Back in April, Take-Two announced that it would be laying off around 5% of its workforce as part of a cost-cutting initiative. There’s been a lot of confusion around the announcement, with some reports saying that studios like Roll7 and Intercept are being shuttered, and Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick denying it. Either way, today game director Quinn Duffy has said via Linkedin t?hat the team at Intercept are out of a?? job as of June 28.

It’s pretty frustrating. When previously asked directly about the status of Roll7 (developer of the acclaimed OlliOlli World and Rollerdrome) and Intercept Games (Kerbal Space Program 2) during an interview with IGN, Zelnick stated, “We didn't shutter those studios, to be clear.�/p>

Despite the choice of words, this seems hardly clear. Internal reports claimed to contradict this statement. But when IGN pressed for, erm, clarity, Zelnick said, “We did not give a label-by-label breakdown of what [the restructuring] looks like.�/p>

I suppose it’s technically accurate that no public statement had been made??, but I’d find it pretty embarrassing to split hairs over this.

In a Linkedin post today, Intercept’s game director Quinn Duffy said, “The team at Intercept Games will be laid off as of June 28th so a great group will be out and about looking for their new roles. As will I.�/p>

To echo what my colleague Michael Beckwith wrote, I don’t see what the point of the denial is. Even a “no comment�would be more appropriate. Instead, this is like a parent telling a ch?ild they didn’t buy them a Game Boy for their birthday to keep it a surprise, but in this instance, it??’s a studio being laid off. It just feels like a really insulting misdirection. Corporate executives really don’t seem to have much respect for their employees.

Few announcements have been made regarding the development of Kerbal Space Program 2, which is currently in Early Access. Take-Two confirmed to Game Developer that it will continue to make updates to Kerbal Space Program 2, but to what extent ?those updates will go ?is unclear.

The closure of Roll7 has likewise not been officially confirmed, but considering the internal note originated from that company, it feels all but certain. It's a frustrating situation for a number of developers who a??re now being forced out into a competitive, struggling job market, with their previous work and livelihoods still taugh?t on strings for show.

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After Take-Two Interactive announced it would be laying off 5% of its workforce in April, it was reported just a couple of weeks later that the company would also be shuttering two of its subsidiaries: Roll7 and Intercept Games. However, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has d?enied closing down any such studios while at the same time refusing to confirm that they're still open.

During an interview with IGN, Zelnick was asked about why it was decided that Roll7 (the London-based studio behind Rollerdrome and OlliOlli World) and Intercept Games (the Seattle-based studio that made Kerbal Space Program 2) would close. Zelnick simply answered with, "We didn't shutter those studios," adding, "We've announced that we're saving $165 million in existing and fu??ture costs, but we haven't shuttered anything."

IGN did push for a definitive answer on ??whether this means both studios remain operational, but a PR representative stepped in to refer back to the company's cost reduction plan. Basically, all Take-Two is willing to say is that 5% of staff worldwide were let go, but it "did not give a label-by-label breakdown of what that looks like." When asked again about the status of Roll7 and Intercept Games, the PR representative only said, "We have not provided any additional color beyond what I just said."

So, does this mean Take-Two is denying the Bloomberg report? Again, it didn't offer a concrete answer but, in the wake of IGN's interview, Bloomberg's Jason Schreier posted on Twitter part of the note Roll7 employees had received and shared with him. The note clearly states, "We are therefore proposing to shut down [Roll7]." As for Intercept Games, Bloomberg had spotted a notice filed with the Washington State Employment Security Department, which showed Take-Two intended to shut down a Seattle-based offic??e and cut 70 employees. That description perfectly matches Intercept Games.

This whole situation is frankly bizarre since there is evidence of Roll7 and Intercept Games' closure, yet Take-Two is saying this isn't the case. Surely if Take-Two intended to keep both studios open, it would just say so, but it isn't for some reason. Although this wouldn't be the first time Take-Two's done this. 2K Marin, the studio behind BioShock 2, was shut down in 2013 after mass layoffs (per Rock Paper Shotgun), but 2K never acknowledged the closure. Zelnick even insisted that 2K Marin would be responsible for helming the BioShock series months after reports of the studio's closure (per GamesIndustry.biz). For the record, a new BioShock is in development, but at a new internal studio called Cloud Chamber, which had taken over 2K Marin's old San Francisco office according to a 2019 report by Eurogamer.

