What you’ve been waiting for feels like a lifetime Skateboard 4, correct? Even though we heard at E3 2020 that EA almost reluctantly accepted the “yes, the sequel is for real” statement, there have been very few updates on the title. Between the kicks of the series and its return to the public consciousness, and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2, Skater XL, and Session all repopulating everyone’s favorite counterculture, skating is finally — on screen. Got the love and pad it deserves.
So you should play for yourself the best skating game of this generation. You should play OlliOlli World for yourself.
If, like me, your only previous experience at OlliOlli World’s twitch reflex theme park was back on the Vita, you’re probably now rubbing your thumb and taking anti-inflammatory medication for your early-onset arthritis. The series was tough, and with those pesky Vita pinky sticks harder than concrete slabs on the South Shore, the game quickly became known for being physically and mentally challenging.
It’s like ice skating, isn’t it? The same goes for OlliOlli World – the series hasn’t let up in its 8-year hiatus. The slightest inattention and you’ll pile it on the wall, fall down the stairs, and let yourself be forgotten at the end of some particularly nasty railroad track. It’s more punishing than any kind of stable game, mostly because it plays like an arcade game rather than a skating sim (or any weird mix of Tony Hawk games).
OlliOlli has always had an eye on flow, and thanks to World’s updated and more open design, you’ll have more opportunities than ever as you grind, hand, wall, and kick in the world’s coldest skate parks Find your own Zen.
If you’re a masochist (like me), you’ll find some great replayability in the game through challenges – they start out reasonable, you know, sane, and then like security and being The battle between the stoned teens escalates as well. The parking lot is a few floors back. If you think all the gaps in THPS1+2 are getting worse, wait until you try some Radysus challenges in the OlliOlli World final game. This makes Hawke look like a poser.
But even better than gaming, OlliOlli World offers a soft mirror to the wonderful world of skateboarding in 2022. I truly believe that skateboarding is now more inclusive than ever. Whether it’s the extraordinary talent of the enby pro skaters who make headlines on the scene, or the way women skaters at the Olympics draw huge crowds, skateboarding and the culture around it – right now – are a great place to be. I would invest money in your local park and have kids of all genders learning the ropes on shaky knees – post-pandemic, my haunts are full of kids (and a lot of adults) and they’re all After taking on new hobbies and meeting few gatekeepers. This is utopia.
This is also something else reflected in OlliOlli World: people of different identities, sizes and skin colors have their place on the world map, and everyone is equal. The only thing that sets you apart from your daring peers is how well you can string a combo together, or how high you can pull the Red Plain past someone yawning in the pastel-hued desert the gap. The characters you can chat with—from a man with a prosthetic limb to a middle-aged man with a safety-conscious, simply known as “Dad”—are supportive, inclusive, and wholesome. It’s skating like it is now, not through the rose-colored aviator sunglasses you picked up in the ’90s.
This forward-thinking respect for the modern skating gel goes hand-in-hand with the game’s understated visual vibe and incredibly mellow lo-fi OST. It feels like Roll7 has deliberately softened and buffered everything in the game to offset the sharpness and roughness of the actual gameplay – the result is an engaging, delicious and often infuriating game that fills you with adrenaline and then kicks you Mumble until you calm down. With clear eyes and sore fingers, you can complete more than 100 combos, glide to the end of the level, and start over in a new locale. happiness.
If you know what you’re doing, you’ll be able to beat the game with your own skill from the moment your deck hits the asphalt, but if you’re cautious about choosing something like this, because – well, you value your fingers integrity – don’t worry. The gentle onboarding process (no pun intended) gradually familiarizes you with the thumb-intensive playstyle that OlliOlli World expects you to use.
Pick up the basic elements of your composition – ollies, grinds, flips, grabs, manuals – and learn how to weave them together. Then learn how to weave them together at the right moment. Then learn how to weave them together so that everything you do in a level multiplies your score. At the risk of being too romantic, this is how skating works in real life. You get bones, then you get meat, and then you get flashy. Mimicking that journey — with a character that looks, feels, and represents me — is something I haven’t really experienced in a skating game before. It makes me feel like a boss when I get all my connective tissue together.
What else do you need from skating? If you’re longing for Skate 4, or tired of playing THPS1+2, or even reminiscing about your wasted youth drinking cans and waxing at the local park, I implore you to choose OlliOlli World. I promise, you won’t be disappointed.