The developers of Roll7 decided to put their chips back into OlliOlli, their already classic platform and skate game. This new installment comes with a revolution regarding its graphic section, but it maintains its characteristic difficulty to the letter.
OlliOlli World It is available for PC, PS4 and PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch.
Will you have what it takes to be the next Tony Hawk?
The mythical Chiffon, who acts as a link between humans and the skake gods, is about to retire. Faced with this uncertain scenario, the people of Radlandia urgently need to find a successor. Our task, of course, will be to show that we master the art of skateboarding like no one else – yes, even better than Tony Hawk. To do this, we will travel through the different states of this particular island together with the magician and her gang in order to conquer the gods of this world and finally be able to reach the legendary Gnarvana.
Despite putting a lot of emphasis on the development of the story itself –something strange in this type of delivery–, the reality is that it goes quite unnoticed. This is due to two main issues: infinite dialogues between characters and nonsense dialogues between them. As the games go by, the conversations become tedious, which ends up overshadowing the weight they intend to give to the development of the main character and the general story.
No, calm down, don’t throw the joystick against the wall
Those who have tried the previous deliveries of OlliOlli they know that it is not exactly a title to “relax and enjoy”. The Roll7 game has nothing, absolutely nothing, of that. On the contrary, within a few seconds you will find yourself wanting to swing the joystick against the wall. However, far from becoming a disincentive, this level of challenge ends up generating a kind of addiction on the platform that makes one unable to stop playing.
This happens for a simple reason: precision. Olli Olli World is first and foremost an extremely precise game. All the mistakes we make, the dozens of times we lose to the same challenge, are purely and exclusively due to player errors. So, ultimately, the title makes us compete against ourselves to try to prove (to ourselves) that we can be the best skateboarder in the history of mankind.
Despite being an extremely difficult game from the beginning, there are two issues that seek to make the experience a little more enjoyable. On the one hand, the difficulty is in crescendo. On the other hand, the mechanics are added little by little, through mini-tutorials, so for the third island (to give an example) we already incorporate new actions to overcome the various obstacles. Of course, you have to be extremely fast to be able to apply all the knowledge almost simultaneously.
Regarding its gameplay from a more general aspect, OlliOlli World It invites us to walk through five islands, each of them made up of main levels and two types of secondary levels. Each map will also have small missions that will allow us to unlock extra content to customize our character.
Masterclass on stage design and use of colors
OlliOlli Word presents a complete redesign regarding its visual section. Gone is the classic pixel-art. In this new installment, its designers opted for a more cartoon aesthetic and a color palette with predominant pastel tones. About tastes, colors. The visual, strictly speaking, is rather subjective, so it will be at the mercy of each one what type of aesthetic they prefer.
However, there is something that there is no tutorial on: the use of colors, from a more technical side, is brilliant. The same fate runs the design itself of the scenarios and the depth of each of them. OlliOlli Word it is an extremely difficult game and it would be almost impossible to get through each level if the visuals weren’t as precise as it is. Each scenario is meticulously created so that you, as a player, can concentrate purely and exclusively on the track.
The tracking that the camera does to our character is also key so that we can analyze the environment and thus be able to anticipate what movement we must make in order to overcome the challenge that lies ahead. Everything is coldly calculated to, once again, make it clear to us that if we lose it is purely and exclusively our fault.
Leaving behind a cliché about skateboarders
Although when one thinks of skateboarding, one automatically associates it, soundly speaking, with hip-hop or punk, OlliOlli World leave this stereotype aside and opt for a varied soundtrack, ranging from the most electronic to the increasingly popular lo-fi. Although it may sound a bit strange on paper, the reality is that the songs manage to adapt perfectly to each game and, on many occasions, work as a contrast to what is shown on the screen.
The sound effects, meanwhile, enhance each action that our character performs, so they help us to fully immerse ourselves in this world and make us feel that we are really on that skateboard performing that absurd number of tricks.
A little reflection of who writes to you
As for the creation of our character itself, there is something that I do not want to overlook. From the start, we have, from the beginning, multiple options when it comes to personalizing ourselves. We will have before us dozens of t-shirts, pants, dresses, sneakers and even socks to choose from. Both in shape and colors. There is the same variety to customize the skateboard.
And, in this sense, the personalization of our character, physically speaking, also comes into play. It is rare to find in this type of title a kind of free will when creating the character that we are going to manipulate. And, it is even rarer, unfortunately, that they allow us to choose the body type of the character in question (this point extending to games in general). The video game industry is still very tied to unrealistic standards when it comes to bodies. However, the developers of Roll7 decided that one can opt for a body type that is far from the classic standards of beauty imposed for decades. For many it will be something that will go completely unnoticed, for others it will be a “disgrace of communism”, for me it is a small victory that deserves to be mentioned and celebrated.
System Requirements
MINIMUM: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system – OS: Windows 10 64-bit – Processor: 2.5GHz dual core processor or higher – Memory: 4 GB RAM – Graphics: Intel HD 530, GeForce GT 430 or Radeon HD 5570 (DirectX 10.1 / Shader Model 4.1 support required) – Storage: 6 GB of available space
RECOMMENDED: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system – OS: Windows 10 64-bit
Processor: 2.4GHz i5 or higher – Memory: 4 GB RAM – Graphics: GeForce GTX 550 Ti or Radeon HD 4850 – Storage: 6 GB available space