When Skate was released in 2007, it took a fresh new approach with a control scheme that made tricks feel more realistic and satisfying than in any previous game. Skate 2 refines this system somewhat and, impressively, adds a wealth of new features and tricks to its predecessor's already sizable...

Intuitive controls for massive trick repertoire; Huge city to explore; Online co-op challenges are a lot of fun

On-foot movement is clumsy at best; Pedestrians get in the way and leave litter; AI of other skaters is questionable

When EA Black Box's Skate dropped in 2007 there was much talk of it being a usurper to the Tony Hawk series' reigning dominance. That particular 500 pound gorilla named "Hawk" is now safely out of the room, which leaves the coming Skate 2 – due for a January 20 release on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3...

the arcadeness of Tony Hawk has lost its allure

skateboarding and youth scare you

Skate 2 builds on a near perfect game, and manages to come out on top offering even more than the original. Featuring a real living and breathing city, backed up with an impressive online experience and gameplay that is near flawless, it makes you wonder where do EA take the series from here.

Dude, bro, it's time once again to pick up your board and head to the streets of San Vanelona for some serious skating. And when I say "serious", I mean it. I've said several times that in terms of realism, Skate is the Madden of the skateboarding genre, and Skate 2 is no different.

Looks nice and shiny, New tricks, Great soundtrack, You can get off your board; .

Create-A-Spot is lacking; Unbalanced difficulty in career mode

Instinctive, with near-infinite potential; only familiarity numbs its raw playable thrills.

A refined and polished sequel to a brilliant skateboarding game.

The increased move-set; which gives you further flexibility on your board; The beautifully designed skateboarding paradise of New San Van; The brilliant 'Create-A-Spot' mode; which adds further replay value

The steep learning curve for "noobs" or the impatient; The clunky on-foot controls; The occasionally annoying camera angle

The anti-establishment sport of skateboarding-rewatch Dogtown And Z-Boys ; those guys wanted to drain your swimming pool, then take your daughter behind the middle school and get her pregnant-needed to have its anarchist edges softened in order to gain mainstream acceptance for videogame purposes.

The game's opening cinema; There's more panache, spirit, and humor in this three-minute prison-yard montage (set to "Showdown" by ELO and "Anubis" by Anubis) than there is in the entire Tony Hawk series

You wind up spending three hours trying to earn a measly 800 points in an "own-the-spot" challenge

The first thing you'll notice when you boot up skate 2 is the vastly decreased load time. Whereas skate would take a few minutes to get you to continuing your career, skate 2 only takes about a single minute.

The familiar "flick-it" control scheme works perfectly here, The framerate and online experience is much better this time around, You can get off your board, but controls suffer a bit; (This has been improved in a recent patch)

Skateboarding is not about kick-flipping over elephants, gapping moving helicopters or sliding the entire length of a roller coaster on a two-foot piece of wood. Sure, there are a handful of individuals who have done that sort of stuff (probably) but the truth is, skateboarding is about hanging...

Skate 2 isn't the innovative sequel that some people had been hoping for, but that doesn't mean it's not fun. With plenty of new areas to explore, some cool new challenges and a bunch of much-needed fixes, Skate 2 is a fantastic follow-up to an already stellar skateboarding game.