I cannot fathom what advantage there is to pretending that a studio is still open. It's bad enough that studio shutdowns are becoming distressingly common in the games industry, with Microsoft just r??ecently closing four of its own, including Tango Gameworks. If the 2K Marin example is anything to go by, Take-Two may not ever formally announce the closures of ??Roll7 and Intercept Games, even if we never s??ee a new game from either of them.

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This wasn't meant to be a game

Set in a dystopian future straight out of the cocaine haze of the 1970s, Rollerdrome takes two of gaming’s most cherished pastimes—pulling off sick combos and murder—and mashes them up into an audacious spectacle that is definitely not Norman Jewison’s Rollerball. Taking control of mysterious rookie Kara Hassan, it’s skate or die for players as you’ll have to grab, grind, flip and twist your way to high-score combos while gunning down enemies hellbent on stopping you. Kara clearly has the skills to be the next Rollerdrome champion, but with the corporation behind the sport pl??otting against her, she’ll have to use every trick in the book to survive.

Again, this is not Norman Jewison’s Rollerball. With most of the social commentary pushed to the background in favor of that sweet, deadly arena action, it’s more like John McTiernan’s Rollerball. But, you know, enjoyable.

Rollerdrome (PC, PS4, PS5 [reviewed])
Developer: Roll7
Publisher: Private Division
Released: August 16, 2022
MSRP: $29.99

Developer Roll7 cut its teeth on the skating genre with its celebrated OlliOlli franchise. The work the studio put into that series is paying dividends with Rollerdrome. This is an incredibly smooth and user-friendly skating experience, one that would rather see you pull off some wild trick combinations than worry about sticking the ?landing. Kara is quick and agile and comes fully stocked with a wide array of grabs and grinds that players will have no issue pulling off with its intuitive control scheme. There are simple tricks people of all skill levels will be able to perform, but for those eyeing the top of the online leaderboards, more advanced techniques await your discovery.

Each stage provides ample opportunities for running up that score with ramps, grind rails, halfpipes, and other staples of the skating genre. I really dig the look and layout of these arenas, and the hip, minimalist cell-shaded art direction is a fantastic expression of stark �0s dystopian design aesthetics. It’s unfortunate then that Roll7 settled on so few different themes for these arenas. It would have made for a more eclectic affair if each of the game’s f??ew stages had a setting and design that was all its own rather than revisiting the desert, mountaintop, or hardwood rink concepts.

It's Tricky... it's Tricky (Tricky) Tricky (Tricky)

Despite that lack of diversity in stage settings, I gladly returned to each arena to hone my skills and try to push my score closer and closer to that two-comma club. Repeated run-throughs also gave me a better understanding of how best to weave my stunt skating skills with my bullet-time kills. Rollerdrome uses a kill chain system that ties your combo multiplier to your ability to dispose of each arena’s batch of house player goons. The more kills you’re able to chain together while also performing stunts, the higher yo??ur score will be at the end of your run. In the early stages, this is pretty manageable. The grunts you face are limited in number with attacks that are well-telegraphed and easy to dodge. As you get to the later rounds of the tournament, more and more enemy types are thrown at you, creating chaos that can be overwhelming.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1oXgw_OaQ4

Rollerdrome has a limited but varied set of goons it’ll unleas?h on the player. Some can snipe you from nearly anywhere on the map, others have defenses that must be whittled down before you can kill them. You are given access to new guns that help with the process, but they can only do so much. When I reached the late stages of the game, and I was facing guys in mech suits?, guys dropping land mines, guys shooting blue laser beams, and several other enemy types, I found myself dodging attacks more than anything else. I wasn’t really pulling off stunts, and it was nearly impossible for me to chain together kills for a big multiplier. All I could do to stay alive was spam that circle button to ensure I took as little damage as possible.

If you have the time, it has the payoff

Now, if I were younger and didn’t have to split my waking hours between so many different responsibilities, I would have simply taken the time to 'get gud' at the game. Back in the �0s and early 2000s, I could pull off incredible runs in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater that were far better than anything my older brother could manage (that being the barometer for success in gaming at the time). In those days, I could sink hours of my day and weekends into a single game. Today, that's just not a possibility for me, which is why I appreciate that Roll7 went ahead ??and added the assists menu to the options.

