It was a dark time for video game skateboard fans from 2010 to 2020. Many game developers stopped making skateboard video games, and the only game released was the poorly received Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 in 2015.
Fortunately, game developers knew the gap in the market and in 2020 we finally received some new skateboard games again. First we received Skater XL from an indie developer and later in the same year Activision triumphantly released Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2.
At the same time, small developer Crea-ture Studios was working on its own skateboarding game Session: Skate Sim. Session: Skate Sim was in early access on both Xbox and PC platforms, but eventually the game will be fully completed in 2022.
Before you want to pick up and play Session: Skate Sim, it is worth telling all players that this game is really a skateboard simulator. Unlike the accessible arcade gameplay of the Tony Hawk series, Session: Skate Sim has a steep learning curve.
Even the game manual has a warning label that reads: “Session is a difficult game and will test your patience. Let us advise you”. As with Skate and Skater XL, you have to use the left and right analog sticks to control your skater and the tricks you do.
An odd choice Crea-ture Studios made with the game is that you have to spin your skater with the left and right triggers. You can’t just turn left or right using the left analog stick like in most other games.
I must say, Session: Skate Sim takes a long time to master, and it will test your patience and skill. Each stick represents your front and back feet, and you should also change your stance when you’re in a linked stance.
Fortunately, the game has a trick list that you can check out by pressing the pause button on your controller. Unlike in Tony Hawk games, Session requires you to position yourself perfectly if you want to grind or slide on a rail or ledge. Failure to position yourself correctly will result in a painful bail.
Another thing I admire about Session is the fact that it includes game sliders. You can adjust the sliders to make your skate jump higher or grind longer. You can even make them spin faster to complete difficult tricks.
Alternatively, you can leave the sliders at their default settings to make the gameplay feel more realistic.
It is also worth noting that this game focuses solely on street skating. For some reason the full game no longer allows you to do grabs. There are some pools that you can skate in, although you can’t do cool vert tricks like you can in other skateboarding games.
However, Session: Skate Sim still feels like a complete game compared to the bare-bones single-player content offered in Skater XL. There are countless missions to undertake, and you will visit the cities of New York, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. If you ordered the deluxe version of the game, you also get an extra area to skate in.
In terms of missions, you don’t see any of the crazy tasks you have to do in the Tony Hawk games. Instead, you can do more realistic missions like specific combos or skate a perfect line to record your progress. There are even some missions where you can position objects to create the perfect line too!
As I said before, it takes a lot of skill and patience to master the controls in this game. You have to turn the analog sticks precisely if you want to perform tricks like a 360 flip or an impossible. You also need to approach rails at a certain angle before you can grind on them successfully.
Graphically, I was actually impressed with how big all the cities in this game were. The levels are much larger than the individual stages found in the older Tony Hawk games. You can also unlock many clothes in the Skate Shops to get better clothes and equipment for your skater.
While I’ve enjoyed most of what this game has to offer, Session: Skate Sim unfortunately suffers from some flaws that prevent it from being my all-time favorite skateboarding game. One of the biggest problems with the game is that it has too many bugs and glitches.
My biggest complaint is that sometimes the game can’t recognize certain moves you make to complete missions. For example, I oiled over a trash can several times, but the game didn’t recognize it. Another time I grinded a tennis blender, but I still couldn’t finish the mission.
The game also has a bad HUD that doesn’t explain well what to do. Instead of using a handy arrow, you see a poorly edited scribble that sometimes doesn’t tell you exactly where to go. There is also a mission that I can’t complete because the time limit is too strict for me to do the tricks in time.
For those who want to compete with others online or in their own home, you will be sad to hear that there are no multiplayer modes in this game! This is due to the fact that this game does not have any score meter. The game only has small competitions in the campaign where you only compete against the AI for a high jury score.
The music in Session: Skate Sim is also very disappointing as it only contains Reggae and instrumentals. You won’t hear punk rock, rap or indie rock music like the ones in Tony Hawk, Skate or Skater XL.
Overall, Session: Skate Sim offers realistic gameplay with multiple different cities for you to skate in. The only things holding the game back are the multiple bugs, lack of multiplayer game modes, and lackluster soundtrack.
Verdict: 7.5/10
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