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PSN Store Update: OlliOlli, PS Plus gets Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
Headlining this week's PSN update is OlliOlli, the tricksy skateboarding sim from Roll7. The Vita game is the one new release proper - flip to our four-star review for the lowdown. Staying on wheels, Grid 2 gets a DLC-stuffed Reloaded edition that bundles in two circuits and 25 cars. If you'd prefer something more on foot, PSOne slice-em-up Lucifer Ring is waiting in the wings; its arrival on PSN is the first time it's been released outside of Japan. Outside of releases, Joystiq Top 10 of 2013 entry Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is free now to Plus subscribers. The puzzle-platformer is joined in the Instant Game Collection by Worms: Battle Island on Vita. There are also demos of Lightning Returns and Toukiden: The Age of Demons to check out. For the full list of this week's content, hop on over to the PlayStation Blog.
OlliOlli review: Sick landing
Roll7's skateboarding game OlliOlli is deceptively deep. What at first appears to be a simple affair quickly escalates into a demanding experience requiring precise timing and execution of tricks in rapid succession, all in pursuit of specific objectives and the almighty high score. OlliOlli encourages chaining tricks into over-the-top combos, hewing closer to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series than to the realistic, physics-driven tricks seen in the EA's Skate series. Regardless of which camp you align yourself with (or if you enjoy both), one thing is certain: OlliOlli is easy to pick up, with enough depth to warrant getting back up on your board whenever you tumble down the stairs.
Sony kicking off PS Vita PLAY rebate promotion tomorrow
PlayStation Vita owners can earn some cash back by keeping up with the platform's latest releases over the next month as part of Sony's newly announced PS Vita PLAY campaign. The offer gives $3 in PlayStation Store credit to players who purchase two featured games between January 21 and February 17. Buy three featured games and you'll get $6 back. Collect the whole set of four and Sony will send you a $10 rebate. PlayStation Plus members get an additional 20 percent discount during each respective game's launch week. The promotion launches with tomorrow's release of the skateboard platformer OlliOlli, then continues next Tuesday with Namco Bandai's Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z. Players can further boost their rebates by purchasing the custodial side-scroller, Dustforce, on February 4 and the Tempest-like arcade shooter, TxK, on February 11.
Skate punk platformer OlliOlli out on Vita January 21
Publisher Devolver Digital announced today that Roll7's side-scrolling, skateboard-flipping stunt sim OlliOlli is headed to the PlayStation Vita by the end of the month. Combining Super Meat Boy-like precision platforming with a complex stunt system, OlliOlli challenges players to survive a series of challenging level layouts while chaining together tricks and basically looking as rad as possible at all times. The game boasts over 100 levels and stunt spots, and also includes a Spelunky Daily Challenge-inspired Daily Grind mode that serves up unique levels with ranked leaderboards every 24 hours. OlliOlli will hit the PlayStation Network in North America on January 21, while players in Europe can get their kickflips on January 22.
OlliOlli setting up sick trick line to 2014
OlliOlli, the pixelated, Vita-exclusive skateboarder set in the hilliest town we've ever seen, has bailed from its planned November launch. Developer Roll 7 Games explained in a blog post that the delay stemmed from an issue that would have allowed players to submit multiple scores to the Daily Grind mode, a feature meant to provide one-and-done attempts at leaderboard fame. Now that a few extra layers of wax have smoothed out the issue, OlliOlli has been resubmitted to Sony for final quality assurance. Roll 7 will share a new launch date "as soon as possible."
OlliOlli teaser offers players a choice: Skate or die
More than cute alliteration, OlliOlli serves as both title and instruction manual for the Vita-exclusive skateboarding/platforming hybrid seen above. If you don't quickly learn to land sweet tricks over obstacles, your would-be Tony Hawk is destined for a future as sidewalk meat.
Vita's OlliOlli aspires to be the Super Meat Boy of skateboarders
Vita game OlliOlli may be a 2D platforming skateboarder, but London-based dev Roll7 wants it to reflect the real-life difficulty of landing a skateboarding trick. The end result, Roll7 hopes, will combine the tough timing-based twitch mechanics of something like Super Meat Boy with the flair of genre mainstays like Tony Hawk and Skate. Speaking to Roll7's Tom Hegarty and John Ribbins, I got the impression the OlliOlli they'd make for themselves would be even harder than the game looks to be. "I don't think we realized it was going to be as tricky as perhaps it has been," Hegarty joked. In the game's original version, players had to press X in a very narrow window each time they landed, and if they mistimed and slammed, that was it - level over, start again. Now players can mistime their stomps and still survive, although better landings rack up the points and maintain momentum. In my admittedly very brief time with OlliOlli, I found just mastering the basics of flicking the left stick to jump and pressing X to nail a stomp tricky, even in one of the game's early, relatively serene levels. Roll7, and Ribbins in particular, isn't shy about the game's difficulty level. As a skateboarder himself, he sees a gap in the market when it comes to landing tricks in skateboarding games.
OlliOlli funded by Sony, but Roll7 retains rights
A single demo station for OlliOlli, a minimalist side-scrolling skateboarder with surprisingly deep systems at its core, was tucked in the corner of PlayStation's massive presence in E3's West Hall. The PS Vita game melds arcade-style gameplay with just a tinge of true skateboarding physics – not as ridiculous as the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series, and not as much a simulation as the Skate series. Thomas Hegarty, company director at developer Roll7, gave me a quick primer before my demo. "We're a small team in London, UK – there's about seven of us. We've got a team of about four working on this game," Hegarty said. OlliOlli, though being funded by Sony, isn't a Pub Fund game, and Roll7 will publish and retain all rights.%Gallery-191461%
OlliOlli, 2D infini-skater, kickflips to PS Vita in November
Roll7, a development studio located in London, is working on a 2D pixelated infini-skater for the PS Vita called OlliOlli. Due in November, OlliOlli combines infinite runner style of play with the trick-heavy chains made famous in the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series. OlliOlli is built on a trick system of over 100 moves, with customizable characters and daily challenges on top of the usual leaderboards. You can see an early build of OlliOlli running in the video above, posted to YouTube by developer Roll7. OlliOlli will be exclusive to the PlayStation Vita, thanks to funding for the project that was provided by Sony. OlliOlli will be playable at Sony's E3 booth, so we'll be sure to get our hands on it next month between June 11-13 when the 19th annual Electronic Entertainment Expo kicks off at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