If you hit a wall like I did or you simply need a break from being bulldozed by your foes, Rollerdrome has a selection of assists you can activate. These range from extremely helpful, like infinite ammo, to those designed to level the playing field a bit, such as reduced damage or slowing the speed of the game. Activating any of the assists will keep your scores off of the online leaderboards, but it doesn’t affect anything beyond that. For me, lowering the amount of damage Kara received made it so I could actually complete the game. The assists are a great accessibility option for anyone who struggles with the skating genre or those who just need some help with Rollerdrome’s more trying challenges.

I kind of feel like, with the popularity of the skater genre and the endless appeal of competitive shooters, a game like this was an inevitability. It's too perfect a combination to not work, and I'm just glad Roll7 got to it first with Rollerdrome. This is an exceptional and welcoming? game, one that takes the best elements fro??m both genres and combines them into a sophisticated and unabashedly cool experience.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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Rollerdrome turns skateparks into warzones, and does it pretty well

Missiles rain down. Snipers bead in on me. Land mines are flying out across the park, lying in wait. And I am doing the sickest flip I can to refill my ammo. Rollerdrome is filled with a lot of moments like these??: doing a nose grind in the face of death, and letting loose with a hail of bullets ?in response.

Rollerdrome is the new game from Roll7, a studio well-known for its OlliOlli fran?chise. While the team is sticking with extreme sports, it's roller-skates rather than skateboards this time around, and the skateparks are a bit more dangerous than they used to be. We got to check out a preview build to see just how.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAEVuZdg4YQ

The world of Rollerdrome pits competitors against the House in an arena spectacle. Taking on the role of Kara Hassan in the year 2030, you compete in the brutal blood-sport of Rollerdrome. While you compete in each match, some of them are punctuated by brief explorations of this world, and the sometimes bleak future it p?aints.

In its art and world, Rollerdrome is absolutely fantastic. The retro-futuristic tone, mixing tech and throwback in equal measure, makes for a very distinct world. And with each new arena, it feels like you're seeing a bit more of what this world is, what it's become, and how it could wind up supporting a bizarre sport like Rollerdrome.

Rip, grind, shred

As you compete and rise up the ranks, you also start to unravel some of what's going on behind-the-scenes at the corporations running this bloody circus. But hey, until then, you need to drop in and take some guys out. The most succinct description of Rollerdrome is that it feels like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, but with an arsenal of guns.

Each stage is a deathmatch, where enemies spawn in waves and you need to eliminate them as fast as possible. Aim?ing is easy enough as locking? on and pulling the trigger, which might seem straightforward at first. But that's because aiming and shooting aren't the only moves you?'re pull?ing off in the arena.

Tricks are a key part of the deathmatch, too. Alongside adding some style to your routine and upping your score, tricks are also how you reload in Rollerdrome. This isn't just a good push to engage with the level as a skatepark as much as an arena, b??ut it's a constant tension between the player and the game. It helps that tricks are fairly streamlined, with a healthy but manageable list of moves to keep in mind as you skate along.

In frequent situations, I'd find myself scouring not just for the next enemy to take down, but the best route for doing so. Sure, I could just pepper that sniper from a ways away with my dual pistols; but if I took the? ramp and went up and over, I could get close enough for my shot??gun and do a trick reload, all in one go.

Guns blazing

The weapons add a good bit of variety to the action, too. While the pistols are your basic bread-and-butter, Rollerdrome keeps adding new options that add a little bit more. The grenade launcher is great for dealing with crowds. And the shotgun was a fast favorite; it has a quick-action, active-reload-styl??e system where after locking onto an enemy, a timed shot would unleash a slug-shot that had a little more ??????????????????????????power to it.

Of course, there are constant dangers to consider too. Enemies start off with just bats, bringing sports equipment to a roller-derby-gunfight. But snipers soon add a wrinkle, as they gradually hone in on you and take a shot once you've been in their sights too long. Missile launcher enemies release a storm of explosives that follow you around the level, and riot shield foes are jus??t the worst. They wait for you at the bottom of a ramp with a hello and a shield to the face.

Getting out the other side is one challenge. But Rollerdrome is built on challenges, much like the OlliOlli games. Each level?? has its own set of objectives, ranging from score-based markers to very specific ones. One level might ask you to blow up a few missiles that are hot on your trail, while another might call for executing a specific trick over the arena's combo markers.

