OlliOlli 2: Welcome to Olliwood Review (PS4/PS Vita)

It seems only yesterday we wear swearing at our Vita’s as we smashed head first into a wall in the original OlliOlli. The fast paced action mixed with simple controls led to many a frantic hour of twitch gaming. It wasn’t perfect but OlliOlli certainly scratched the score attack itch and brought out the perfectionist in us. OlliOlli 2 brings us five new settings to play around in so with thumbs at the ready we dived back in.

In truth, not that much has changed with OlliOlli 2. The progression layout and controls are the same and the look of the game hasn’t changed much either. With this in mind it is fair to say that if you didn’t get on with the first game then there is little here to change your mind. On the other hand, fans will no doubt be happy with the ‘more of the same’ approach.

The biggest change to game mechanics is the inclusion of manuals and switches. This now allows combo's to be maintained and chained throughout entire runs and opens up acess to huge combos and scores. This does add an extra layer of depth and once you've worked out how to get through the levels invites you back in to play until your fingers bleed.

Leader boards have been better integrated which certainly helps to up the high score addiction and the daily grinds section allows you a single attempt at trying to take a top score on a specific course. The spots section also makes a return for those looking for something aside from the main level progression.

Unfortunately, the main issue we had with the original is still present. That being it can still be very difficult to tell what is and isn’t a grindable surface and this is present is both the PS4 and Vita versions (though background detail is somewhat clearer now at least). The only other real issue we have is how the skater jumps from one rail up to another. Especially in the fourth world we found it very frustrating that unless a very specific jump was done we couldn’t land on the grind rail -this happening despite the skater clearly jumping high enough to get to it.

The new levels are great fun to zoom around and show a fair amount of variety and invention based around different genres of Hollywood films. There’s Wild West, Aztec and Horror themed worlds and by the end you’ll be grinding around a Sci-Fi landscape like a tiny 2D Ratchet and Clank where any mistake results in failure. 

The most important thing is that OlliOlli 2 remains as addictive and pulsating as ever. Yes, it is incredibly frustrating but you’ll always want to go back to it one more time to try and get a better score, (or just get through the level). We would say the levels are also generally a bit better and more inventive than the first game so there has been development.

Overall, OlliOlli 2 may feel more like a bit of an add-on than a brand new game but there is more than enough content here for fans to justify a purchase. The high score integration with network features is leaps ahead and it’s still as fun and frustrating as it’s always been. It’s another pocket sized chunk of high score fun that’s well worth your attention and fans will find little to complain about.

Overall 8/10

Scram Kitty DX Review (PS4/PS Vita)

After wooing us with the wonderfully named Floating Cloud God Saves the Pilgrims and The 2D Adventures of Rotating Octopus Character the mad cap humour of Dakko Dakko studios returns with the once Wii U exclusive now moving onto Playstation platforms.

The plot is mad and sends us back to the 16-bit days of lunatic ideas. Basically, your cat sends you a message from the international space station saying super intelligent mice have taken over and you need to get up there and rescue all the cats and take it back from them. What this amounts to is jumping on your spinner and blasting, leaping and spinning your way around some top down puzzle/platform levels.

The puzzle elements are based around shooting switches, finding different weapons to destroy obstacles and simply working out how to make jumps to different rails. It’s nothing massively complex but when combined with the past paced gameplay and onslaught of enemies it’s more than enough to deal with.

The game draws a lot of influence from Rotating Octopus but there are a ton of new ideas going on here. Working out the movement is key to success and your character controls in a fairly unique way. Your spinner is magnetic and attaches to any rail. You can move along the rails under your own steam but the only way you can reach another rail is to jump to it. What this means is that you need to use the rails carefully to get the right angles to jump and fire.

You will be attacked by various types of mice on your adventure and making sure you can actually hit them with your variety of weapons forms part of the crux of the game. Your character only fires directly in front of themselves so if you are on a side rail and they are coming at you from below you need to jump to a rail facing towards them in order to hit the pesky vermin. It starts out tricky but you soon get the hang of how it all works and it adds to the puzzle elements of certain levels. 

