OlliOlli World is the third title in the trilogy, albeit without a continuity line in terms of story, and this may well be one of the weirdest Skateboard titles I’ve played to date – but in a good way. Mixing platforming with a giant repertoire of maneuvers with the possibility to perform giant combos, just like Tony Hawk, makes all fans of the modality and titles of the genre super excited.
Ollie Ollie World is set in the world of Radlandia. A skateable continent, which has five distinct and magical areas formed by five skate gods. Chiffon, the skate wizard, who is the character that links the realms of the divine and the mortal, is about to hang up the wheels of her skateboard and it’s looking for a replacement tailored to her mythical tasks. The player thus has on his skateboard the possibility of replacing Chiffon and being the new Skate Wizard.
This is not just an interesting title for its gameplay. His entire narrative is presented in a goofy yet very involving way where it’s possible in all the characters to perceive their personality traits. All this translates into a very fresh experience in every way. The player has the unconditional support of a group of friends, who, although they have only known each other since the beginning of his adventure, help him with their lessons learned from his experience in this magical world.
Regarding the gameplay and like its predecessors, it unfolds through a sidescroller screen. Each level is presented in a different way, containing ramps, walls, rails, platforms, giving the player the possibility of maneuvering at their pleased. As expected, the tricks start with a low level of difficulty and as you progress in the adventure they start to get more complicated, but consequently, a higher score is assigned for their difficulty. Even so, the important thing to get more points are the combos that are possible to perform and that’s why I mentioned Tony Hawk. Those long lines of text with all the maneuvers that were performed pull the most hardcore side of each one. The problem is if you fall, all the accumulated points are lost. The game has a system of checkpoints during the level, which can help to have a smoother run. In this sense it is possible to adjust the type of approach of each level and compete with friends or even worldwide, to obtain the highest score. Who doesn’t like a little competition?
There is no feeling of boredom by the repetition of situations. The level design of each world makes things very fresh, with each new stage presenting a different mechanic, such as the possibility to grind or wallride, or the simple fact of presenting secondary paths called “gnarly path”, where it increases the difficulty and the hazards. These mechanics are introduced in a gradual rhythm to facilitate the understanding of their complexities, making the whole experience super immersive and fun, where the simple sensation of speed that you can take from riding down a slope or by grinding on a rail is very well implemented.
The main objective of each level is to reach the end. However, it is possible to complete a handful of highly diversified and level-specific secondary goals, thus adding a new layer and hours of gameplay.
After the end of the campaign, there is a very interesting post content adding to all the replayability that you may have to repeat the levels in order to complete all the side quests of each level. There is a mode that randomly generates content where the player can choose the biome, difficulty, and duration of the stage in order to get the best score. A “key” will be associated within the level, allowing the player to return to the previously generated level or even share it with the community.
In addition to all these experiences, there is the online mode where players compete head to head to climb the rankings and consequent league.
It is indeed possible to get a lot of enjoyment out of the story alone, but the enjoyment that is taken from understanding each maneuver or combo mixed with the learning curve that it’s hard but super interesting to go through is to be praised.
In OlliOlli World there is something for everyone, whether you are a hardcore gamer or just want to enjoy the story and reach Gnarvana.
[This review is based on a retail build of the game for PC provided by Private Division ]
