Skater XL (2018)

Skater XL is the closest you'll get to a Skateboarding Simulator. While the EA Skate series took us further from the unrealistic, arcade like gameplay of the Tony Hawk games, Skater XL is an even more technical and accurate representation of the difficulty of skateboarding. It's been fixed a bit since launch, after crashing a lot, being riddled with bugs and lag and other problems over time, but it has gotten better. There's no career or story to speak of, but gameplay is amazing.

It's really fun to become good at Skater XL, just like skating in real life. Finding a spot and thinking of a trick or a line, and working hard for it and figuring out the right combination of finger moves is rewarding and can engulf hours of your time. (I clock a few hundred hours at this point). I can't recommend it enough, even though I want so much more from it, and its just not as legendary as say Skate 3, but great effort from Easy Day!

I've had some serious fun with my 6 hours in Skater XL, it reminds me a lot of the Skate 3 days with its camera angles, fluid controls and the grinding is on point. The game is in early access at the time of writing this review (June) so the content is bare bones currently. 2 small maps to choose from, no in game soundtrack, no story mode or challenges, and only a few gear/customisation options to choose from. Thankfully the full release is coming in late July sometime so a big content drop should iron out those issues.

The modding community is whats saving this game in my opinion. Surprisingly I wasn't too put off when I found out about the lack of challenges and "story" mode as the core skating mechanics are really what hook you and if I think about it Skate 3 was at its most fun when you were just messing around doing your own thing, but what I will say is that the lack of maps was a downer. Thankfully there is a dedicated Skater XL discord server that have a comprehensive guide on all things maps, new clothes, new decks, and even modding menus to introduce new mechanics, not to mention a multiplayer mod which is my personal favourite

It must be reiterated that to enjoy the game to its fullest potential and to get its moneys worth, you will need some technical know-how to get the mods working. The discord provides an amazing guide so this shouldn't be too hard and being a tech person myself I found it quite fun to have control over the game files and have the freedom to download whatever map I felt like.

If you're looking to buy this game on the recent steam summer sale and you know your way around a computer then i'd fully recommend getting this game. The skating mechanics are superb and the endless modding possibilities are more than enough to keep me entertained. I can't wait to see what the full release of this game will bring!