The goal of each level is to rescue four cats and reach the exit door. You can just find the exit if you want but you’ll need cats to unlock levels as you go so replaying earlier stages is vital to progression. The four cats each have their own characteristics to be found. The lazy cat just sits by the exit and the lucky cat requires all the lucky pennies to be found in a level before appearing. The black cat requires a super tough mouse to be destroyed before it will come out and finally the scaredy cat, when picked up, will run off to somewhere else on the station and requires chasing around and capturing in a strict time limit.

Scram Kitty is a tough game and you’ll need both patience and perseverance to get through. You have an energy bar but once it’s gone you’ll have to start the level again from scratch. This includes finding cats, coins and weapons again or taking down the big bad mouse commanders. The levels are fairly compact but the amount of skill required from the player means dying near the end of a stage can be exasperating. 

The main problem with Scram Kittyfrom the Wii U version has now been removed. On The Wii U proverbial Scram would appear on screen to give advice. When this happened he pretty much took up the entire screen and this led to a number of deaths and missed jumps as we simply couldn’t see what was going on. Scram no longer does this. While this means you don’t get the advice it also makes for a much smoother experience overall.

Overall, Scram Kitty is still an excellent game. There’s a lot of invention and originality on show in terms of the games mechanics and we certainly haven’t played anything like this for years and there’s nothing else like it on PSN. It’s a pretty essential purchase for anyone who wants an old school challenge mixed with some clever design. Dakko Dakko seems to go from strength to strength and they are producing games that stand out in a very crowded market. We can’t wait to see what they come up with next.

Overall 8/10

Chainsaw Warrior: Lords of Night Review (PC)

There have been a lot of Games Workshop properties making their way to digital lately and Chainsaw Warrior is in fact one of the very first games that the company produced. A single player card game, it may seem like a strange choice to make a digital version out of. Then again we’ve all spent far too long playing Solitaire and this has zombies and chainsaws in it. 

Lord of Night is the second game in the series and changes the setting from a collapsing city to a forbidding jungle where darkness is about to take over the earth. You are charged with going in and destroying the evil lurking within an ancient pyramid. To do this you need to use strategy and have some luck with the dice.

You start out by rolling your character which sets up how many hit points they have and how much venom and radiation they can take. It also sets up your agility and marksmanship along with a few other things. Next, it’s time to pick from a fairly wide range of different weapons, armour and equipment before heading off into the jungle.

Your mission is set against the clock with every turn taking time off it. If it reaches zero it’s game over.  Each turn you flip over a virtual card and follow the instructions. This can involve having to roll dice to avoid traps, finding air drops of equipment or entering combat. There are also hidden temples to find and a number of other surprises. Combat takes the form of choosing weather to engage at range or in melee and then making the appropriate skill checks to take down your target. Enemies are varied and it will take some thought and experience to learn how best to tackle them.

A scout for instance, might be better to handle at close range but may also have a chance to raise the alarm in the time it takes you to engage them. Weapons also have limited ammunition and certain weapons can only be used to kill certain enemies so you have to be careful and consider if getting up close and possibly taking more damage is sometimes needed to progress in the long run.

As the cards turn you will make your way through three decks as you move from the jungle to the lost city and then into the final pyramid where the darkness resides.

There are also temples which hold special artifacts and blessings that require a tough enemy to be dispatched in order to proceed.

Graphically, the game is functional if not spectacular. The cards and environment are well illustrated but there are few animations. You’ll get bullet holes in a card or have it chainsawed in half but that’s about it. It all works well though and the slightly minimalist approach works with some strong sound effects to keep things interesting and enjoyable.

