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Game Informer Magazine

When EA and Black Box released "Skate" last year, the game attacked a genre dominated by one series for a decade and changed it forever. By moving the concept of skateboarding in a video game to more realistic influences, they took a risk that paid off. Now the team is hard at work on "Skate 2." Where do they go from here? Bigger and better.

Thanks to the disaster sequence in "Skate It" on the Wii, the fictional city of San Vanelona was destroyed and rebuilt five years later by a large corporation. This allowed the team to start from scratch with the environment. Black Box took note of the small issues players had with the first game, like frustrating citizens and unforgiving cars. Now the people around you are aware you're skateboarding and will jump out of the way. The traffic will also let you just ride.

The team is also improving the all-important control scheme. "Skate's" deep control system allowed players to execute a full gamut of tricks using the sticks and triggers as if they were their own feet and hands. This system makes a full comeback with twice as many tricks. Tricks like the fingerflip (a kickflip performed by using your finger to flip the board), footplants, hippy ollies, no complies and one-foots debut within the grabs and flip tricks system you already know. The team has also added a new grab-the-world button that easily lets the character grab the half pipe coping for handplant tricks.

The other big addition to "Skate 2" is the ability to get off your board. Many fans wanted this in the first game, and Black Box has upped the ante by allowing the player to drag a ton of rails, tables, benches and more around the city. "You want to go to the top of the mountain because you really like the bench that's up there and drag it all the way down to the water front?" asks gameplay producer Jay Balmer. "It will take you like a half hour, but if you want to do it, go ahead."

Black Box plans on revealing even more new features at a later date. Taking the smartest path of "not messing with a good thing" while adding more skateboarding depth, "Skate 2" has us thinking that the franchise may be here to stay. Game Informer Magazine

When EA and Black Box released "Skate" last year, the game attacked a genre dominated by one series for a decade and changed it forever. By moving the concept of skateboarding in a video game to more realistic influences, they took a risk that paid off. Now the team is hard at work on "Skate 2." Where do they go from here? Bigger and better.

Thanks to the disaster sequence in "Skate It" on the Wii, the fictional city of San Vanelona was destroyed and rebuilt five years later by a large corporation. This allowed the team to start from scratch with the environment. Black Box took note of the small issues players had with the first game, like frustrating citizens and unforgiving cars. Now the people around you are aware you're skateboarding and will jump out of the way. The traffic will also let you just ride.

The team is also improving the all-important control scheme. "Skate's" deep control system allowed players to execute a full gamut of tricks using the sticks and triggers as if they were their own feet and hands. This system makes a full comeback with twice as many tricks. Tricks like the fingerflip (a kickflip performed by using your finger to flip the board), footplants, hippy ollies, no complies and one-foots debut within the grabs and flip tricks system you already know. The team has also added a new grab-the-world button that easily lets the character grab the half pipe coping for handplant tricks.

The other big addition to "Skate 2" is the ability to get off your board. Many fans wanted this in the first game, and Black Box has upped the ante by allowing the player to drag a ton of rails, tables, benches and more around the city. "You want to go to the top of the mountain because you really like the bench that's up there and drag it all the way down to the water front?" asks gameplay producer Jay Balmer. "It will take you like a half hour, but if you want to do it, go ahead."

Black Box plans to reveal even more new features at a later date. Taking the smartest path of "not messing with a good thing" while adding more skateboarding depth, "Skate 2" has us thinking that the franchise may be here to stay.