{"id":28135,"date":"2025-09-30T17:12:05","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T16:12:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/geimers.com\/?p=28135"},"modified":"2025-09-30T18:25:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T17:25:11","slug":"review-of-the-early-access-of-skate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/geimers.com\/en\/review-of-the-early-access-of-skate\/","title":{"rendered":"Review of the Early Access of Skate"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Skate, one of my great passions, and although it\u2019s been over a year since I last picked up a board, I still enjoy watching videos, competitions, skater fashion, etc.<\/p>

Why am I telling you all this? It seemed like a good introduction to tell you that\u00a0Skate.<\/em>, the new installment from EA, has been released, aiming to revive the magic of skateboarding as its previous installments did. Although, in the developers’ words, this is neither a sequel nor a remaster\u2014it\u2019s an independent product\u2014we couldn\u2019t help but think when it was announced that it was\u00a0Skate 4<\/em>. After a few years and countless videos of the pre-alpha (as they called it), the hype for a new skateboarding game was through the roof. Finally, on September 16 of this year, the new\u00a0Skate<\/em>\u00a0was released (in early access) for various platforms. Some people liked it, some didn\u2019t. What did I think? Let\u2019s find out now.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Changes in this new installment<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Let\u2019s start with the basics and what sets this\u00a0Skate<\/em>\u00a0apart from the previous installments. While the earlier games had a \u201cstory,\u201d this\u00a0Skate<\/em>\u00a0does not. Personally, I don\u2019t mind, as the previous stories weren\u2019t very compelling and weren\u2019t what excited me most about the game. The next most notable difference is the price. While the previous installments cost money, this one is \u201cfree to play.\u201d I must admit that when they announced it would be free to play, I was worried for obvious reasons (paywalls, microtransactions, etc.). Another difference is that this game is entirely online. This didn\u2019t bother me at all because, like any normal human being in 2025, I have internet at home. I mention this because, of all the new \u201cfeatures\u201d this installment brings, this has been by far the most hated. With the fundamental differences pointed out, let\u2019s dive into the game.<\/p>

As soon as you start, the game asks you two questions: if you like skateboarding culture and if you\u2019ve played\u00a0Skate 3<\/em>. I answered yes to both. Then, you\u2019re placed in the tutorial area, a sort of island where you\u2019re taught how to ride, do tricks, and grind with the skateboard. After this tutorial, you\u2019re transported to San Vansterdam, the new location in this installment. In\u00a0Skate 1<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a02<\/em>, the map was San Vanelona, a city inspired by Barcelona (a current paradise for skaters), and\u00a0Skate 3<\/em>\u00a0was set in Port Caverton, inspired by San Francisco, a pioneer city in skateboarding with some of the most iconic spots in history. San Vansterdam takes inspiration from both, as you can see spots very similar to those in the previous installments. For example, \u201c2nd and Navy\u201d (a clear reference to a real spot in San Francisco called \u201c3rd and Army\u201d) partially reappears here, just with a different name, and Hardcore Plaza resembles Matrix Plaza from\u00a0Skate 2<\/em>.<\/p>

San Vansterdam is divided into four fully skateable sections from the start: Hedgemont, Gullcrest Village, Market Mile, and Brickswitch. These sections are fully connected on one map. For example, in\u00a0Skate 3<\/em>, you had three separate districts: the university, the hotel, and the industrial areas. To switch districts, you had to pause the game, go to the map, select the district, and choose where in the district you wanted to appear. In this new installment, that doesn\u2019t happen because, as I mentioned earlier, the districts are connected.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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