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Shaun White is a man of many talents. Not content with his host of gold medals in snowboarding, the young adrenaline junkie thought he’d win a few tournaments on a skateboard too. While most people associate Shaun with the powdery white stuff, his skills on a skateboard often go unnoticed. Ubisoft is hoping to change all that with Shaun White: Skateboarding, a game that continues the success started on the slopes. Where EA’s Skate series places an emphasis on realistic physics and accurate controls, and Tony Hawk continues his obsession with plastic peripherals, Shaun White looks to take the skating genre into brand new territory.
Refreshingly, the inspiration for the game came from Shaun himself, who told Ubisoft that as a skater, he sees the world in a very different way to us normal folk. Where we might simply see a bench or a wall, he sees a grind opportunity and a 7ft drop demanding to be tricked off. His very perception of the world around him is the motivation for the game, a fact that’s reflected in the interesting new mechanic driving the game.
Each environment starts out grey and lifeless; not the kind of place you’d go to skate. But by tricking in the right places, life is gradually restored to the area. Trees burst into bloom, shops open and colour seeps into each and every area of the environment. While in the written form this might sound a bit namby-pamby, there was a really satisfying aura to the mechanic. A somewhat flimsy narrative attempts to contextualise this restoration process, and depicts Shaun’s struggle against a movement known as the Ministry. For reasons yet to be explained, this shady organisation is intent on taking over the world with their banishment of life and colour. Being the hero that he is, Shaun takes it upon himself to fight the good fight and take on the Ministry, bringing a bit of colour back to the city in the process.
The script has actually been penned by John Veiner (of Family Guy fame), so there’s hope that the story could actually be quite comical. Clearly the game doesn’t take itself too seriously, which can only be considered a good thing given the implausibility of the actual skating mechanics. As stated previously, the game is about seeing an environment through the eyes of a skater, and in SWS that means taking full advantage of the surrounding area.
What may first appear to be green grind rails are actually tools to manipulate the level. By grinding said apparatus, players are able manipulate the path of the rail using the analogue stick. This process is referred to as shaping, and is the unique hook at the heart of the experience. Although limited to a 30ft distance, the mechanic allows players to reach areas of the level not otherwise accessible. The same manipulation trick can be applied to quarter pipes and vert ramps; by tricking over the green stumps of these yet-to-be-formed structures, Shaun is able to create a skating environment tailored to his tastes.
If you’re not happy with the environment you’ve shaped, a quick tap of the reset button will restore the area to its original state, and allow Shaun to shape it all over again. On top of the new shaping mechanics, SWS features the full range of other features we’ve come to expect from the genre over the years. That includes an open world skating environment, multiplayer modes and over 80 real world tricks.
Although the shaping mechanics throw realism out the window from the word go, the tricks and board behaviour feel true to form. Striking the right balance between realism and enjoyment is a problem that the extreme sports games have struggled with over the years; a difficulty demonstrated perfectly by Shaun White Snowboarding. As a result of getting this crucial balance wrong, the game found itself lumbered with an identity crisis. Hopefully this is a problem laid to rest in Skateboarding.
The video game medium has seen countless skateboarding games over the years, and although Shaun White does something very different with the concept, it begs the question – do we really need another? For those that can’t get on with the serious skating on offer in Skate, there’s something here to enjoy, but I’m slightly concerned that the shaping mechanic will grow old sooner that it should, and the game lurking underneath won’t satisfy the needs of hardcore skating fans. As always, only time with the full game will prove or soothe these worries.
Shaun White Skateboarding is out on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii this autumn.
