10 Things We Want To See From Skate 4
A new Skate ten years in the making.
After more than a decade of silence, EA has finally announced work is in progress for a new instalment in the critically acclaimed Skate series during Thursday's EA Play Live event.
Rumours have been circulating about the possibility of a new title in the franchise ever since Skate 3 was released in 2010, though it seemed like the death knell had been sounded on the series when originally developer EA Black Box closed in 2013.
Despite the EA Play Live announcement offering little more than just the fact that the game is being worked on in the early stages of development, fans have already been worked into a frenzy, with American musician Tyler, The Creator being unable to hide his excitement online.
With a new Tony Hawk's Pro Skater game on the horizon, it seems that we're on the brink of a full-blown skateboarding game renaissance, and we're all for it.
However, while anticipation for the game has already reached fever pitch, it's important to remember just how much the world of gaming has changed in the preceding decade. For the new Skate game to continue to capture the imagination of skateboarding fans everywhere it must simultaneously innovate but also stay true to what made the original titles so popular.
10. A Good Story
Look, I get it, it's a skateboarding game. We're not looking for anything resembling a Shakespearean epic, and gameplay has to be the top priority for the upcoming title. Having said that, there's no reason why Skate 4 can't also include a decent storyline to provide some backdrop on what's going on in the world around the player.
The first three games did this pretty successfully, as the player experienced the highs and lows of being a professional skateboarder, ultimately being thrown in jail at the end of the first game and then forced to relearn their skills while the sport is being persecuted by the villainous Mongo Corp in the second.
However, at the conclusion of Skate 3, the player has reached the top of the proverbial mountain in the skateboarding world, so it would be cool for EA to revitalise the series by allowing us to take control of an entirely new protagonist and work all the way up from the bottom once more in an entirely new setting.