It’s a strangely compelling game that just seems to work. As there is a fairly short timer on each session it never outstays its welcome and in the games we played there was enough variety to keep things interesting. There are also multiple endings and different ways to approach your adventure. It really does draw on the strength of something like Solitaire while adding enough new mechanics to make it even more compelling.

Overall, Chainsaw Warrior: Lords of Night is a really nice surprise. It’s straightforward fun and it really works. We can’t think how it could really be improved as the game achieves everything it sets out to and is a great way to spend an hour here and there. The new equipment and different endings add a reason to come back and it’s certainly something we’ll still be playing long into the future.

Overall 8/10

Yakuza Review (PS2)

Yakuza was a much anticipated and much misunderstood title since the early previews first started hitting the news. Early reports suggested the game was a spin off from the much-loved Shenmue. These reports then turned to a more watered down ‘inspired by Shenmue’ as time advanced. The truth is apart from having adventure elements and a fair few mini games the game bears little resemblance to Sega’s much missed franchise.

Instead of Shenmue light what we have here is a very violent, well-put together and highly entertaining tale of one man trying to piece together his life after ten years in jail. The man in question is Kazuma Kiryu, the once so-called ‘Dragon of the Dojima family’. Kazuma is an honour bound and stupidly tough Yakuza who as we see in the opening chapters on the game will do anything to protect those he cares for.

Once the story takes us to the emergence of Kazuma after his incarceration we find many things have changed. This is where the story really kicks in, as the player must try to piece together what has been going on in the ten years you have been away from the action. The story is well put together and apart from a few low points holds the interest of the player while painting the main characters of the piece with an unusual amount of depth, compared to what you normally find in a video game anyway.

The main section of the game comes in two parts. First off you get to wander around the town of Kamurocho looking for clues and mixing with the citizens. The second part of the game is where the main focus lays, the combat. Various gangsters and street scum will confront Kazuma as he goes about his investigations just asking to be pummelled senseless.

Combat at first seems a little limited but new moves and techniques can be gained as you level up various statistic bars as well as training with a martial arts master who you meet fairly early on. The only time things get repetitive is when random goons confront you on the street as you go from place to place. Most of the time you can run away from them but it can be a real pain when you are trying to get somewhere quickly and some street punk calls you name and tries to mug you.

The fighting system is nothing if not solid. Punches land with bone breaking thuds, faces get stamped on, guts get kicked and that’s before you bring into the equation the many weapons and the heat commands. Pretty much anything that can be picked up can be bashed over an enemy’s head, and there is an absolute plethora of knickknacks at hand. Bicycles, neon signs, golf clubs and samurai swords are only a few of things that can be used to inflict wince inducing damage upon your opponents causing them to emit delightful screams of pain.

Using the Heat commands brings a whole new world of hurt to the table. Once the heat meter is filled context sensitive action become available. For example grabbing hold of an enemy and moving him to a near by wall allows our hero to bash the unfortunate goon against it before stomping on their face when they slump to the ground. Later on the ability to use heat actions with weapons allows even more brutal actions to be administered to the low life populace.

Aside from the main quest there are multitudes of side quests that can be sought out. On first play through players may find the main narrative too much of a draw to go wandering around looking for lesser morsels of brutality. It is also very easy to overlook the amount of quests available, around a hundred in all.

Upon completion a whole range of extras are unlooked such as being able to wander around the city looking for side quests without the main quest active. If the wandering around is too much then you have the option of having the bad guys lined up before you in various themed matches such as fighting all the bosses, or lower yakuza family members.

What we have in Yakuza is a highly effective Japanese gangster story crammed into a PS2 game, and a visually impressive one at that. Taking on the groups of enemies is a joy as you very rarely tire of smashing them to bits as you really feel they are the scum of the earth and often want to keep kicking them even when they are out cold. Sega may not have brought us a new entry into the Shenmue series but what we have here is first truly effective update of titles such as Final Fight or Double Dragon. For that as well as many other reasons every PS2 owner should go out and get hold of a copy.

Overall 8/10