Review: Holoska Adventure Pack
Ryan Bloom | April 9, 2009
And, of course, video!
Maybe I’m getting Stockholm Syndrome. For those too young to understand what, exactly, Stockholm Syndrome is, it’s a mental condition hostage victims acquire where they begin to sympathize with their kidnappers – they can even fall in love with them. After being so intensely frustrated at the Chun-nan Adventure Pack and slightly annoyed at the Spagonia Adventure Pack, the Holoska Adventure Pack is, so far, the most enjoyable of the three currently-released DLC packs.
By now, you should know the drill: Six levels. Four in the day, two in the night. Two of the day time levels are “Hard Mode” remixes of existing stages. All for about $3 and 500mb. Hard Drive space is actually starting to become a bit of a concern for me – between just Sonic Unleashed and Burnout Paradise, I have nearly four gigabytes of DLC on my meager 20gb Xbox 360 HDD. With everything else I have on the HDD, I may have to start deleting old level packs ot make room for new ones.
Like the Spagonia Adventure Pack, the difficulty in Holoska’s DLC is tough, but fair. As always, the hardest levels of the batch are ones that force you to complete a specific number of laps (Daytime Acts 2-2 and 3). For those of you out there who hated Savannah Citadel Act 2 Day, Cool Edge Act 3 Day is going to drive you mad, as it employs the same “complete three laps in a drift-based obstacle course before time runs out” concept.
Cool Edge Act 4 Day is probably the most enjoyable daytime level these DLC packs have provided so far. The entire concept of the level is boosting off of ramps across a bottomless pit – sort of like high-speed, high-flying platforming where you aren’t allowed to slow down or stop. Soaring through the air across the great distances required to reach the next platform is thrilling to say the least.
Thankfully, while the Werehog levels in the Spagonia Adventure Pack were tedious, dark, and boring, the two Werehog levels included with Holoska’s DLC return to the same level of quality from Chun-Nan’s DLC. Both are around five minutes in length and Cool Edge Act 2 Night actually introduces a new gameplay mechanic in the form of torches that must be lit using fire-breathing enemies. I maintain that the Werehog would have been much more well-received if the levels were more like some of these DLC levels. The Werehog just works better in shorter, smaller bursts.
But don’t just take my word for it – I’ve prepared a special Youtube Playlist showcasing all of the levels in the DLC:
(Can’t see the video?
Click here!)
Filed Under Microsoft, Review Slew, Sega, Sonic Unleashed, Sony
You die a lot. xD
A M A Z I N G
cool pack!
i want more *w*
i wonder if they will make something like playble super sonic or chip
CHIP???!
wow this could be fun hehe
@Sylar: I’d like to see you finish these levels on your first try without dying.
Meh, at least the werehog levels on wii were only 6 min
I managed to complete Act 4 (amazing level) first try without dying and got S rank, but I got E ranks on Act 2-2 and 3. I got an A for Act 1-2.
The Werehog levels were a blast to play, they even added a new level-gimmick!
For anyone who doesn’t have Xbox Live, get it now! Silver memberships are FREE!
HURRY AND DOWNLOAD THIS CONTENT!!!
Wow… simply wow. :O
soon you will come to find that chip was suppose to be like daxter from jak and daxter and he was playble once maybe that will happend just don’t get hopes up
lol I never even completed savannah citadel act 2…it drove me mental stupid drift
Is it me or do the DLC’s have more platforming?
@Tails: Just run normally and rotate the camera with the right stick, it makes it easy!
@CrySore: Yes, they were only 6 minutes. There was also 3 – 5 Werehog levels though. Basically all they did was split what easily could have been one act into 3 or 4 or even 5 to prevent people from being pissed off.
20gb? That’s not nearly enough for gamers in this generation. Upgrade your HDD, man. XD
Anyway, I don’t expect anything great from DLC in 3D Sonic games, so I don’t feel too excited about this.
@Paul Street (From other page): I DO play other games:
Crash, Spyro, Ape Escape, Tony Hawk, Croc, Megaman, Bubble Bobble, Racing games, Alex Kidd, Mario (SOMETIMES), Ristar, etc, etc (long list).
[...] about it. I’m the kind of guy who defaults all his games to “easy mode”, and yet, here I was, starting to really enjoy the Sonic Unleashed DLC in spite of the fact it was basically a glorified [...]
[...] you informed of developments. In the meantime, those in Europe can check out Ryan Bloom’s review of the Holoska Adventure Pack and decide for themselves whether it’s worth the [...]