As promised, the Skate demo arrived on the Xbox Live Marketplace this morning, and I've given it a playtest so you can hear some initial hands-on thoughts.

As much as I've continuously loved the Tony Hawk series, as time has passed, I've craved a little more substance. As enthralling as it is to perform wild over-the-top skating combo’s is, at times I’ve wanted something that requires a little more thought and skill in order to even pull off the simplest of tricks.

Coming from those talented chaps at EA, Skate looks to fill that gap left by Activisons Tony Hawk series that’s become more and more obsessed with wild and wicked combos that simply wouldn’t be achievable out on the skate parks in the real world.

Starting with the tutorial, the game slowly welcomes you to the analogue control method that you’ll be using to perform all those daring tricks. This new method goes wildly against the Tony Hawk’s norm of relying on stabbing away at numerous buttons to perform a few tricks. After a period of time, it becomes more fluid, and your fingers will start to move along with your rider as he takes his first few intrepid steps towards pulling off an Ollie.

The demo itself doesn’t last too long, with merely a tutorial section to get you used to the controls, and a timed ride around on your own with no help. But what it does show is that skateboarding titles don’t require over the top combos in order to be exciting. Tony Hawk’s got a real contender this year.

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