Preview: Helskate

Taking Tony Hawk Up A Notch

When attempting to create a new game, there are several approaches you can take. Do you try something new? Update something old? Or do you blend multiple ideas together into something wholly new? From freshman developer Phantom Coast comes Helskate:  a unique twist combination of genres. Mixing together the roguelike genre with skateboarding, like an indie game peanut butter and jelly sandwich of gameplay mechanics, but does this make for a satisfying recipe for success? Or do these two flavors not quite mix?

To break down Helskate’s mechanics  is to talk about two well worn games. First, let’s talk about Tony Hawk Pro Skater. A Playstation 1 era skateboarding game that plays with semi realistic tricks but with unrealistic physics. You Ollie (jump) then can hit different buttons and directions for flip tricks, grabs and grinds/wallrides. You can also double tap a direction on landing for a manual (wheelie) or nose manuals. When grinding or manualling, a balance meter appears for you to feather back and forth to maintain the trick. By stringing all these different moves together you can build up massive combos, but that’s only one part of Helskate. 

Initially, there are 3 weapons to choose from with more to unlock with future updates; Quick Sword, Heavy Axe and Long Range Throwing Stars. Each weapon has a basic attack and a special attack. You start a run in a randomized level, with a handful of enemies for you to dispatch. Once the enemies are cleared, there are a handful of Tony Hawk style challenges, such as beat a high score in a single combo, destroy 8 crates strewn about the level or collect the letters in HELSKATE. These challenges reward currency for permanent  upgrades. Within the run itself you can get gear or stickers for your board  that will provide bonus damage or attacks per tricks you perform. 

The second part of the Helskate experience is best described by referring to Hades by Supergiant Games. Once you’ve completed a level, you are presented with multiple doors that reference currency, single run perks, or gear. Then you can choose which door to go to and customize your run for whatever you think you need next. Once you’re defeated though, you are sent back to the hub world where you can use the currency gained for permanent upgrades such as tattoos which will continue for every subsequent run. The hub world also gives you an opportunity to have conversations with the NPC’s of that world and unlock lore about the story at play. 

There’s also a skate competition that unlocks after 3 levels, where you get the opportunity to unlock permanent stat points, so by completing the competition, you can really beef up your character's skating ability. When chained with the gear you find in the levels, can make for an unstoppable combo. The competitions themselves  are all about getting the most points within the time limit, similar to the Tony Hawk series. Phantom Coast Games really wear their inspirations on their sleeves here. 

The art, writing and character development do their best jobs to compete with the likes of Hades, and is largely successful, though the humor could stand a little more punching up. Outside of that Helskate is exactly what you’d expect from it. It plays like those games and doesn’t do a ton outside of those two molds. I will say that the two phases of a level feel at odds at times, whereas the beginning focus is entirely on combat, but then it abruptly ends in time for you to do some real skateboarding. It feels disjointed, but also at the same time, I don’t think I necessarily wanted more of either. If the game was entirely combat or just the skating I would definitely feel a lot less enthused on what’s to come but the extreme dichotomy of the gameplay definitely kept me intrigued on what’s to come. Helskate is currently in Early Access on Steam.