Mastering the motions

If the two systems, shooting and skating, were at odds at all, it would be easy to see one taking over and pulling it all apart at the seams. Roll7 uses a few specific mechanics, like spot-on perfect dodges and trick-reloading, to keep the ??action and the score-chasing neatly entwined.

The core realization for me, in the levels I got to play of Rollerdrome, was that I didn't ?need to look for just openings, but whole routes. Say, for example, I saw a sniper on the far side that was really a thorn in my side. I could go right for them, or I could calculate out a route to deal with some enemies on the way, building up points and keeping my ammo stocke??d in the process.

Going from barely scraping by to sorting the match out in style is a really good feeling that Rollerdrome nails down. I did sometimes get a little?? frustrated with having to insert dodges into my tricks, but the chaos kept me rolling on through.

Roll7 has shown they've got a keen sense of how to handle an extreme sports game. This is a bit of an evolution. Rollerdrome's arena battles do add a bit more work and mental RAM to the load, but it all clicks together in a chaotic ballet of tricks and bullets. Fans of both pro skating and pro sniping shou??ld keep ?an eye on this one.

Rollerdrome is out on August 13 for PC, PS4, and PS5.

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Pop a flip, land a headshot

Rollerdrome is set to drop into the rink soon. Today, Roll7 and Private Division showed off the level design of this new blend o?f skating and shooting.

Initially revealed during Sony's State of Play in June, Rollerdrome is a retro-futuristic game that mixes combat arenas and shooting with roller skates and sick tricks. As the player ?drops into arenas with both guns and skates on-hand, they'll need to navigate around and take out enemies in increasingly creative ways.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9QK8_mxwRs

In the video, Roll7's studio creative director John Ribbins and Rollerdrome senior 3D level designer Jacob Mills discuss how this is a bit of a departure. Roll7 is known for its OlliOlli games, including this year's excellent OlliOlli World.

Those games are linear. They involve moving down a track, hitting tricks along the way. But Rollerdrome is a bit different.

Combat arenas in Rollerdrome are open and free to pick apart at the player's discretion. So the team had to create a bit of flow to the arenas, teaching ideas along the way. They bring up evolving objectives, like going from eliminating an enemy to eliminating one while wallridin?g??, as a way to do this.

Xtreme combat

It's a sick concept, and one I'm excited to see from Roll7. OlliOlli World seemed like the team really hitting a new stride with its skateboarding, but Rollerdrome is the team moving into both a 3D space and adding ?some combat too.

The visual throwback game will also get a special introductory price. On Steam and for PlayStation Plus members, Rollerdrome will have a price offer of $19.79. Then, after the offer's over, the game will bump up to $29.99 on Steam and the PlayStation Store. Rollerdrome will also be included in the PlayStation Plus Premium game trials at launch.

Rollerdrome rolls out for PC?, PlaySta??tion 4, and Ps5 on August 16.

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Riders on the VOID

OlliOlli World was one of the biggest surprises for me this year. I respected the two previous games in the series, but I had bounced off both of them. I was afraid I was going to do the same with OlliOlli World, but now it ??stands as on?e of my favorite releases this year.

It’s great to have an excuse to revisit it and feel insecure about how rusty I’ve gotten. VOID Riders is the perfect excuse to do so. It’s a rather sizeable collection of levels and a whole heap of new customization items to unlock. A new mechanic has been slotted in for good measure, as well, giving your thumbs new reason to get confused and di?s??appoint you.

OlliOlli World: VOID Riders (PC [Reviewed], Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S)
Developer: Roll7
Publisher: Private Division
Released: June 15, 2022
MSRP: $14.99 (Part of Expansion Pass)

VOID Riders sees your gnarly skateboarder rubbing elbows (or similar appendages) with aliens from another dimension. The??y want to steal our cows and check your tricks. Better p?op some dope kicks. Otherwise, our guests will be bummed. I’m doing my best here with the lingo, but I never claimed to be cool.

For the price, you get 14 regular levels and four “boss�stages. It’s a decent chunk, and all the stages are rather long. The new extraterrestrial theme is put to good use in rails that curl themselves out in front of you and tractor beams that lift you up. You nee?d to grab your way into a tractor beam; that’s the right stick. Note that this isn’t the right trigger, nor is it the left stick. M??aybe get that into your heads, thumbs. Quit letting me down.

