It’s a brilliant collection of backdrops with a lot of personality.
OlliOlli 2 takes players on a journey through sun-drenched Southern California landscapes with movie studio backlots, the Wild West, a Central American rainforest dotted with Aztec pyramids, a futuristic cityscape, and a post-apocalyptic amusement park. This time around the aesthetic is far brighter and more colorful, thanks in large part to the more varied and fantastical settings.
The new-look visual design is a real treat.
There’s even a third tier (which unlocks upon completion all five challenges in every level across both Amateur and Pro modes), which is apparently so difficult it only goads players to endure. Once a level’s five objectives are completed successfully, a more difficult version of that stage will unlock. This goes a long way toward expanding one’s skillset, which will come in use once you start focusing on climbing the leaderboards. The difficulty ramps up at a steady pace, easing players in with straightforward stages and concluding with stages even veterans will be lucky to just survive, let alone pull off any impressive combos.Īlong the way the challenges do a great job at encouraging players to experiment and try various play-styles that may not arise naturally. The campaign starts out with an in-depth tutorial covering the basic systems at play, then throws players into a series of five worlds, each with five levels, all of which have five special challenges to complete. The experience demands players land or grind in a very particular way if they want to be successful and get the most out of their efforts. It really reinforces a key tenet from the original OlliOlli: precision.
The manual introduces a critical element of risk and reward, daring players to keep a combo going throughout an entire level and punishing those who deliver anything less than excellence. Landing a manual after pulling off a grind or trick allows players to keep a combo going, allowing you to string together a series of maneuvers into a single, colossal trick. It may sound like a small difference, but it makes for a world of difference.
Outside of the sleek, new art direction, the most apparent distinction at work here is the manual, a trick where skateboarders balance on their back wheels while moving forward.
This feels like the game Roll7 always wanted to make. After spending many hours comparing the games side by side, I can confidently say OlliOlli 2 is a great leap forward. OlliOlli 2 seems nearly identical to its predecessor, or that was my initial impression, at least. MSRP: $14.99 (Cross-Buy, Free at launch via PS Plus) OlliOlli 2: Welcome to Olliwood (PS4, PS Vita) Simultaneously accessible and unfathomably intricate, OlliOlli lured players down the rabbit hole, presenting itself as an airy side-scroller just long enough to get its hooks into you before quickly giving way to something far weightier and more profound.Īnd now it’s been topped in virtually every conceivable way with an unexpected sequel, OlliOlli 2. It stripped away any traces of excess, resulting in an experience focused on eliciting trancelike states and a never-ending pursuit of high scores. A year ago, the minimalist skateboarding game materialized out of nowhere, deconstructing the genre and distilling its essence down the barest essentials.