Skate's Flailing Frenzy: Viral Chaos vs. Reality Check on Steam
AI Gaming News Author · IGN South Africa ·
The new *Skate* game has gone viral for its hilariously unintended 'flailing' movement exploits, but this delightful chaos isn't enough to rescue its 'Mixed' Steam review score, as players air grievances over missing core features, monetization, and technical issues, leaving many wondering if early access is truly an excuse for an unfinished experience.
Right, mate, you know that feeling when you're playing a game and you stumble upon something so utterly bizarre, so hilariously unintended, that you just have to share it? That's precisely what's happening with the new *Skate* game. After years in the digital ether, the next iteration of the beloved skateboarding series has finally landed in early access, and frankly, some of the most talked-about moments don't even involve, well, *skateboarding*.
I’ve been tinkering with this story all morning, and bloody hell, it’s wilder than it first appeared. While EA’s *Skate* – developed by Full Circle – is meant to be all about carving up virtual concrete, players have apparently discovered a cheat code for defying gravity and good sense. Forget ollies and kickflips; we're talking about a viral sensation of players 'rolling, spread-eagling, falling, and sliding' across the map. One chap, KontoLetzPlay, summed it up perfectly: 'Bro what am I even playing rn why is this faster than skating.' Fair dinkum, you’ve got to love the internet for this kind of glorious chaos.
Now, my naturally curious wizard brain immediately started buzzing: what *is* this sorcery? Turns out, it's a wonderfully unintuitive dance. According to KontoLetzPlay, you just hold forward, then alternate between a roll and a spread eagle. The roll gives you speed, a little jump from it sends you airborne, and the spread eagle? That gives you *more* speed in the air and lands you in a glorious, momentum-carrying slide. Repeat until you’re essentially a human catapult. It’s simple, yet utterly ridiculous, and clearly not what the developers had in mind. It's the kind of beautiful, emergent gameplay that usually makes an indie dev beam, but for a AAA title from EA? It's a proper head-scratcher.
But here’s where the optimistically chaotic joy of flailing around collides head-on with the cold, hard steel of player expectations. While these physics-defying antics are generating some fantastic viral clips, they haven’t been enough to distract from the 'Mixed' aggregate score *Skate* is currently sporting on Steam. With over 6,300 user reviews, it seems a fair chunk of the community is less than impressed. And to their credit, many of the complaints ring rather familiar, don't they?
According to the excellent folk over at IGN South Africa (and cheers to them for digging into this mess!), PC players are griping about everything from crashing – a classic early access bugbear – to poor voice acting and, most notably, a distinct lack of beloved features. Remember the glorious, bone-crunching 'Hall of Meat'? Or the iconic 'Game of Skate'? Yeah, well, many players reckon they’re conspicuous by their absence. One reviewer lamented, 'If you're looking for a true successor to Skate 1, 2, and 3, this isn’t it.' Ouch. Another called it 'a soulless cash-grab with a fully functional cash shop inside a 7GB beta.' Bloody hell, that stings.
Reading through the criticisms, it sounds like a classic tale of a long-awaited sequel struggling to live up to its legacy while simultaneously embracing modern monetization trends. 'Online only slop with day one server issues,' 'same challenges over and over for ripoff chips for a spin on the lootbox casino for frankly terrible cosmetics,' 'none of the gamemodes that made the previous games fun.' It's a litany of complaints that suggest *Skate* might have forgotten what made its predecessors so special.
Now, here’s where my gently skeptical side comes out. There’s a counter-argument, of course. Some fans are defending it, pointing out the obvious: 'it's in early access... what don't people understand about that?' And they've got a point – to a degree. Early access is, by its very nature, a work in progress. It's a chance for developers to get player feedback and build the game alongside the community. And IGN's hands-on preview earlier this year *did* suggest the core gameplay felt refined and true to its predecessors, praising the 'big and fun to explore' world and the 'do what you want' vibe.
But what does 'early access' really mean in practice these days? Does it excuse missing core features that were staples of previous entries? Does it make an online-only experience with server issues and a prominent cash shop more palatable? My inner wizard can't help but wonder if 'early access' is sometimes less about community development and more about launching a game that isn't quite ready, with the promise of future fixes. EA’s announcement of microtransactions for cosmetics way back in closed playtests certainly raises an eyebrow – suggesting the monetization plan has been rather solid for a while.
Ultimately, *Skate* is in a fascinating, if somewhat precarious, position. It's got the viral buzz of players accidentally blowing a hole through its physics, showcasing a chaotic fun that wasn't planned. Yet, it’s battling the understandable disappointment of long-time fans who feel their beloved series has been stripped down and monetized. The core 'skate feel' might still be there, but it seems to be buried under layers of questionable design choices and a free-to-play model that many aren't entirely thrilled about. Here's hoping Full Circle takes the feedback to heart, embraces the chaos where it makes sense, and conjures up the *Skate* experience we all truly want. Otherwise, we might just keep flailing our way to victory, mate. And what happens then, eh?
Tags: Skate, Early Access, Gaming Community, Player Feedback, Monetization
Original article: IGN South Africa