OlliOlli World Evaluation (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 sort of participant, OlliOlli World is simply pure enjoyable. Let’s not beat concerning 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 critically 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 swap to 2.5D is not only for aesthetics, by the way in which; a brand new sense of depth is afforded to phases, that means they do not simply look higher, they really feel greater and deeper too.

The bigger ranges are quite a lot of enjoyable to discover, as a result of one other good thing about the shift away from 2D is the correct introduction of alternate routes. You’ll be able to both bounce or shift to completely 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 at all times had non-obligatory challenges in every stage, however in World, they’re much more various, and actually play into these varied routes to encourage you to see all the pieces.

At its core, the sport performs largely the identical as older entries. You construct pace with X and use the left persist with arrange and pull off flip tips, grinds, and manuals. If you happen to’re good, you possibly can chain collectively one monumental combo from the beginning of a degree to the tip, and nailing a run feels unbelievable as at all times. Nonetheless, it stays a slightly difficult recreation, and it is all too simple to immediately restart in case you’re not pleased with the way you’re doing. Chasing that elusive excellent 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 are actually a factor, pulled off with the best stick, and so they’re very best for while you catch massive air. Vert ramps seem all through phases too, taking you in or out of the display and presenting extra alternatives to rack up factors. An enormous 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 in case you needed a clear touchdown; in case you failed, you’d get a sloppy touchdown, destroying your combo multiplier. This has been nerfed in OlliOlli World. Whereas you’ll solely get the most effective scores for touchdown completely and hitting X as typical, you are not penalised in case you fail to take action.

It is only one approach the sport has been opened as much as enable gamers of various talent ranges to affix the enjoyable. Rating challenges in ranges are all fairly simple to achieve, the sport’s varied 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 degree, the sport remains to be fairly powerful at first, as you continue to have to react rapidly and exactly, so it would not precisely remedy that accessibility problem. 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 assorted areas of *checks notes* Radlandia. Whether or not it is ghostly bushes within the forest, strolling speaking ice lotions by the seaside, or a gaggle of skate-loving aliens within the desert, the sport is filled with uncommon sights that make it a enjoyable place to be. Not all characters are significantly memorable, and the dialogue that bookends every degree is hit or miss, nevertheless it’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 simple to play with buddies. Whereas a real-time multiplayer answer would’ve been good, what’s right here remains to be good enjoyable. In Gnarvana, you possibly can generate a degree with a handful of parameters, set a rating, after which ship that degree’s code to whomever you want to problem. It really works completely properly, and means you will have a near-endless provide of ranges to take pleasure in. Elsewhere, Leagues pit you towards 9 similarly-skilled gamers, and also you’re given 24 hours to set your finest rating on a selected stage. If you happen to end among the many prime scores, you will be promoted, and chaining promotions collectively unlocks extra customisation goodies.

And, wow, the sport has quite a lot of customisation occurring. A fancy menu — maybe slightly too crowded if something — is rammed with dozens, if not tons of, of clothes objects, boards, vans, full physique fits, animations, and extra. You can even change your physique form, dimension, and pores and skin tone to create mainly whoever you need 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 big 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 affords 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 may be a halfpipe, in spite of everything.