EA finally bit the bullet as Skate 4’s production was announced. This is great news for every fan of the series, as it has been a little more than a decade since the last entry.
Based on its current track record, there’s little reason to believe that Skate 4, or whatever it will be called, won’t be a good game. However, there’s always that chance that it might disappoint. So, in an attempt to keep the series (and EA) on the right track, here are a few feature suggestions this next entry should take not only from its immediate predecessor, Skate 3, but also from the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series.
10 THPS: Secret Characters
While the Skate series has its fair share of unlockable characters and pros, aside from Isaac Clarke from Dead Space in Skate 3 and Big Black in Skate 2, none of them are really as notable as the ones in the Tony Hawk series.
Throughout the Tony Hawk franchise, players could unlock all kinds of wacky and nonsensical characters. It featured characters from different IPs like Spider-Man, Doom Guy, and Darth Maul, as well as amusing original characters like demons, Officer Dick, and the Neversoft Eyeball. All of these skaters would most likely only be available in freeskate modes anyway. So, players would be free to be as creative as they want.
9 Skate 3: Deathraces
One of the best qualities of the Skate series is how it represents many different disciplines of skateboarding, be it vert or street skating. There’s something there for every kind of skater.
Even though racing isn’t the most demanding discipline in the games, mechanically, it still deserves a place because of its simplicity. It’s a great objective-based game mode that doesn’t ask players to get too fancy with their skateboard but still allows players to express themselves during the race. It’d be great if Skate 4 even comes with a ‘create-a-race’ sort-of function similar to a skating game’s standard create-a-park feature.
8 THPS: Use Of Real-World Locations
It’s funny to think that the over-the-top, arcade-style skateboarding game features a lot of real-world locations in them while the realistic skateboarding series features mostly fictional ones.
THPS does get the benefit of only having to condense these locations into areas that feel good to skate in as one level; conversely, Skate has to create one much larger map. Plus, Skate maps do obviously take design inspiration from real-life locations. It still doesn’t really match seeing actual skateboard spots in Philadelphia, San Francisco, or New York recreated in video game form, though.
7 Skate 3: Hall Of Meat
Skateboarding is hard, which is something the Skate series represents. How to fall when skateboarding is a skill in its own right. So is how to laugh off the pain of eating some pavement.
That’s what the Hall of Meat represents. At its basic level, Hall of Meat is a fun and silly game mode designed around the player messing themselves up as badly as possible. During normal gameplay, the player usually wants to avoid falling, so being rewarded for it is a nice and relaxing change of pace. The Skate games themselves can be relaxing in their own right, but sometimes the player may have a rough skate session. Hall of Meat is a great way to relieve some of the frustration.
6 THPS: Pro Challenges
Pro Challenges in THPS 4 were kind of like the Michael Jordan challenges in NBA 2k11 before that game even existed. They are objectives based on real-life accomplishments related to each pro in question. It’s a pretty cool concept.
The Skate games were big enough to feature a large number of professional skaters, but they mostly just served as personalities for the player to interact with as well as unlock in freeskate. The challenges the player is tasked to do with them usually only involve average mini-game activities like a game of S-K-A-T-E or 1up. Pro-specific challenges can be a great way to show the player the significance of these skaters and what they contributed to the skating community.
5 Skate 3: Style Customization
One thing that Skate 4 definitely needs to go more in-depth with is the style customization options. This doesn’t just mean more clothes or being able to put multiple tattoos on one part of the player character’s body. That would be really nice, though.
This means style selection affecting not only the way a skater pushes and lands but also how they get on and off their board, how they carry their board, the personal flair in how they execute tricks, how they revert, etc. Every extra bit of detail in customizable animations adds up to a big difference in how the player chooses to express themselves.
4 THPS: Stand-Still Animations
THPS 1+2 has a nice little stand-still animation where the skater will sit down on their skateboard. It’s an extra detail that really doesn’t need to be there, considering the type of game THPS is, but it is a very much appreciated detail.
Skate, on the other hand, is a game where this detail might be a lot more noticeable. Other than looking around aimless and doing emotes, the player character in Skate games never really had very involved stand-still animations when off their board. Setting up lines or creating parks often involves standing still and visualizing the line or experimenting with the object placer for an extended period. It’d be a nice touch if the player character did a small but involved animation during those times.
3 Skate 3: Teammates
Skate 3 featured a teammate system that allowed players to create their own brand and team of skaters to represent it. Players could then take them into offline team competitions to compete as a group as well as do photo ops and video parts. While the teammate AI wasn’t the greatest, it was still a good way to make the player feel like they’re participating in something bigger than themselves.
This feature also gave players a way to more organically create online teams with other players, which felt right at home in the skating culture. It’d be great to see Skate 4 expand on these ideas.
2 THPS: Create-A-Goal
Create-A-Goal is a nice little feature in the Tony Hawk series that allows players to really make those created parks theirs. They can add goals like skate letters, combo letters, and high scores that turn the created park or existing level into its own mode in freeskate.
Skate 2 had something like this with the Create-A-Spot feature. It could definitely be much more involved in Skate 4, though. It could be something like ‘Create-A-Line’ and would involve the player sticking to several self-imposed, in-game criteria to nail their perfect line. They could be judged by how accurately they stuck to the line. This could help the player get better with their precision and execution. At any rate, there are plenty of ideas to toss around with this concept.
1 Skate 3: Dynamic OST
Skate 3 features both a licensed soundtrack and a dynamic interactive OST. The higher the player’s combo multiplier goes, the more involved the interactive track currently playing becomes.
It’s a nice bit of positive reinforcement for the player that can encourage them to skate better and keep a combo line going. It also gives the original music a greater purpose and a reason for the player to favor it over the licensed music. It’s a very nice option to have, depending on what mood the player is in while skating.
NEXT: 10 Best Special Tricks In Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 & 2 Remake, Ranked
