So, last night (or early early this morning to be more accurate) I downloaded and played through the Skate 2 demo. It’s a timed demo, but you can extend the 5 minute limit by completing challenges. Or you could ignore them and skate around for five minutes. I did a bit of both.
I really enjoyed the first Skate, until well, it got too darn hard. I thought the “Flickit” controls were innovative and more natural than Tony Hawk’s insane button combos. But, I guess everyone did. So I’m a bit excited for the release of Skate 2. I’m hoping they ease up on the difficulty a bit and give us a little more online and multiplayer variety. I also hope differentiating between a kickflip and shoveit is easier.
Anyway, the demo offers optional tutorial videos to watch if you don’t know how to use the controls. I skipped most of them, because the onscreen prompts were clear enough. The challenges ramped up well, and the controls feel as tight as ever. The graphics looked improved from the first Skate, but its hard to tell if they will be as good in the actual retail game. You are confined to one skate park in the demo.
The addition of new footplants and handplants is promised in the sequel but I didn’t actually get to see any of that. I was able to see the new ability to get off your board and move objects in the environment. In one of the demo’s challenge you have to trick up on a funbox that is impossible to reach without moving a ramp. It wasn’t all that exciting in the demo, why don’t they just put the ramp there? But, I guess I can see the online potential it has.
I don’t think you can ever gauge a game by its demo. But if you can’t wait for your next Skate fix check it out. If you’re new to the series and want to get a head start on the game, the demo is a good training ground.
I’m certainly going to rent the game after it comes out, and maybe even buy it; but I’ve still got a backlog of 2008 games to get to.