Totes gnar

Yeah, I had a lot of humiliating failures, which is kind of the way with OlliOlli World. I’d often enter a tractor beam, forget the controls for half a second, and wind up getting pulled too late and missing wherever I wanted to land. That’s absolutely not the game’s fault, but I’m going to complain about it anyway. In any case, it's not any worse in Void Riders.

With the levels come all the challenges. High score, side objectives, a?nd attempting to make it to the end without using a checkpoint. Extra customization gear is awarded for the usual milestones, and there’s a decent assortment of mundane and unusual pieces to collect. If you're feeling sassy, you can try to climb the leaderboards by putting together the best combo possible. I kept dropping my long combos after a checkpoint, so you won't be seeing m??y name up there.

You'll at least put together a great bail tape

I was able to blast through the?? entire DLC in less than two hours, but that’s without going back for the additional objectives. Just note that it’s not for the faint of heart. That last?? level nearly killed me. I’m serious. I don’t think I breathed through my entire success run. My brain needs oxygen.

If I have one co??mplaint, it’s that the story is nothing special. The base game didn’t exactly have the most thrilling narrative either, and this just feels like a branch of that. It’s mostly just there to tell you how transcendentally great your skateboarding is. You’re just the c?oolest. Everyone here and in the VOID thinks so.

If you’re looking for a reason to get back into OlliOlli World, VOID Riders is the perfect one. A lot of love has gone into thes?e new levels, and they definitely live up to the quality of the rest of the game. Considering this is just the first half of the expansion pass, that little investment is already turning out to be good value. Here's hoping that the quality of the next one nails the landing.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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Double double whipless mochaccino half-caf

I tried multiple times to get into the OlliOlli games, and each time I bounced right off. I get that it’s a beloved series, and the straightforward interpretation of skating the perfect skateboard line appeals to me, but there’s something so clinical about the depiction. Just getting through the tutorial is exhausting. I understand that it’s a sort of easy-to-learn hard-to-master kind of deal, and ??that’s what makes it appealing, but a game has to get its hooks in me before I care enough to master it.

I’m guessing I’m not the only person who hit this wall, but OlliOlli World seems custom-built to address that problem. Eschewing the generic 2D designs of the previous games, OlliOlli World uses the magic of 3D to add some much-needed pizzazz. ?Moreover, the game has been given a better system of progression, a radical narrative, and a few extra moves under the ??hood.

OlliOlli World (PC [Reviewed], Nintendo Switch, Xbox, PS4, PS5)
Developer: Roll7
Publisher: Private Division
Released: February 8, 2022
MSRP: $29.99

The world of Radlandia is in need of a new Skate ??Wizard, as their current one is retiring. The job of the Skate Wiz??ard is to commune with the Skate Gods in Gnarvana. As someone who just began existing a moment ago, you’ve been selected by some group of people to see if you’ve got the Skate Wizardy necessary for the role.

You travel through five worlds in your quest, pi??cking up new skills as you go, in a bid to meet all the Skate Gods and maybe hang with them.

If you’re unfamiliar, the OlliOlli games are sidescrollers that task you with getting from the left-side of the level to the right-side in the gnarliest way possible. It’s a great little system, taking the stick-based trick system from EA’s Skate series and applying it to the die-and-retry side-scroller formul?a. In a way, it boils skateboarding down to the barest essentials. You’re presented with a sick line, and you simply must nail it.

At the surface level, OlliOlli World overhauls the series' aesthetic. The sterile level-select menu has ?been replaced with a world m??ap, and while it’s still largely linear, side-quests have replaced the pro stages.

As previously mentioned, the game has swapped out its parallax backgrounds for a fully 3D world. This benefits it in a few ways; the worlds are easier to read, as it’s more apparent what is a grind rail and what is solid ground. OlliOlli World also looks nice, but the backgrounds are typically painted in?? a limited palette to reduce distractions. More importantly, though, there’s a customization system, which allows for better rewards for completing optional objectives and achieving high scores beyond big-dick points.

You’ll unlock new boards and outfits at a pretty decent rate. I genera?lly skipped completing the goals unless there was something I actually wanted to wear, so it helped keep me progressing through the game. Tha??t’s a big improvement compared to when I’d drop it two worlds in because I had no interest in climbing the leaderboards.

