It’s weird to think that, for such a cheerful game, any level of OlliOlli World would absolutely kill you in real life. You would die. You would break every bone you ever knew you had. You would be crushed, flattened, exploded-on-impact. And yet, it’s so lovely! It’s so chirpy!
This was true even before the new Void Riders DLC came along, which brings aliens – okay more aliens; they were already a cameo in the original. And the aliens bring tractor beams, which means that levels become more dynamic and more vertiginous than ever before.
That is saying something. But Void Riders is saying something. It is saying: look at this incredible, magical, thrilling game, and how aliens and tractor beams mean that it’s now even more incredible and magical and thrilling. Void Riders is an absolute treat.
And it’s introduced so beautifully. Tractor beams are the big add here, bringing a bit of topsy-turvy mayhem to the flow of a generous range of new levels. Two things about them: one, they fit into the control scheme beautifully, because you ride them by grabbing the board. Two, they feel like butter – so smooth. You will be falling through the air and then you hit this purple beam of light and within it, you grab the board to rise. It feels elegant – a dream of sudden weightlessness.