Loads Of Trouble, Usually Serious. My dad had an Excel SE, whcih was forever going wrong, he said it's the best handling car he's over owned, but had the most down time, got better reliability out of the TVR.
My only genuine niggle about skate 2 is that it always adds other skaters, in freeskate or career. I'm currently trying to land a sweet trick but there are 4 other skaters in the bowl and it's just a pain.
I prefer the fact most of the guns on CoD5 actually require some skill to use well. And that fact that a sniper has a legitimate chance against a n00b with an SMG, unlike it's counter part where anyone whose unlocked the P90 beats anyone else.
You use the freeskate/career mode to jump to online sessions. To go Marty McFly on thier ass, just use when Right buffer, when you're behind the car, like you would to grab an object.
I'd probably say go for Skate. first too. The harder flips are actually a challenge, and the tutorial stuff is better, but as soon as you've got some skills, you'll find Skate 2 pretty natural.