Why the Skater XL video game is an overprice glitchy mess

Skateboarding games are back and popular in a big way – but is the Tony Hawk wannabe Skater XL worth the hefty price?

Skater XL

Overall: **

Available now on: PS4, Xbox One, PC

Price: $79.95

Reviewed on: Xbox One X

Out now.

Skateboarding games are popular again, which is wonderful news for those of us who like the idea of skating but know any attempt to try will end in broken bones.

Skater XL has a lot of the elements that make better skateboarding franchises great: there’s a soundtrack that transports you back to your teenage bedroom, and ragdoll physics that make your character fall like a boneless, dramatic soccer player at the slightest inconvenience.

The controls are excellent; the left and right sticks each control an individual foot, and the left and right triggers make you turn. It takes a little getting used to but it gives good, granular control over tricks, much like in the older Skate franchise.

Even the levels are nicely laid out, including a school, massive ramp in the desert and downtown LA.

The Skater XL video game is overpriced and unfocused.

The only problem is that there’s nothing to do and the game is glitchy as anything.

You can do challenges, which is just mastering a very long list of individual tricks in each level, much like an endless tutorial that loses its attraction after the first 20 or so.

The rest of the time you’re just free skating and hoping you don’t suddenly fall through the world or encounter some other run-ending glitch.

There’s no scores, no time limits, no rewards, no multiplayer and nothing to keep you coming back aside from a near endless shopping list of relatively mundane tasks.

I’ve been all for games you can do at your own pace but there still needs to be some kind of aim, stakes or enjoyable challenge to make it worth the time and money, and I didn’t find that here.

The best moments of the game were when my character skated through an object, or her twitching from getting stuck on a grind pole was in time to the music.

In a different price bracket, I would be a lot more forgiving of Skater XL’s aimlessness and obvious faults, but you should be able to get a full featured game (like the upcoming Tony Hawk remasters) for $80, and this isn’t that.

Bottom line: For $15-20 Skater XL would be a great way to pass the time until the real skating games come out. But for $80 you should give it a miss.

Originally published as Why the Skater XL video game is an overprice glitchy mess