Before we hit the weekend, we’re taking a look at new DLC releases that recently launched. Here’s a look at new content for City of Gangsters, Walkabout Mini Golf, Escape Simulator and OlliOlli World.
City of Gangsters: Shadow Government DLC
It doesn’t seem that long ago that we covered City of Gangsters’ last DLC, Criminal Record, but SomaSim’s gangster-themed tycoon game – which is being published by Kasedo – already has a new expansion. Shadow Government takes the game to New York and explores the deep connection that can grow between organized crime and politics.
In many ways, this new expansion feels a lot like a prohibition era take on today’s “big corporations control the political agenda”, and it’s a lot of fun to play around with, as new doors open for your criminal empire if you have a politician in your back pocket to help pull the strings. And as with the gradual growth of your business, so grows your political influence. At first you’ll buy a small time local politician into office buy securing votes with your money and influence, and this in turn can help you get laws in place that will benefit your business interests while hurting those of others.
With your newly bought influence, you can get tax breaks, underfund the police so they’ll stay off your backs, and thus grow your riches – which in turn lets you influence higher profile elections for even more power. Before you know it, you’re not just running a bootlegging empire but also controlling the city from behind the scenes.
The reason why the new Shadow Government expansion works so well is that, sadly, these mechanics feel entirely believable. If cops are a problem then you can try and duck out of the way so they don’t see what you’re doing, but anyone who’s seen a cop thriller knows you can also “buy” them to make sure you stay out of trouble. And while you don’t have direct control over the police for, this expansion allows you to do things like that, which feels great and empowering. Shadow Government is a tad more expansive than the previous DLCs though, but it does come with arguably the most iconic map they could have added: New York City.
Walkabout Mini Golf – El Dorado DLC
Developer Might Coconut has been steadily releasing new content for their VR exclusive hit Walkabout Mini Golf, and besides the candy-filled addition that was Sweetopia they’ve been keen on taking VR golfers to almost mythological places like the Gardens of Babylon and Shangri-La. Their latest add-on takes players to El Dorado, the lost city of gold that’s a piece of history as well as popular culture.
In this latest expansion, you get a new selection of courses set amidst lost ruins inside a dense jungle, making for another chance to channel your inner Indiana Jones or Nathan Drake – assuming they like a bit of golf in their spare time. What we also really like was that many of these jungles will feature lots of rain, and this is simulated here as well – which in VR is a nice and immersive touch.
We also want to point out that, for the amount of quality content you get, Mighty Coconut’s expansions are extremely affordable, costing less than 3 Dollars/Euros a piece. As the base game is one of our go-to VR experience, that’s a steal.
Escape Simulator – Steampunk DLC
In the past few years, we’ve seen a large number of escape room-type games pop up. We still remember being blown away when the first The Room came out on mobile, and since then there have been countless others – from generic and completely forgettable to truly excellent. Escape Simulator takes a slightly different approach, and doesn’t just offer a selecting of escape rooms for you to tackle but also lets you play around with the creations of others thanks to an included level editor.
While that level editor has resulted in a vibrant community that has crafted a ton of escape rooms for you to try, the developers have also recently released the Steampunk DLC, a package containing four new rooms to play – all of which are enabled for online multiplayer, as are the room in the base game. Thematically, they’re tied together by a need to escape from an airborne ship called the Valor, which was designed with a steampunk aesthetic in mind.
Starting off in your quarters, you have to get out and access the engine room, where a fire is raging. Get it out and make your way to the upper deck, where you’ll get through the greenhouse before ending up in the helm room, which is where you’ll have to save yourself and the ship. It’s a well designed two to three hour quest, and it’s moderately priced as well. Sure, it doesn’t beat “free”, which you’ll get from the community (and the developers themselves also regularly put out free content), but this is a high quality pack being released at a budget price point, which also helps further development on the game. For the price, you’d be hard pressed to find a better deal on an escape room.
OlliOlli World: VOID Riders DLC
We really enjoyed OlliOlli World when it launched and brought back a 2D indie classic with a modernized look and feel and familiar yet fresh mechanics. Developer Roll7 and publisher Private Division also announced they were going to be releasing DLC for the game post-launch, which was going to be a first for the series. The first content pack, dubbed VOID Riders, is out now, and we checked it out to see if it’s more of the same or if it adds anything new to the mix.
As with the base game, VOID Riders features a casual story line to tie into the skateboarding/flowing action of the gameplay, and this time it’s about an alien invasion of Radlandia. Existing areas like Cloverbrook, Burntrock and Sunshine Valley have all been invaded by the minions of Nebulord, the alien leader – introducing new levels and challenges to familiar areas. In addition to these expansions for existing areas, VOID Riders also introduced “The V.O.I.D.”, a completely new area filled with even more levels to take on.
Making DLC for a games as polished and established as OlliOlli (World) lends itself to making more of the same with a fresh layer of paint, but it was nice to see that VOID Riders introduces a few new mechanics into the mix as well. The alien forces have mastered gravity, and their tractor beams allow you to catch serious air if you happen to jump right through them. This also lets you access parts of the level you can’t otherwise reach for an alternate route, of jump across giant gaps.
In some cases, the aliens will even lift parts of the track while you’re on there, which certainly makes for a few surprises when it first happens. You’ll eventually find your rhythm and it’ll feel like the OlliOlli World you know, but these dynamic mutations to the levels are welcome changes to the gameplay formula and a breath of fresh air. If you were still playing OlliOlli World, this is an addon you’ll want to look into.
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