Skate review for Xbox 360

Skateboarding games have pretty much belonged to Tony Hawk up to now - newcomer Skate has been much vaunted as a contender for the crown, and now it's here we can decide for ourselves. It's much more of a sim than Tony Hawk, with fantastically authentic skating and a huge freeform city to roam around. The comparison is inevitable, but we think there's more to Skate than just emulating Tony Hawk. Read our full Skate review for Xbox 360 and find out more now!
Click here to read our Skate review for Xbox 360 now!

Skate review for Xbox 360
A grown man using a child's toy as a mode of transport may be a risible notion, but it is one that has kept Tony Hawk in shin pads over the course of eight increasingly flaky games. Amidst inevitable talk of Skate being a Hawk-buster, the big surprise is that The Birdman has had it his own way for so long, with the onus finally falling to the leviathan that is EA to provide a tenable challenge.

To their credit, they haven't simply sought to emulate the Tony Hawk games, as Skate is much more in the simulation mould. The much vaunted control system has been discussed in detail – left stick for board, right stick for body - but it really does make it a different game. Moving a plastic stick instead of pressing a plastic button may not sound that significant on paper (or pdf) but going back to Hawk after an extended bout of Skate immediately feels stunted. A far more skilful approach is required, and with only three basic manoeuvres available the key is in combining them to devastating effect, ideally without shattering your coccyx.

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