The second additional feature
OlliOlli2 has is four-player split screen competitive mode. On show was a score attack in which players competed to get the best score on the same track simultaneously within a set time limit. Roll7 is seeking to add further multiplayer modes, but that aspect of OlliOlli2 is still very much a work in progress.
Finally there are the addition of jumps. These appear at the end of ramps and if the play launches off at a highlighted point then they score a bonus, which is maintained provided they pull off a perfect landing. The point generating mechanic of stringing combos together remains present in
OlliOlli2 with the added bonus of a meter that indicates how successful the player will be, provided they pull of a decent landing of course!
The visuals have also been improved significantly from the original, with the t-shirt of the skateboarder now fluttering in the wind as he glides along, and he also has the number 7 on his back. The number of pixels he is made from as well as the world he skates in has also been increased dramatically without any apparent loss of framerate, which is an impressive feat for a game that is still in alpha.
OlliOlli2 will appear sometime in 2015 on the PS4 and PS Vita.
Pneuma Breath of Life by Deco Digital and Bevel Studios
One of the conceits of first-person view games is that whatever the player cannot see isn't rendered. That's right: if the player cannot see it, then the computer does not create it. This makes sense, of course. Otherwise every first person game would be no bigger than about 4 rooms due to the limits on the amount of memory required to create them.
Pneuma Breath of Life builds on this conceit by requiring the player to look at an object that is fixed in space in order to trigger an effect. For example, a doorway will open provided the player focuses their attention on a particular spot, which may lead them to walk backwards through the doorway they are trying to get through.
The role the player takes on is of the god Pneuma. Those familiar with Classical Greek will know that 'pnueuma' is actually a word meaning breath wind and, to the Abrahamic religions; spirit and there was no deity named thus. Nevertheless
Pneuma Breath of Life does take on the theme of ancient Greece, with carved marble pillars and statues in abundance. This realm that Pneuma exists within is awash with 3D spatial puzzles that are akin to a IQ test, only rendered using the Unreal Engine 4 on the Xbox One.
Tucked away in the indie section of Microsoft's booth at EGX 2014 was a demo pod showing
Pneuma Breath of Life and I was really taken by the whole 'look at something while moving to make stuff happen' mechanic. It reminded me of when I first discovered the power and need of circle-strafing in games like
Quake and
Unreal. This very simple mechanic has given birth to an entire game and it took a great deal of effort for me to walk away from the demo pod, as I wanted to know how fiendish the puzzles got as I made my way through the exquisitely rendered world.
One of the cleverest puzzles I found was the need to move stone pillars up and down that each had a hole in them. By lining up these holes it was possible to see through them and then trigger a door to open into the next section. All of this required me to keep my visuals locked onto a point in space while travelling in another and timing it in such a way as to not have the door slam into me as I exited the room. If anything
Pneuma Breath of Life is an excellent training tool for those wanting to become better at standard FPS games, as the ability to run and gun requires this skill to be well-honed.
Pneuma Breath of Life is set for release in 2015 for the Xbox One.
