be.
Skate 4 has the groundwork for amazing user-generated content that just needs to be introduced to modern times. Options for customization, creation, and sharing have only grown in the 10 years since that latest entry in this series, and fans should be excited about the potential this franchise has.
Skate 4 is currently in development.