The latest skating video game to hit consoles is a largely addictive piece of art, flowing with creativity and diversity.
While it’s incomparable to the likes of Tony Hawk Pro Skater, OlliOlli World is a refreshing take on the adrenaline filled, often extreme, sport.
READ MORE: Scott Morrison’s Chinese social media account blocked
I was fortunate enough to go hands-on with OlliOlli World ahead of its release and sat down with Roll7’s co-studio head, Simon Bennett, who highlights the game’s creative flow and immersivity.
“Oh, there’s so much stuff to be excited about; I can’t wait for people to get to meet the weird and wonderful inhabitants of Radlandia, and to explore this wacky world that we’ve been creating,” Mr Bennett told 9News.
The first OlliOlli game was released back in 2014 and was originally intended to be a mobile game.
But a successful launch on the PlayStation Vita led to subsequent releases on other consoles as well as a sequel.
Now over half a decade later OlliOlli is back.
“For us, Radlandia is a celebration of the diversity, the love, the joy that goes into skating and the community around it,” Mr Bennett said.
“OlliOlli has always been a tough game, and that high-level challenge is still there, but we’ve also introduced a gentler difficulty curve this time around.”
Radlandia, as the game’s world is known, is a beautifully colourful and quirky dimension. OlliOlli‘s art style in some ways takes me back to 2002’s Jet Set Radio Future on the original Xbox.
“I think that, for me, the biggest way Jet Set Radio Future inspired us was that it was a game that looked like no game you’d ever seen before. And that is definitely something we wanted to do with OlliOlli as well,” Mr Bennett said.
Jumping, pulling off a trick and landing into a grind, it’s not too dissimilar to the classic inline skating game, OlliOlli just has more side scrolling and fewer fumbling metro-police and gangs chasing you.
Characters are interesting in their own unique ways, while you play as a custom character, you meet dozens of like-minded skater friends along your journey.
“Honestly, when we started making the game the team was so small that we weren’t sure how far we’d be able to push customisation,” Mr Bennett said.
“We wanted to be as expansive as we could, and here I have to give a huge shout-out to Arthur Tubb, our Character Artist, who absolutely smashed everyone’s expectations and then some.”
Mr Bennett said the team at Roll7 wanted to create a game where people could play as anyone they could dream up.
The game’s world is broken up into different environments across the map. Starting out in a sunny beach town, you’ll quickly find yourself skating in a level full of ice cream.
Eventually the door opens to a luscious forest inhabited by giant bumble bees – level variety is at a high.
“Personally, my favourite biome to skate is Cloverbrook,” the avid surfer and snowboarder said.
Biggest video games of 2021
View Gallery
“There’s something really flowy about levels that are built around the natural environment, around the curves of rivers and tree-trunks and giant tree houses.
“There’s something really joyous about skating in an area you wouldn’t normally associate with skateboarding.”
One of my favourite levels was also in Cloverbrook, where I had to skate adjacent to a rapidly flowing river while racing a bear in a yellow floaty ring.
I mean, it sounds ridiculous, but it was uniquely entertaining and a satisfying challenge.
READ MORE: Will Omicron end the pandemic?
Audio and the game’s soundtrack were an important part of OlliOlli World’s development, Mr Bennett said.
“We have these chill, very laid back tracks that sit really interestingly alongside the very punchy sound effects by Guy Cockcroft,” he said.
“I think that really captures the sense of flow in the game, and the way it sits alongside and compliments these moments of high-octane adrenaline-fueled play.
“You can really lose yourself in the game.”
On the PlayStation 5 the game’s audio, primarily skateboarding sounds, come from the controller’s speaker and helps to create a unique sense of immersion.
“The addition of new tricks, and the much richer art style definitely add to that sense of immersion – I also think that soundtrack is a really big one in general,” he said.
Mr Bennett said the studio wanted to create a video game you hadn’t seen before, with new render tech and “amazing concept artists” bringing their vision to fruition.
“But we’re far from done,” he said.
“We can’t wait to take what we’ve learned from this game and lean into it even more as we move forward.”
After about 40 minutes of play, my left hand was feeling it and the controller thumbstick had quite the workout.
I asked Mr Bennett if he had any tips to ease the physical (and mental) burden of the game.
“Take lots of breaks, pad your left joystick, and maybe pad the living room, just in case you end up throwing the controller – that bit might just be me, though,” he joked.
READ MORE: Mysterious ice formations show up in Chicago
For players familiar with OlliOlli, Mr Bennett said there’s a tonne of new gameplay elements he’s excited for players to experience.
“I’m super excited for people to get to grips with some of the new mechanics – wall rides, grabs, smash-grabs. Oh, and late tricks! Love a good late trick, they’re very satisfying to pull off.”
OlliOlli World is coming to PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC (via Steam) on February 8.
Source: 9NEWS
heavenly music