Velocity 2X review for PS4, PS Vita

Platform: PS Vita, PS4
Publisher: FuturLab
Developer: FuturLab
Medium: Digital
Players: 1
Online: No
ESRB: E10+

Initially, I was ready to dismiss Velocity 2X as not much more than a reskinned version of last yearโ€™s Velocity Ultra (which itself was basically a redone version of the PSP Mini game Velocity). Thatโ€™s not the worst thing in the world to be, of course; Velocity Ultra was a pretty awesome game, and Iโ€™m always happy to play it again. But still, I was finding it hard to get too excited for a game in which the big draw was โ€œbigger explosionsโ€œ.

And then the gameโ€™s hero, Lt. Kai Tana, steps out of her ship, and itโ€™s instantly apparent that thereโ€™s actually a whole lot more to Velocity 2X than being just an updated version of Velocity Ultra.

velocity-2x-screenshot-01

I mean, it is partially that. You still spend a good chunk of Velocity 2X flying around in a spaceship, blasting away at aliens and picking up survivors. You still get the story told to you via screen after screen of dialogue. Youโ€™re still graded for each level with three-star rankings, and you still get to compare scores via online leaderboards. All of that is still here, and just as in Velocity Ultra, itโ€™s presented with FuturLabโ€™s usual fantastic sense of style.

What sets Velocity 2X apart, however, is that itโ€™s just as much a fast-paced, side-scrolling platformer as it is a shmup. No longer are you just zooming around space, youโ€™re also running and jumping through a space station. Youโ€™re firing bombs at mines and mounted cannons, and youโ€™re teleporting through walls. While a lot of the basic mechanics are similar, they still feel fresh and different just because of the fact itโ€™s not a spaceship doing them, itโ€™s a person.

velocity_2x-screenshot-05

(And thatโ€™s without even getting into the fact that said person a woman. Of course, the game doesnโ€™t make a big deal about it, and unless youโ€™re really obsessive about these sort of things, itโ€™s not like youโ€™ll notice it either โ€” but, in its own way, that feels almost as subversive as if it were some big honking deal. I donโ€™t want to dwell on this point too much, since Velocity 2X itself doesnโ€™t, but still: itโ€™s pretty cool.)

On the most critical point, however, Velocity 2X hasnโ€™t changed: itโ€™s still an awesome game, and itโ€™s still absolutely worth your time. Half of it may be borrowed from Futurlabโ€™s previous game, but half of it isnโ€™t, and those two halves add up to make one heck of an experience.

Grade: A
Want to know more about our review scoring criteria? Read our Review Guidelines!