OlliOlli2 Welcome to Olliwood: BAFTA Nominated Skater Free on PS Plus in March.
In the interest of full disclosure, skate games aren’t my typical genre that I indulge in. That isn’t to say that games like Skate 3, Tony Hawks Underground, etc. aren’t good games. They are just fine if they are your cup of tea. However, no real draw to me. OlliOlli2 Welcome to Olliwood, this actually intrigues me for a variety of reasons.
First off is the name, which is just ridiculous to do. It is a name that catches your attention, and makes you chuckle a bit. The way it rolls off the tongue, it almost seems like a tongue twister in some other part of the world.
Second, I am intrigued by the fact that it is a side scroller. I have not had the pleasure to play the predecessor to this game, but it is a very different take on this genre of game as compared to most conventional skate games. It seems to play more like an infinite runner than a typical skate game but the elements of a skater theme can’t be ignored.
The art style puts me in mind of the relatively recent release, Lethal League. While it isn’t an 8-bit style, it is a kind of gritty animation, left seemingly intentionally not quite smoothed out.
I think it was a good choice for the style of OlliOlli2 Welcome to Olliwood with the infinite runner ideal because it allows for a whole host of pictures in the background that seem to fit the animation style more thematically.
One of the screenshots has robots that looks like they belong in “War of the Worlds” but they seem to fit with the grit of the game, the purposely imperfect textures. On the other hand though, the art style in OlliOlli2 Welcome to Olliwood isn’t rudimentary to the point that it is impossible to have scenes of sweet landscapes and with plenty of variety.
Hope to see you skating along out there with me!
