There were, uh, a few issues with the Guerrilla Collective’s stream this evening - and for a moment, I worried we’d been robbed of another look at the Sam Eng’s slick supernatural kickflips.
For the unfamiliar, Skate Story is an atmospheric-as-hell skate ’em up about grinding an otherworldly line into oblivion. Developer Eng has been posting extremely hot skate vibes over on the game’s Twitter for the last few months, bringing the game briefly into the lens of Screenshot Saturday Sundays. Much as I’d like, however, vibes can’t carry a game. Today’s trailer gave us an in-depth look at how, exactly, you’ll be shredding the underworld. Rather than emulating the arcade antics of Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1+2 or the tactile emulation of EA’s Skate (or more recently, Session), Skate Story’s gunning for something of a hybrid approach. Low angle camera shots frame the action, with analogue sticks more directly emulating the motions of leaning your body, triggers to adjust your stance, and a held button-press to push the board. Hopefully, it’s a compromise that manages to carry the weight of something like Session, without leaving my feeling like I’m wrestling with the board just to stay upright.. Lamentably, Skate Story still doesn’t have a release date. In the meantime, I’ve been checking out the work of Blood Cultures, the band that’s pitching some wonderfully haunting pop bops into Skate Story’s soundscape. Whatever you call it, hit our E3 2020 tag for more from this summer’s blast of gaming announcements, trailers, and miscellaneous marketing. Check out the PC games at the PlayStation 5 show, everything at the PC Gaming Show, and all the trailers from the Xbox showcase, for starters.
