It’s been a while since we heard to much in regards Session: Skate Sim, but some months on from the game releasing in Early Access and Xbox Game Preview, the teams at NACON and Crea-ture Studios have rolled out a new update – and it’s the biggest one for the game yet, adding in a wide range of new skaters, features and improvements.
Attempting to further reinforce its status as the benchmark for skateboarding simulations, something which NACON and Crea-ture Studios have had in mind since first developing Session, the new features and improvements fans have been waiting for have finally hit home.
Coming about via the Crea-ture team’s hard work, NACON’s support, and through ongoing discussions with the fan community – a community which has seen over 200,000 players providing their feedback – it was decided that the update would need to be pushed back a few months so the requested improvements and new content could be integrated.
“Building blocks are finally getting together and shape up into the vision we always had about this game. Players managed to exploit the early days of our game’s physics with success, and we can’t wait to see what they will now be able to unlock creatively with this new advanced version. We, at Crea-ture Studios are all extremely grateful for their support and really excited to share this update with them all. ” Says Marc-André, founding director of Crea-ture Studios.
So what do we have with the new update for Session: Skate Sim? Well, this update improves the entire game experience, including the character physics which have been overhauled so that their movements are even more like those of real skateboarders. Combined with Full Body IK (Inverse Kinematics), the animation realism has been fully optimised. Further, the interaction between the board and skateboarder has also been significantly improved to feel more fluid and more like real skating.
The game’s open world – something which was already pretty deep – has been expanded with two of the best locations in the world: Jerome Avenue Banks in New York City and FDR Park in Philadelphia. And Crea-ture Studios are promising that the cities will now also be alive with pedestrians and street activity, which further increases the in-game immersion.
There’s more though and players can explore every corner of these maps as one of the five new skateboarders that have been added: Antiferg, Mark Appleyard, Billy Marks, Manny Santiago and Beagle. This brings the total number of skateboarders to nine, whilst four new customisable characters have also been added to the game.
In addition to the avatar, players can choose their favourite clothes and brands. Madrid Skateboards, ThankYou Skateboards and Sugar Skate Co. are just a few examples of the iconic brands featured in the game and for those who like to set themselves challenges, a new mode has been added to improve the game experience. By visiting different neighbourhoods in the Big Apple and Philadelphia, the player can meet other skateboarders to gain access to different missions. Successfully completing new tricks earns street cred and improves reputation with sponsors.
We think it’s probably safe to say that a new experience awaits skateboarders in Session: Skate Sim. If that’s something which appeals to you then you’ll find the game available on Steam, Xbox and Epic Games. The Xbox Store is our port of call. Make it yours.
