my eyes hurt and my ears are broken

...as that dude in Jawbreaker once sang. Wow, its been a fucking while my little corpse humpers, but you have always been at the back of my mind.

My time is all taken up, and no, i have not defected to Twatter - Hey, I don't wanna know what you had for lunch, or whether that hot chick is gonna let you finger-bang her - I have enough grinding minutae of my own without reading about some cunt called 'xMothBall89x' or whatever telling me about his McFlurry. Fuck off. NOW.

I may change this shit up, as i really dont have time for reviews and lets face it, what can i add that probably hasn't already been said in a more articulate way. Instead i may point yo' asses in the right direction of the good shit, rather than enthuse like a fanboy with a raging boner. Probably go back to the ranting shit, give yo' the heads up on the skinny and use lots of other phrases stolen from 'Buddyhead'.

Maybe later.

...and Guitar Hero cos its stealing all my time.

I solemnly promise to start writing reviews on here again, film reviews this time.

I know, I know, empty promises as ive said this before....

Please....give me one more chance baby.

Put some weight on it!

When I first heard EA had announced that they were making a skating game my first thoughts turned to their previous effort, the laughable 'Street Sk8ter', which was launched around the time the all-conquering Neversoft/Tony Hawk franchise was taking off. Of course, it bombed. Mainly because it was an awful, awful game which seemed like a cheap cash-in on the boombing sales of ..Hawk. Now EA have decided to try another toe in the water and challenge yet again to conquer the now globally established behemoth that is the Tony Hawk series, which is currently about to release its 9th (!) inception. So, looks like they are even going head to head and of course there can only be winner.

Being a huge fan (especially the first two games) of the ...Hawk series in general may present problems with reviewing as it may seem that I could be a little biased, but as anyone who has stuck with the series will tell you, things aint the same as it used to be in the land of ..Hawk. Project 8 was ok, but it seemed like a glossy repetition of previous versions, and I try and forget the two T.H.U.G entries, as they started the trend for the ludicrious stunts and daft objectives that took away the small element of realism that existed in earlier versions. I have also had the priveledge of playing a demo of the latest installment, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground on Xbox 360, and, well, it seemed to be more of the same. I then gave the EA skate. demo a try, just to see if it was any good, and well...read on

Wow. Simple as that. This is the skateboard game I have been waiting for. More realistic, in the sense that you really have to learn and put the time in. You can't just pick it up and start doing 900's all over the shop, you have to learn from scratch - no random button pressing - skate. uses the L + R control sticks for turning and tricks, and the L + R triggers for grabs. Taking time to master the various flips can be time-consuming but once you get it, its something else. It feels more natural and organic than...Hawk, more of a simulator than an arcade game. It is so utterly absorbing as you skate around the free-roaming and very realistic environment, choosing lines and spots to experiment with. And, when you hit a sweet running line, you can use the replay editor and edit your stuff which you can upload online for all to see.

skate. also has challenges and goals but you have no set time limit so you can just session away until you actually complete the challenge, which feels far more relaxing and less pressurised adding to the slack, laid-back attitude that the game presents. The graphics are great, soundtrack excellent but perhaps the only down-side is the game's camera angle, which sometimes obscures obstacles as you approach them, leaving you slamming to the asphalt. But, hey, thats a very minor gripe...

Online is fantastic as well - no cheats here, unlike the people on ..Hawk who seemingly fly through the air for the entire duration of the online match scoring unbelievably high. Nope, EA's online functions are excellent, my personal favourite being the spot battles - up to 6 skaters have 3 attempts to hit a spot. There is also a freeskate online mode, so you can hook up with a few friends and skate away to your hearts content.

EA's skate. is in my opinion, a breath of fresh air in the videogame skating genre, cos let's face it, ..Hawks dominance had gone stale and un-challenged for soooo long. This is truly a game for people who want to take things a little bit more seriously and it pays off in spades.

Labels: EA skate Tony Hawk Xbox 360 skateboard videogame Neversoft Proving Ground

Its been a while since i last spoke with you all. "Whats the reason this time?" I hear all two of you cry - Well, its really quite simple - I forgot my log-in details. Duh.

So now I am back, and oh my brothers and sisters I have such things to show you.

Gonna try and do a weekly 'bit', keep shit more regular, keep you dudes in the loop. More TV, Film, Music and Game reviews coming your way, you lucky lucky people.

Plus, if you play Wii or Xbox 360, if you email me I will stick you on my friends list, so I can kick your arse.

Back in a bit,

Lots of love,

ghostmonkeygeneral.