clickbliss

Velocity 2X Review

By: Omar (@siegarettes)
Second Opinion by RJ (@suppadoopa)

• Velocity 2X
• Developer - Futurlab
• Publisher - Futurlab
• PlayStation Vita & PlayStation 4 (reviewed on the Vita)
• Rating - E10

There’s a certain sense of a remix culture taking place in the games space. AAA titles have become a parade of sub-systems and mini-games in polished containers. A simple look at the last generation of games will see a whole lot of derivative titles that can be described as “game X meets game Y” as popular games become continually borrowed from. In another space are the independent developers, remixing genres and styles from titles past to create new takes on them. Velocity 2X would be one of these. The first Velocity mixed the genre up by introducing a short range teleport, changing the focus from shooting to navigation and puzzles. 2X builds on that, introducing sidescrolling sections and story segments.

There’s a certain urgency to Velocity. Levels are laid out in enclosed, funnel like spaces, and there’s a tight sense of inertia and gravity that demands tight, flowing movement from you. Levels for the most part are quick bursts of challenge that string together sequences of enemies and obstacles. Later stages ask you to backtrack to unlock gates, creating a back and forth interplay within the space. The best of these move between the overhead shooter and sidescrolling sections with ease, breaking up the vertical movements with horizontal. There’s a unique rhythm to it, forward movements cut in by downbeats of gunfire and kicks of teleportation. There’ll also be the crash of your repeated failures interrupting it.

There’s a certain reorientation that needs to occur between control methods, and this becomes ever complicated by the new tools that are slowly provided to you as you advance. Calibrating your brain to manually scrolling the screen in the overhead,and alternating between running and shooting during the sidescrolling sections demands a kind of mental and physical dexterity that won’t immediately set in. There’s a healthy amount of stages to build up to it, and later stages provide a satisfying interplay between the two styles as well. There’s a boss fight that immediately comes to mind, having you moving in and out of the two styles to take down gates that protect the enemy from harm. This kind of design represents Velocity at its most engaging, and most of the stages are smartly designed to take advantage of this kind of interplay. There are a few stages that stand out as taking it to far, with a bit too much backtracking and overly complex layers of gates.

There’s also some problematic areas revolving around the use of teleport pods, asking you to essentially manually set checkpoints then backtrack to them to open other gates. There’s only a button press between setting the pod and moving to it, so I often found myself accidentally setting one in an area too far ahead, making the previous area inaccessible and forcing me to restart the stage. The small stages keep the frustration from compounding too much, but it contrasts with the otherwise excellent level layouts and can feel like a chore impeding your progress.

There’s a sharp sense of design in the presentation as well. The visual design calls back to Amiga-era scrolling shooters, but updates it with sharp and colorful geometry. The cutscenes are likewise well rendered, bringing the distinct art direction to the character portraits and story scenes. The story scenes work well enough, but it’s not there to do much more than provide a little context. Still, it never quite feels at home in a game as abstracted as this. The story breaks up the constant urgency demanded by the gameplay, and the justification for picking up the collectibles feels a little too close to Unreal Tournament 3’s “Field Lattice Generator” story explanation for the Capture the Flag mode. Some stages provide little more than a few sentences beforehand as well, making it feel as if Futurlab had trouble properly integrating the story. It’s not horrible, by any means, the writing is solid, with some decent quips between the characters, but it does feel unnecessary.

At its best, Velocity 2X is a sharp, smartly designed shooter that plays with the conventions of the genre to create something fresh and flowing. It carries a unique rhythm and momentum, with levels that feel compulsively consumable. Movement becomes its own reward, and it demands you master the mechanical technique required in order to properly feel your way through the spaces it has built for you. There’s a few downbeats that drag on too long, but in the end it represents a miniature symphony of bullets, momentum, and mechanical mastery.

—-
SECOND OPINION
—-

Truth be told, I wasn’t a fan of the original Velocity. It was a stylish game, but that’s all I thought of it. It didn’t leave a lasting impression with me, so when I heard that Futurlab was brewing up a sequel, truth be told, I was not hyped for it. But for one afternoon, I was actually enjoying Velocity 2X. A indie game out of all things! For those six hours, my cynicism went away and I was just filled with enjoyment that futurlab served me. Futurlab took a blender, mixed up the classic shoot-em-ups with your run and gun. Add that with the style inherited from it’s sequel, and you get a game that is as delicious as a brew from a Chicago South Loop coffee shop.

The game gets very hectic, but not to the point where you would throw your DualShock across the room. Futurlab has done a wonderful job balancing out the difficulty throughout the game. They throw no cheap shots at you. The game does drag on in certain parts, but just like Omar said, it does represent a a symphony. But in my eyes, it’s more than music to your ears. It’s a really damn good cup of coffee.