Synopsis: OlliOlli World is a bold new skateboarding action-platformer that’s bursting with personality. Flip and flow through the vivid and vibrant world of Radlandia, meeting colorful characters as you grind, trick, and air your way to discover the mystical skate gods on your quest for Gnarvana.
Publisher: Private Division
Reviewed on: PlayStation 5
Also available for: PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch
Developer: Roll7
Creative Director: John Ribbins
Lead Game Designer: Craig Thomas
Narrative Designer: Lizz Lunney
Lead Programmer: Andrew Brechin
Lead Artist: Paul Abbott
As a skater kid who’s spent hours perfecting tricks and smacking into concrete floors, skateboarding games always tickle the nostalgic part of my brain. However, I could never get into the first two OlliOlli games. I am glad to say all of that changed with OlliOlli World, a game filled with charm, heart, and room for novices and those seeking the hardcore thrills the previous two games from Roll7 had provided.
The first significant change in OlliOlli World is a subtle story and a cast of characters. More-or-less your player-created character is attempting to become the Radlandia skating god and prove themselves to all the hardcore legends. Across five locations, you’ll nail, bail, flick, manual, grind and 540 trick your way across vibrant, colourful fantasy worlds. I’m not going to pretend the story gripped me from start to finish or anything crazy. Still, it’s serviceable, and the cast of characters surrounding you are always full of personality and are fun to have along for the journey.
If you’ve played the previous OlliOlli or OlliOlli 2 games, you’ll feel somewhat at home here as not much has changed, although everything has been tightened up. The gameplay feels ultra-smooth, and the quick load times mean bailing out and having to restart the level never feels too punishing. The campaign does a great job of spreading out the controls and move-sets you have available in OlliOlli World, so it never feels overbearing. However, you are free to go ham with ultra-combos from the first level if you know what you’re doing.
Using the right stick, you can flick it perform tricks while holding it into a guardrail or a wall while in the air will let you grind. You can also hold a trigger button to grab the board and use the left stick to rotate in the air. Landing, you can press X to perform a manual. Learning to rotate all of these things while always landing each trick to perfection will rack you up the highest of scores and make for amazing replays to watch back — and yes, there are replays here.
This game is more accessible than the previous entries, and thus, more enjoyable. Separating the mildly challenging levels and moderate to demanding challenges for the player to chase after in each level means you can choose to play OlliOlli World how you’d like too. Each level, for example, has a task to beat it without using a checkpoint and several scores by other in-game skaters for you to conquer. Some of these characters are also real-world celebrities, like Danny Trejo, so shoutouts to that. Then there are also three level-specific challenges for a level, and eventually, you’ll unlock an even more complex challenge for every level in the game. Things like only grinding twice in a level can be a puzzle to solve, while other things like specific tricks at specific locations can require a few attempts. But the most complicated challenges will have you attempting to beat levels in one combo or hitting challenging grinds, manuals and flip tricks at required locations.
You can beat OlliOlli World in a few hours, which I discovered as I B-lined each level, not knowing how long the game would be and being on a deadline for this review. Looping back to the beginning of the game after the credits rolled, I’ve been chasing each of these challenges that require patience and are deeply rewarding to complete.
You’ll unlock clothing items from shirts to dresses and knee pads, as well as boards, trucks and wheels as you complete levels and complete challenges. Popping into the customisation screen after every couple hours of playtime, I was always rewarded with a new style to take my character in, and I appreciated the non-gender-specific clothing choices.
Every level in OlliOlli World is enjoyable to play in thanks to the vibrant worlds and levels in which something is always going on, be that the giant bugs or bees in the background or the sunbathing civilians chilling on a beach in the background. It’s a fantasy land far from reality, but it’s a love letter to the pop-fantasy skate scene of the ’90s.
My one big disappointment is a lack of an engaging multiplayer component. There is a ranking system to the online mode, but you simply play the same randomised level as other players and attempt to get a high score; the better you do, the higher you’ll rank up. But I’d love to have seen a mode where you and a friend could zone out on an infinite skate map or face-off while busting out your best tricks on a course at the same time.
OlliOlli World is an additive skater, and the “just one more” loop at attempting to best some of the games more complex challenges will be sure to hook old and new fans of the series. But for those newer players, there’s also the chance to simply enjoy the levels with little-to-no pressure and the luxury of enjoying the fantastic art design and enjoyable cast of characters.
(OlliOlli World code provided for review)
