Day 2 of Guerrilla Collective's presentation continues with a trailer for a brand new indie game titled Skate Story by Thousand Ants. It seems that skateboarding games have been becoming really popular in the indie scene with the likes of Skate XL and Session in early access, and it appears that Skate Story is another hat being thrown into that ring.
While the trailer does show some in-depth technical controls on how to move, ollie, and grind, there appears to be a story being told here. Simply described as a game about skating into the Underworld, Skate Story sports some surreal imagery. There's a heavy mix of classical architecture, harsh neon colors, abstract geometry and moody vignettes. What little we did see of gameplay at Guerrilla Collective's show only focused on how the game would control, showing off inputs for how to crouch and pop, or perform a grind.
In an attempt to dig further, it appears that Skate Story's director, Sam Eng, doesn't have a Steam page listed for the game. Even the official website links to a simple mailing list for updates, with a pat "Coming Soon" for its intended release date.
As much as the creator is playing things close to the chest, it can't be understated how alternative of an approach this is compared to other games on the market. Ever since the massive success of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series in the 1990s, game creators have been trying to recapture that same magic in their own way. EA had their own answer to the franchise with Skate (which we're still waiting for a fourth installment of) and the above mentioned indie installments have all tried to emulate the arcade style scoring system or the technical skill it takes to actually handle a skateboard. But we haven't exactly seen this gameplay explore a mood or a collection of vignettes like Skate Story is demonstrating.
Either way, when it comes out, it is sure to turn some heads.