The core gameplay is pretty familiar. There’s less emphasis on nailing a landing �OlliOlli World doesn’t even give you that tutorial until the second world �which makes it feel more approachable. Like??wise, checkpoints have been added to the levels, but you?’re rewarded for not using them.

In terms of tricks, there are some additions. Grabs have been added, complementing the quarterpipes and branching paths. You can also tweak grinds using the right stick, and while this is limited, it is another color in your crayon box. The lack of grabs in the previous games seemed like a bit of an oversight, and OlliOlli World feels more complete because of its inclusion.

Of course, the more you learn, the more there is to get your fingers twisted up. However, each skill is provided to you gradually throughout the entire game. By the time OlliOlli World decided to give me a lesson in manuals, I was alr?eady using them and mistakenly thought that it was a duplicate tutorial. It’s all a matter of getting comfortable with the controls, bit by bit, then you can go back and shoot for the high score if that sort of thing flips your deck.

The levels themselves are a lot of fun. The later stages really feel like they push you to the edge of control, as you navigate a roller coaster of tracks. P??art of the fun is learning to read the stages and react at speed. My brain often doesn’t have that sort of short-term memory, so going from grabs to manuals to grinds usually results in me eating dirt. Or worse, I ??accidentally press the restart button, even though it isn’t anywhere close to the pump button.

I never got frustrated with OlliOlli World, even as some of the jumps were spread out, requiring the perfect timing. Even when I attempted part of a level, like, fifty times because I need to complete an objective to get the benihana. It’s a mix of the chill soundtrac??k, the concentration-heavy gameplay, and the pleasant aesthetic. I found it hard to stay mad at it. It’s polished and well designed, so I always felt I only had my stupid thumbs to blame.

While I may have tried and failed to enjoy previous OlliOlii games, OlliOlli World really sucked me in. It feels like this should be the entry point for new??comers to the series, but I also think that it’s such a superior product that it would make going back to its predecessor??s more difficult.

To the end, however, I can’t say how people who have already mastered the first two games will feel about the added accessibility. From my point of view, the core OlliOlli gameplay hasn’t changed, but I never dug into the nuances before. The simplicity of the first two may be more appealing to some. Likewise, the cartoon visuals might turn some people off if they take their side-scrolling skaters ??seriously.

From the perspective of someone who always respected but couldn’t penetrate the series, OlliOlli World feels just perfect. I was engrossed for long periods of time and absolutely ate through t??he title. I’m ready to move on, rather than push for completion, but I think that’s part of the beauty. There’s something for everyone, whether or not you’ve got a competitive edge or just want to reach for Gnarvana.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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Take-Two's publishing label picks up the dev behind upcoming OlliOlli World

Roll7 is now under a new banner. Private Division announced today that it has acquired Roll7, the makers of the upcoming skateboarding game OlliOlli World.

Private Division was already set as OlliOlli World's publisher, and this acquisition will keep the studio and publishing label together through its future unannounced projects. Roll7 is currently aiming to launch OlliOlli World this? winter, during Take-Two's fiscal?? quarter ending on March 31, 2022.

"Private Division has been an incredible publishing partner for OlliOlli World, and we’re elated to continue to grow as a studio as part of the label," said Roll7 co-CEO Simon Bennett in a press release. "Private Division has empowered our amazing team to raise the bar on our creativity and scope for OlliOlli World. Joining the label puts us ??in a ??great position to continue to grow and to set our sights on achieving our ambition to become a pre-eminent global videogames developer."

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2g1rlb9XvA

Private Division has signed on a number of talented indie development teams for games in the future, including Ori developer Moon Studios and Armello developer League of Geeks.

OlliOlli World has made a very good impression in the hands-on time we've had with it. When I played it earlier this year, I was really impressed by how Roll7 shook up the formula and overhauled its visual style while still retaining that excellent flow-state skateboarding gameplay from the original games. With Private Division back?ing its future, u??nannounced projects, looks like Roll7 will keep on rolling.

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OlliOlli World is a new approach, but the skateboarding still owns

There was a moment while I was playing OlliOlli World's demo where ?I stopped thinking about how to ollie. That didn't mean I forgot; it was just that I was so locked into eve?rything else, the ollie was becoming reflexive and mechanical, simple as turning left or right. And then the game asked me to beat the level without using it once.

