Skater XL Reviews

Skater XL delivers on its promise of being an accurate simulator but falls short of being a good video game.

Originally announced and released a while ago, as a spiritual successor to the then-dead skateboarding genre, most notably EA’s Skate series, Skater XL is one of the main releases I missed out on last year. It’s quite weird to tackle it right now, as the skateboarding gaming landscape has vastly changed over the past few months. Skate is coming back, and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 was released to critical and commercial acclaim, leaving this once promising community-driven indie left as...

Even with some of the issues the game has, it is really entertaining!

Skateboarding may not be part of the pop culture zeitgeist like it was during those heady Tony Hawk days, but it’s still a popular pastime that comes with its own culture attached. It’s surprising, then, that outside of the excellent OlliOlli, the extreme sport has been underrepresented on the PlayStation 4. Skater XL is indie team Easy Day Studios’ attempt at plugging the gap – at least until Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 and Skate 4 arrive.

The world seems to keep changing, but one thing is still the same and that’s our love for skateboarding. Skater XL is the newest simulator skating game by California-based developers, Easy Day Studios. This evolution in the genre uses independent foot control and a unique physics system to carve a spot in the limelight. After one and a half years in Early Access development, the game is now out on consoles and PC as version 1.0. Unfortunately, this “extra-large” skateboarding paradise i...

Fast forward to 2020 and that need for a skating game has re-emerged. After flooding the market during the late 90s and early 2000s, fans of extreme sports have been living in a 10-year drought, yearning for a game that faithfully replicates the sport. Grinding its way to the Playstation 4 is Easy Day Studios’ Skater XL, but is this the skateboarding simulator that many of us have been waiting for?

Skater XL at its core is decent fun, but its lack of worthwhile objectives and lacklustre performance sees it fail to stick the landing

The problem is that while the game's ambitions are "XL," there's nothing "XL" about the full package. It feels like there are critical features missing, like the ability to play with friends or the ability to do anything with your skills beyond just perform them for yourself over and over. It's a slog once you've mastered these tricks and there's nothing left to do. It's even worse if you don't have the patience to learn, because at that point, there's literally nothing this game has to offer you. And given that the PS4 version of the game had performance hitches at various points, I can envision people's patience wearing thin quickly.

Skater XL doesn’t have to be for you. It’s a simulator with innovative physics-based mechanics in a genre that has long been built around arcade-style unrealistic tricks, racking up points, and nailing huge combos. If you’re looking for that classic experience, you’re best waiting for Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 + 2. But, if you’re somebody who loves customizing and living your best-simulated life with no need for objectives to complete, this is absolutely the game for you.

Despite trying to capture a more realistic skateboarding system, Skater XL's high points are brought down by some rough areas which could use some work. With more updates and fine-tuning, it does at least have the potential to be an XL package rather than an XS snoozefest.

Skater XL softens some of the more technical aspects of the sport, but empowers players with the ability to pull off stylish tricks with a swish of the analogue sticks. Even with a lack of content and polish, Skater XL stands on its own four wheels in a soon-to-be-crowded marketplace, providing players with an experience that prioritises fun over simulation.

Despite a legitimately innovative and satisfying control and trick system, Skater XL just feels incomplete.

I mentioned this in my interview with Easy Day Studios, but I have essentially waited for a game like this to release before I even started working for DualShockers. The once elusive, but now announced Skate 4, and really the skateboarding genre as a whole, has been part of many E3 editorials I’ve written the past couple of years. It is one of the very few genres I really identify myself with. So, to see a small studio like Easy Day Studios create something that is not only reminiscent of the games that clearly influenced them, but overall improves on what its predecessors did, is heartening. Sure, it has its fair share of flaws, but none of them take away from how much fun I’ve had. Skater XL has successfully brought back the skateboarding genre, and I am eager to see how Easy Day Studios supports the game moving forward.

Skater XL is being positioned as a platform but on console it still feels a bit too much like a prototype. Regular glimpses of promise appear when I operate within its limits and focus on managing its complex controls and limit myself to earnest, realistic skateboarding, but ultimately it seems more like a skateboarding video tool than a fleshed-out game. It’s faithfully dedicated to skating’s Californian roots and – like real skating – it can look pretty slick when you edit out the misses, but with all its rough edges and without the PC’s huge mod environment, I’d anticipate only serious skateboarders will stay on board here.