skate., the fourth installment in the longtime Skate series, has officially arrived in Early Access after a few years of playtesting and a long 15 years since the release of the last title, Skate 3. Since it was announced back in 2020, skate. became one of the most anticipated sports games in years.
The latest installment has gone in a different direction compared to past games, focusing on a free-to-play model, meaning that anyone and everyone can fire up the game today. Your skateboarding adventure takes you to the seaside city of San Vansterdam, which is the sister city of the iconic San Vanelona from the first two Skate games.
The city might be different, but one thing that remains is the Flick-It feature, a signature aspect of the longtime Skate series. It’s arguably one of the most satisfying control systems in skateboard video games and provides a mix of both ease and challenge.
So, how does it work? Well, it’s really as simple as using the right stick on your controller to begin doing tricks. The right stick is your key to performing all of your tricks. Everything you can think of can be done with the flick of the stick.
You move the right stick in two directions to pull off a trick. For example, to do a kickflip, you need to hold down on the right stick to gather and then pull the stick up to the top right corner to perform your kickflip.
Here are a few ways to master the art of the Flick.
Start With The Basics
As we mentioned earlier, doing a kickflip requires you to pull down and then pull to the upper right corner with the right stick. Keep practicing with the simple moves like the kickflip and heelflip, and get comfortable with the Flick-It control.
The heelflip has the same control as the kickflip, only this time, you move the right stick to the upper left instead of the right. The key thing here is all about comfort. Once you master these two tricks, you’ll be ready to do more advanced tricks.
Practice Using Both The Right Stick And Triggers
The right stick is your key to unlocking your tricks, no doubt, but it by itself doesn’t cover every trick in skate. Using the stick alone will only make you do flip tricks. To do grab tricks, however, you’ll need to make sure to have at least one of the triggers of the controller held down while you move the right stick in any direction (L1, L2, R1, and R2, for example, if you’re on PlayStation).
Once you get comfortable with the stick, go ahead and try using both the triggers and the right stick to create some sick grab tricks. Head over to one of the skate parks or anywhere where there’s a good jumping point, place your marker down, and start experimenting with a combination of the two controls. Have fun too, as there are several combinations to play with.
Add Grinding And Manualing To Your Lines
So we talked about flip tricks and grabs and how to do them. Now, let’s talk about grinding and manualing and how you can use them to help put together some beautiful lines. The thing that’s so fun about grinding and manualing is that they too use the right stick in skate.
For manuals, it’s as simple as pulling up or down halfway on the right stick and then holding it there if you want to keep the manual going. For grinds, you can use the Flick It control to perform different types of grinds using the right stick.
Take the time to practice going from a flip trick into a grind. Start with a line where you land a flip trick, land it, and then ollie onto a rail. Eventually, you’ll get comfortable enough to kickflip right onto a rail, leading you to a nice little combo.
Master The Art Of The Ollie
You’d think this one would’ve been included in our “Start with the Basics” section, but the ollie is much more important than you think in skate. It’s important because there are different heights on each jump based on one particular factor.
How long you hold down and then up on the right stick can determine how high your ollies are. The quicker you move the stick, the shorter the jump; the longer, the higher.
This matters because if you plan on doing a flip trick over an object or ledge, you need to be able to understand the height differences (believe me, I’ve bailed several times because my ollies weren’t high enough). It’s also critical for grinding certain rails that require bigger jumps.
