Perhaps the most praise for the original Velocity was given to its fast and fluid arcade gameplay, and it's retained in Velocity 2X. It's still great to pilot your spaceship, taking down baddies while trying to race through a level to rack up the most points. The game also now adds boss fights that are fun and at times tricky to figure out. However, developer Futurlab wasn't just settled with the spaceship gameplay. Now, you must land your ship at times and go on foot to help take down security beams. Velocity's heart-racing gameplay is retained here with teleporting, fluid gunplay, and all while retaining the sense of urgency and speed found in the spaceship sections. This on-foot gameplay is reminiscent of Sonic the Hedgehog games of old. These two sections blend so perfectly they could be separate games entirely.
For an indie game, the production value in the game is superb. Velocity 2X now tells a story through drawings and text boxes in between levels. Unfortunately, the story isn't exactly all that memorable. However, this obviously isn't the focus of the game and there are still some funny dialogue exchanges. You can avoid the story entirely if you want since these cutscenes are skippable. The excellent music from the original is still present here, with the perfect blend of old and new tracks. The art direction is fantastic and textures look a lot better. Oh and the sound effects are awesome as well. The production quality is so good, at times I forgot I was even playing an indie game.
Velocity Ultra was right at home on Vita, but 2X plays fantastically on both PS4 and Vita. I was originally going to only play the Vita version, but after trying out the PS4 version I really dug it. I've put equal amount of time into both versions and there are great things about both versions. The Vita version of Velocity 2X is a great on-the-go game with great controls and no broken touch controls (actually there's basically no touch controls at all) while the PS4 version is enhanced with superb visuals and the rumble effect of the DualShock 4 which surprised me how good it was compared to other games where it's just an after thought. Of course, both versions run at a ridiculously smooth 60 FPS, and since both versions are cross buy and cross save, you might as well try it out on both. You can't go wrong with either version though.
In terms of problems, I don't really have many. It does feel a lot easier than the original. You have unlimited lives and at least 20 minutes to beat each level, whereas in the original you only had about 2-3 lives and at most 10 minutes with some levels going as low as 2 minutes. Also, much like its predecessor, Velocity 2X starts to get into a bit of a grind at around level 40. You have to replay old missions to rack up the points necessary to advance, and it can get to feel a bit tedious when you're just trying to finish the game.
THE VERDICT___________________________________________________________________
Velocity 2X is a game you need to play. Developer Futurlab has found new ways to innovate on the game while at the same time retaining the incredible gameplay of the original. The production values are top notch for an indie game. It plays great on both PS4 and Vita, so you should be fine with either. While not perfect, Velocity 2X is an amazing blend of old and new, and is now on the Game of the Year watch. Oh and did I mention it's free for PlayStation Plus subscribers? Yeah, so download it.
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