I felt old when I found out Skate 3 came out 10 years ago. There hasn’t really been any game noteworthy in the skating genre since. With the upcoming Tony Hawk remake and the announcement of Skate 4, we could easily forget some other (lesser known) contenders for the skate game of the moment. Session and Skater XL showed some promise while still in beta. Session is not quite there yet but Skater XL makers Easy Day Studios decided now is the time to unleash Skater XL.
Freedom of expression
Skater XL uses the next logical evolution we’ve seen in the skate game genre. Tony Hawk games made full-on use of pre-rendered tricks which could be performed with a combination of buttons. This made it possible to perform out of this world tricks and perform unrealistic combo’s. I had tons of fun with this arcade rendition of the sport. I did grow tired of this approach after a few reiterations of the same principle. Luckily Skate came on the scene and fixed my craving for more realism. Their “flick it” system in which you used the joysticks to control the tricks felt much more realistic. Of course, the game still used some AI interference to aid us but the shift towards more realistic controls was definitely beneficial for the number of sales the skate franchise made.
Skater XL tries to augment the realism factor even further. While Skate mostly uses the flicking of the right stick to execute tricks, Skater XL uses both sticks. Each foot is controlled separately. This means you can make your feet move independently to have full “Freedom of Expression”. Just like in real life, everybody has his own skate style. If you let one person perform a kickflip and compare it to another person, you’ll most likely see the same trick but with a different style to it. Skater XL lets you also perform your own versions of iconic tricks. With the ability to have so much control over your feet, you’ll almost never perform a certain trick in the same way.
Physics
Skater XL doesn’t “guide” the tricks but uses physics to its full extent. Scooping your back foot to the side will initiate a sideways spin but to actually land that shove-it, you’ll need to catch the board in time. Failing in doing so will make you land on concrete. Jumping towards a grindable object was almost comical in Tony Hawk and the “auto-latching-on” was also apparent in the skate series. In Skater XL you’ll have to control the angle of your board in order to perform that feeble grind. More often than not, the laws of Newton won’t be at your side to perform that epic line you had in your head.
Skater XL tries to be a skating simulation instead of a pure game. I feel this is also their main selling point. You can really try to master that kickflip and make it as stylish as you wish. With a press of a button, you can return to a previously placed marker to reposition your skater when not satisfied with a trick. Switching to the video editor is done with ease and can make you look even more awesome. With a community already trying to outdo themselves, you might want to work on your camera skills as much as on your skating skills.
Sandbox
In Skater XL it is all about expressing yourselves as a skater. There are 5 official maps included which can be used to create the sickest lines. The easy day high school and the west L.A. courthouse were my favorites to shred on. In essence, you just skate around in Skater XL making your own lines and challenging yourself. If you want a story or more stuff to do, you’ll be disappointed. As said before, Skater XL is a simulation and not really a game. Each map has some preset lines you can try to perform but other than that, it’s up to you to find your own path. There is no end goal either, besides getting good in performing the tricks and outdoing your friends/the community in creating epic lines.
Glitchy
On paper, everything until now might’ve sounded fine but sadly I have to conclude Skater XL is a great concept but not yet finished to be unleashed. The number of glitches I came across while playing is unreal for a “1.0” version of a game. I probably clipped through every surface. The physics system sometimes glitches so bad it became funny. I performed great runs to see them end prematurely by an invisible obstacle. The list goes on and on, and frankly, this is such a shame. I had so many high hopes (and in a way still have) for this game. The concept is so awesome and the twin-stick control feels almost on point. Sadly the rest of the game is so underwhelming I won’t be playing it until a potential update is released and maybe fixes a whole bunch of things first.
Conclusion
The twin-stick controls and the heavily relying on physics is a great evolution for the Skating game genre but is sadly poorly executed in an empty game. On PC this game had a lot of brilliant mods to save it but on consoles, I feel it is doomed. Maybe updates and opening the console version up for mods can be a game-changer, for now, I would stay away from it.
