Skate launches to 'Mixed' reviews on Steam, with fans dubbing it a "gentrified version of Skate 3"

After years of waiting and flooding social media for Skate 4, the new entry in the series has launched to mixed reviews on Steam.

The new Skate was commented into existence. In the time since Skate 3's release in 2010 (which is the same year the Tony Hawk series put out its dying breath with Tony Hawk: Shred), people were desperate for a new Skate game, and after almost half a decade of flooding every EA social media with #Skate4, it was finally announced in 2020 (the same year Tony Hawk came back again).

Five years on, and a new Skate is finally here, but some aren't quite happy with what we got. Looking at the game's Steam page shows a Mixed rating with 41% of reviews being positive. The top review on Steam sums it up well: "Everything surrounding the gameplay is a positive. If you liked the old games or skateboarding in general, you should try this game. The problem is basically everything else."

While another calls it the "gentrified version of Skate 3," a lot of the other criticism so far is thrown at the game's art style, with the characters described as "ugly Sims Mobile looking people," and the city itself is very sanitised, while there are missions you replay near constantly. Plus, there are elements from previous Skate games totally absent, like Hall of Meat, Pro Skaters, and a proper story mode.

But at the end of the day, everyone seems to agree that the actual skating is great. I personally have played a ton of Skate by just going around and skating in the free-roam world, so at the very least, what is probably the most important part seems to have been nailed.

Hopefully, some of these issues will be fixed by the Skate early access roadmap and future update plans.