It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything about Skate 4. The game was first announced back in June 2020, with another update from EA in 2021. But we haven’t heard too much about its development since then. However, some leaked gameplay of Skate 4 in a pre-alpha state has been making the rounds. Jeff Grubb was one of the first to share the footage on Twitter, with the original source being taken down soon after.
The video is only 32 seconds long, but it reveals quite a bit about the game at this stage. Obviously, this is early footage and everything is subject to change. But what we can glean from this video, is that Skate 4 is staying true to what made the franchise unique. It seems to be maintaining the same sort of control scheme, and an emphasis on realistic (but not really) physics.
A close look at some very early gameplay
Skate 4 is being developed by Full Circle, a developer made up of staff from the original games. As such, the leaked gameplay of Skate 4 has a very similar look and feel to those titles. The player character still looks very weighty, and it takes time to build up speed. Climbing objects also seems to be a bit smoother, but it’s unclear if that has been changed yet. There are a few new tricks, though, like the ability to do a front flip on and off the skateboard.
A smaller change is the way the player gets up after a bail. Previously, you would just respawn back where you fell or back to a marker you had placed. Now though, the player simply gets back up. Whether that’ll still be the case with seven broken bones is something we’ll have to wait to know. The footage also shows off a very early look at the setting of the game. We don’t know where it’ll be set just yet, but previous games were set in San Vanelona and Port Carverton. Both of these cities are fictional, so it’s likely that Skate 4 will also do something similar.
Skate 4 is clearly still a ways off if this leaked gameplay footage is anything to go by. And, since we still haven’t been given a release window, it could be some time before we get our hands on the game. It’s already been nearly 12 years since Skate 3 launched. Whenever the next entry in the series comes out, it’ll have been a long time coming.
This is Skate 4 pre-alpha footage. This is in line with what I've heard about where the game is at from multiple people. They're trying to get the feel right, which is probably the most important aspect of a Skate game. https://t.co/AXNV2Agk6z pic.twitter.com/nUINhghxLg
— Grubb (@JeffGrubb) April 20, 2022
