New Skate “Pre-Pre-Pre-Alpha” Gameplay Footage Released, You Can Playtest

A new Skate game is on the way, and though EA is not ready to divulge too many details about the project, it has released a very early gameplay video showing off what the team is working on.

The video, which features a “pre-pre-pre alpha” build of the game, doesn’t feature much in the way of environments or textures at first, instead showing how Skate’s physics are going to work and what some of the animations will be like for the skaters. Later in the video, we do see what looks like a more fully realized environment, and it looks mighty sharp for still being so early in development.

Alongside some funny bugs, the footage shows off some daring tricks you can perform, such as huge leaps across rooftops and grinds down stairway railing. It’s clear the developers are creating the game with players’ expectations in mind, and they’re taking that feedback into account.

“We took what we know–what you told us–and started building,” the narrator says, adding that there will be “more ways to express yourself” in the new Skate game. It looks like that might include taking a page out of the Tony Hawk’s Underground playbook, as we see characters off their skateboards and swinging on a support structure like monkey bars.

If you want a chance to play and give the development team feedback, you can sign up at the Skate Insider site. Currently, testing is only available on PC, but this will expand to other platforms in the future.