OlliOlli World Overview (PS5) | Push Sq.

Republished on Wednesday, 1st February, 2023: We’re bringing this evaluation again from the archives following the announcement of February 2023’s PS Plus line up. The unique textual content follows.

For a sure kind of participant, OlliOlli World is simply pure enjoyable. Let’s not beat in regards to the bush right here: this side-scrolling skateboarding recreation is just great, and leagues forward of the earlier titles within the collection. Developer Roll7 has severely stepped issues up, bettering virtually each facet of the franchise and delivering it in beautiful new wrapping.

After all, the brand new visible model is probably the most noticeable change. Wanting like one thing you’d watch on Cartoon Community, the cel-shaded artwork is spot on, and it lends the franchise a lot extra persona — and that is earlier than it introduces any characters. The change to 2.5D is not only for aesthetics, by the best way; a brand new sense of depth is afforded to levels, which means they do not simply look higher, they really feel greater and deeper too.

The bigger ranges are numerous enjoyable to discover, as a result of one other advantage of the shift away from 2D is the right introduction of alternate routes. You possibly can both soar or shift to totally different paths via a stage, taking you down a detour with new obstacles to beat and alternatives to drag off sick tips. The OlliOlli video games have all the time had non-obligatory challenges in every stage, however in World, they’re much more various, and actually play into these numerous routes to encourage you to see every part.

At its core, the sport performs principally the identical as older entries. You construct velocity with X and use the left stick with arrange and pull off flip tips, grinds, and manuals. For those who’re good, you’ll be able to chain collectively one monumental combo from the beginning of a stage to the top, and nailing a run feels unbelievable as all the time. Nonetheless, it stays a somewhat difficult recreation, and it is all too simple to immediately restart if you happen to’re not proud of the way you’re doing. Chasing that elusive good run and slowly climbing the leaderboards per stage is as addictive right here because it’s ever been, and the gameplay feels tremendous slick.

Nonetheless, there are some adjustments and new additions to maintain OlliOlli veterans on their toes. Seize tips at the moment are a factor, pulled off with the appropriate stick, they usually’re ideally suited for whenever you catch huge air. Vert ramps seem all through levels too, taking you in or out of the display and presenting extra alternatives to rack up factors. A giant change comes within the type of the way you land. Within the older video games, you needed to faucet X simply as your wheels hit the bottom if you happen to wished a clear touchdown; if you happen to failed, you’d get a sloppy touchdown, destroying your combo multiplier. This has been nerfed in OlliOlli World. Whereas you’ll solely get the perfect scores for touchdown completely and hitting X as normal, you are not penalised if you happen to fail to take action.

It is only one means the sport has been opened as much as enable gamers of various talent ranges to hitch the enjoyable. Rating challenges in ranges are all fairly simple to realize, the sport’s numerous mechanics are launched slowly all through the marketing campaign, and quirky groupies cheer you on all through, giving the entire recreation a pleasant tone. We’d argue that, on a basic stage, the sport remains to be fairly robust at first, as you continue to have to react rapidly and exactly, so it does not precisely remedy that accessibility subject. Nonetheless, it is a darn sight higher than its predecessors with a much more welcoming vibe.

Talking of vibes, presentation actually does make an enormous distinction. It is not simply the chilled out soundtrack, which is nice, it is also the wacky characters you meet as you discover the varied areas of *checks notes* Radlandia. Whether or not it is ghostly bushes within the forest, strolling speaking ice lotions by the seashore, or a gaggle of skate-loving aliens within the desert, the sport is full of uncommon sights that make it a enjoyable place to be. Not all characters are notably memorable, and the dialogue that bookends every stage is hit or miss, but it surely’s an enormous enchancment over previous video games within the collection.

The net multiplayer is asynchronous and cross-platform, which implies it is tremendous accessible and straightforward to play with buddies. Whereas a real-time multiplayer resolution would’ve been good, what’s right here remains to be good enjoyable. In Gnarvana, you’ll be able to generate a stage with a handful of parameters, set a rating, after which ship that stage’s code to whomever you want to problem. It really works completely effectively, and means you may have a near-endless provide of ranges to get pleasure from. Elsewhere, Leagues pit you in opposition to 9 similarly-skilled gamers, and also you’re given 24 hours to set your greatest rating on a specific stage. For those who end among the many high scores, you may be promoted, and chaining promotions collectively unlocks extra customisation goodies.

And, wow, the sport has numerous customisation occurring. A posh menu — maybe a bit of too crowded if something — is rammed with dozens, if not a whole lot, of clothes gadgets, boards, vehicles, full physique fits, animations, and extra. You may as well change your physique form, measurement, and pores and skin tone to create principally whoever you wish to be your skating avatar. It is nothing we have not seen in a recreation earlier than, however once more, it is a far cry from the one nondescript skater dude discovered within the older titles.

Conclusion

OlliOlli World is a large leap forwards for Roll7’s skating collection. Beautiful new presentation, a enjoyable location stuffed with persona, and that all-important, ever-addictive gameplay align to make for a brilliant enjoyable tackle the game. Whereas it has been made extra approachable to new gamers, it nonetheless provides fairly a stern problem, and never all of the dialogue and characters nail it. Nonetheless, any nit picks simply soften away when all of it clicks. Heaven actually could be a halfpipe, in any case.