OlliOlli World is almost around the corner. After the indie success of OlliOlli and OlliOlli 2 it took the team some time to consider a third entry but we won’t have to wait so long. On the 8th of February, OlliOlli World will be released across multiple platforms for us to enjoy. Luckily we got our hands on a preview version to take the first glimpse of all the rad stuff to come.
Reboot
As mentioned before Roll7 the team behind the first two games took some time to even consider making another game in the series. With the limitations, an indie company has, OlliOlli and OlliOlli felt pretty much like all they could’ve achieved at the time. Due to the fact, fans kept asking for more they started to think back about their vision of what OlliOlli should’ve been. Thinking about the compromises made to the original vision it was time to step things up. Incomes a bigger team and a larger budget to make a new version without having to compromise. The outcome became OlliOlli World and not OlliOlli 3. The title might’ve given it away but OlliOlli World has to be considered more like a reboot than a direct sequel. Don’t worry, OlliOlli World is still about skating and achieving flow throughout the runs. It just got bigger, better, and ultimately more stylish than ever before.
Biomes
OlliOlli World takes place in Radlandia a made-up skate utopia with different biomes to conquer. Your aim is to impress the skate Godz (with a z because that’s way cooler) and become the next almighty skate wizard. Radlandia is divided into 5 biomes featuring multiple levels. Each Biome has its own theme and is the home of one of the skate Godz. In a sense, OlliOlli World is a classic platformer game but this time you traverse to the end on a skateboard and have to perform tricks in order to earn points. Each biome has its own featured obstacles keeping things fresh throughout the game. Throughout some levels of the different Biomes, new features are introduced adding to the possibilities to make each run flow.
The flow is still real
I’m a bit of a veteran of the OlliOlli games. The original games looked pretty stripped down and focused all on getting into the perfect flow of your run. OlliOlli world looks nothing like the original games anymore. The world created seems to be stripped from a cartoon network show. The quirky characters and the outlandish level designs had me worried a bit it would take away from the flow. Luckily I can say they didn’t take away one bit from the flow, the new outrageous level designs even add to the flow. The addition of wall rides and quarter pipes for instance adds more flair to the experience making everything even more rad than before. The developers envisioned a bigger world than ever before but kept true to the concept that made the previous games so addictive and cool. When a run goes so smooth and you get into the rhythm of performing certain tricks and jumps at the exact right time… the Ultimate flow is reached and it still feels so satisfying.
Level design on steroids
Going for this out-of-this-world style gave the developers an excuse to do whatever they wanted. Sticking to traditional skate environments limits the way the levels can be built. This time premise of “Radlandia” was the perfect excuse to design whatever crazy level they wanted. The first few levels keep it relatively simple but once the game gets going things get out of hand real quick. It’s like the level design is on steroids. The jumps are bigger, the rails are longer, and the obstacles are bigger. As if things weren’t crazy enough, they even added some alternative routes you can opt for during your run that are even more gnarly.
The hype is real
It’s pretty obvious the people behind OlliOlli World are proud of what they’ve made. Ultimately it’s the fans who will decide if their hard labor was worth it. I have a feeling – and I am one of those fans – they won’t disappoint their fanbase and successfully made a great OlliOlli reboot. The hype is very much real.
