Skate is a game that – as the head of creative at Full Circle, Jeff Seamster puts it – “was commented into existence.”
After five hours spent skating through the streets of San Vansterdam I’m happy to say that skating in Skate feels brilliant, but I’m not entirely sold on its free-to-play ambitions and mission structure just yet.
Skate 3 was 15 years and two console generations ago; in the time since, we’ve seen the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series die and be revived like three times each, and even with the two excellent remake collections, we haven’t had a truly great original skating game from a major publisher since… well, Skate 3. 2025’s Skate might just be that, but it all hinges on a somewhat eerie trio of words: “free to play.”
Instead of bringing back the series in the form it previously took as a full-priced release, Full Circle and EA have made a Skate game that’s all about the community, and to get that community as big as possible, it’s turned to the live service route.
Honestly though, as someone who groans at the idea of a beloved franchise returning as a live service game, it kind of works.
Once again, back is the incredible
At its core, Skate feels like Skate 3. I picked up my controller, and instantly the muscle memory of a decade prior hit in and I could skate like I used to.
For those unaware, Skate is a far more realistic skating game than Tony Hawk, so you won’t be doing massive combos while launching 200ft into the air from a halfpipe. Instead, you use the right analog stick to perform tricks with Street Fighter-esque motion inputs, grab your board with the triggers for grab tricks, and grinding happens naturally as you jump onto a ledge.
However, that doesn’t mean it isn’t a little silly. One of the defining features of the Xbox 360 Skate trilogy was its brilliant ragdoll physics that could sometimes glitch out sending you flying across the map at 100mph and thankfully that’s still present.
While off your board, you can hold the triggers to roll around, you have a button dedicated to diving headfirst, and you can throw your limbs out like a flying squirrel to glide through the air. If you want to get dumb in Skate, you can.
In fact, ironically, being off of your board is where Skate innovates the most. Full Circle has introduced an assortment of movement mechanics for parkour purposes. Everyone who ever played a Skate game has 100% tried to climb to the highest point they can, set a respawn marker, and then launch themselves off it in the most elaborate way possible, which is made so much easier this time around.
Your character has access to Uncharted-esque climbing mechanics as well as wall running, swinging, and the aforementioned dives, meaning getting to those high spots is easier than ever. Plus buildings – like the massive sporting arena in the first area – have architecture made for skating, meaning you won’t be making those treks purely for launching yourself in funny ways.
There’s a place where everyone can be happy
San Vansterdam is your home in Skate and definitely goes for that Californian aesthetic. It’s not quite realistic but certainly not cartoony either.
There are some sterile and muted locations that are right around the corner from a graffiti-filled area with bright neon signs. When the sun hits just right, it nails the feeling of the best Tony Hawk or Skate maps of years gone by.
The city is split into four boroughs and in my time playing I mainly explored the first area. Hedgemont is a jack-of-all-trades kind of area; you have extremely tall buildings and open areas that give way to cramped streets, roads, and a ton of balconies and staircases to bail down. You even have the option to put down objects virtually anywhere, which can turn a random area into a makeshift park or allow you to set up unique lines not offered by the regular architecture.
And of course there are skateparks littered around the map, allowing for a more typical skating experience. EA also mentioned rotating community parks, which are designed to give fresh “experiences every time you log on.” However, I didn’t experience these first hand.
Visually the character models are a middle ground between stylized and actual people, and frankly I don’t love it; it gives off a slight uncanny feeling, like a strange third evolution from Miis to Xbox Avatars.
Or else you’ll be funky
My biggest issue with Skate so far is the mission design. The game opens with a tutorial section on a different island, and then you’re taken over to San Vansterdam for the real thing. There are mini challenges littered around, like doing a specific line, bailing as hard as you can, or collecting wheels while doing specific tricks along the way, but nothing that really posed a significant challenge and I found myself just taking to the open world rather than bothering with these.
Completing these missions will level up the area, which grants you access to more challenges, fast travel points and unlocks items in the shop, with different loot boxes arriving alongside your progression. I wasn’t privy to any premium currencies in the game, but was told microtransactions are limited to cosmetic items only. But again, with the characters looking like that, I’m not too bothered about kitting them out.
I did ask whether collabs were in the cards – specifically if we’ll be seeing Peter Griffin shredding – and while it did result in a frankly killer Peter impression from Seamster, the team said collabs are “100%” in the cards, but they “have to make sense for the game”… which isn’t a definitive no on Peter Griffin.
The game is set to go through seasons too. These will include new missions, features (voice chat is coming in season 2), tricks, and – crucially – new music. The soundtrack to a skating game is always important, and so far I’ve dug the tracks included, with the likes of MF DOOM, Turnstile, and Earth, Wind & Fire making up the tracklist.
Of course, where there are seasons, there’s a battle pass. I asked if single-player content would also be added as the game goes on, and while new missions will be added with seasons, “you won’t see extensive new missions,” according to Seamster.
It was also confirmed that things will leave the game with new seasons, which leads into my main issue. I have no doubt Skate will be a great game for just skating about or hanging out with friends, but I worry it’ll be lacking when it comes to a campaign.
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scott.mccrae9512@gmail.com (Scott McCrae)