It's an optional challenge, but one that made me shift a little bit more and get out of my comfort zone. As I progressed forward I was using the ollie less, even if I wasn't challenged to avoid it. A little gentle encouragement from my skate crew to try something new was all I needed, and that's why I'm really digging the new look for the OlliOlli series in OlliOlli World.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXvpGrp21jg

The first two OlliOlli games were solid skateboarding games, but pretty straightforward. Your character would go on a journey across various areas, completing challenges and skating around a fictionalized world that mostly resembled modern day. Not to say it didn't have character, but it definitely didn't have it in the way OlliOlli World does.

OlliOlli World is set in a fantasy land of Radlandia, where talking amphibians and giant bees holding up billboards are business-as-usual. It's a place that would fit right in on the? Cartoon Network, but that distinct look helps everything feel a bit warmer—which is really nice when you start bailing on repeat attempts at certain ??gaps or challenges.

Accompanying your protagonist is a skate crew, made up of several very different skaters. Chiffon, a skate wizard, acts as the in-game reason for respawning and restarting, and a big friendly guy named Gnarly Mike is the one who issues you challenges. Suze tapes it all on her video camera, and "Dad" is the dad of the group, leading all of you on your skate-tastic adventure. It's a charming, fun group of skaters that represents the heart of what OlliOlli World and the dev team at Roll7 seems to want you to do: skat??e.

In an interview with Roll7 Co-CEO Simon Bennett and OlliOlli World creative director John Ribbins, they tell me they want OlliOlli World to be a more welcoming game. They looked at old reviews of the previous OlliOlli games to see what could or should change; as Ribbins puts it, the OlliOlli games are great, but "a bit cold."

Step one is putting faces behind the high scores. Now you're not just beating an arbitrary, developer-set high score, but Dad's high score. You're completing challenges for Gnarly Mike, and he congratulates you when you overcome them. Challenges are often times optional too, with a?n emphasis on experiencing the world and playing th??rough it to discover things, even if you're not nailing massive combos on your first run.

And dang, there is a lot to explore. OlliOlli World adds a lot of depth to its leve??ls thanks to a few different changes, the largest of which is switching lanes. Your skater can cross-over lanes whe?n they line up, and those paths will diverge, creating snaking, branching paths within different areas. Some might lead to certain sidequests, while others might offer interesting combo setups. It's all about how you want to navigate, and on multiple playthroughs of the same early levels, I was still finding plenty of new and interesting ways to traverse Radlandia.

Combine that with techniques like wallriding and a host of new skateboard abilities, and OlliOlli World feels much, much larger than the original straightforward OlliOlli games. It's still a r??ide from A to B, but the journey in bet??ween is so much more interesting to toy around with, finding new ways of chaining together different segments.

The "flow state" ideal is still at the core, but OlliOlli World prese??nts a new, different kind of challenge. It wants you to explore the world, to learn at your own pace, and to have a cast of characters that nudge and encourage you along, as if it's your very own real-l??ife skate crew.

At the end of our interview, I asked the developers about what hobbies the team h?ad picked up during the pandemic, and it shoul??dn't surprise you at all that skateboarding was the answer. But I asked Ribbins to elaborate a bit more, and he described how some of them had been playing a game of "skate golf;" if you're unfamiliar, the idea is that someone does a trick, and then you set a personal par for how many tries it might take you to replicate it.

For some new skateboarders, their kickflip might be a par 20, or a par 40. If you've been skating for a long time, it might be a par 2 trick. The focus on par meant everyone could participate, though. It wasn't just about playing "HORSE" or being the best at nailing a trick, but getting your own par do??wn over the course of time.

It's a small thing, but it felt right in line with what OlliOlli World is trying to accomplish. Through charming visuals, challenges, and lots to explore and discover, this doesn't just feel like a fresh take on OlliOlli, but a smart way to get a lot of newcomers into a traditionally challenge-based kind of game. It feels really good to finally hit the end of the level, after nailing a big combo chain or finally nabbing all the collectibles, and having your skate crew ready and waiting to congratulate you. Those are the vibes of OlliOlli World, and I ??can't ??wait to hit the ramps and rails for more.

OlliOlli World arrives this winter for the ??Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

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