Skating games are in a weird place. For better or worse, Tony Hawk is still on an indefinite Pro Skating hiatus, and there’s no sign Skate 4 is happening anytime soon. But in the indie space, you can’t really move for bodacious sk8er bois. In one corner, you’ve got Session reviving Skate’s low-angle technicals. In another, Skatebird is bringing back arcadey combo-busting - resurrecting Pro Skater’s breezey tricks by taking the “Hawk” part of Tony’s name way, way too literally. Earlier today though, this bizarre image ollied its way onto my Twitter feed. I was enthralled. Who is this crystalline Chad Muska tearing their way towards a crimson sun? Why is the lad from Superhot powering through Richard Perrin’s Kairo? To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Manage cookie settings — Skate Story (@skatestorygame) February 16, 2020 This is Skate Story, developer Sam Eng’s latest trick. Described as “new game about skating down into the underworld”, Skate Story drops mullet-toting stoners for a supernatural descent into the skateboarding afterlife. That doesn’t mean it isn’t taking the act of skating deadly serious, though - it looks like Eng is opting for a Skate-esque approach, mirroring the handheld camera angles and thumbstick kickflips. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Manage cookie settings — sam eng (@bysameng) February 16, 2020 Eng’s last game was Zarvot, a self-described “emotional cube game” for Switch. It had its charm, but - for me - Skate Story’s alien routes knock it out of the park. Vast, oppressive vistas giving way to tight, intimate paths, city blocks and rainswept streets giving way to otherworldly chambers. Skating games shouldn’t look like this - and yet, Skate Story does, and I very much desire it. Let me 360 nosegrab my way straight into oblivion. Skate Story is coming “soon”, with no confirmed platforms at this time. In fact, the official website currently just shows an ominous pair of feet. Fair.
