Velocity 2X - PS4
Completed 14th February 2026
Velocity is another one of those games that I started a while ago but never finished. Apparently, according to my trophy records the last time I unlocked a trophy before returning to the game was in 2018! I did not realise it was that long ago when I originally played the game and according to my save records I had reached around level 20 out of 50. I think I stopped playing the game as I had reached a tricky point and real life also got in the way so I just must have given up on the title.
After returning to the game I am kind of baffled as to why I stopped playing it, as when I picked it up from where I left off I found myself having a great time with Velocity 2X. It has an quick and easy to pick up and play feeling and it feels very like an old style arcade game.
It is a strange game as it plays similar to an old style overhead space shooter, but it also mixes it up with 2D platforming sections in each level. I am not a fan of 2D space shooting games as I am bad at them (I used to be better at them when I was younger), but Velocity is quite forgiving in the space shooter segments and the 2D sections feel like a mixture of run and gun with Megadrive/Genesis era of Sonic the Hedgehog games. While you do not have lives as such each level is timed - so there is a fail state that you can reach. The 2D sections are very, very fun but some of the levels in the later half have timed sections which can be quite frustrating (you should check out some of the level speedruns online - as people have got so good at speeding through the games they make the timed sections seem easy).
One thing I find frustrating about these type of games is not the challenge of the levels, but the fact that you have to have a certain amount of XP before you can try the next level - sure it incentivises you to go back to previous levels and improve your scores and times, but on the other hand it artificially lengths the game.
I reached level 39 out of 50, but I am just not good enough at the game to unlock the later levels. It is somewhat frustrating as I can beat level 39 multiple times, but if I do not gain 120 more XP I cannot access level 40. Life is too short to be playing the same levels over and over so I have reluctantly decided to retire the game. Maybe I will return to it once every so often and attempt to go further.
*Update*
I decided to go back to some of the levels and see if I could gain more XP. I somehow improved some of my speed times and after a couple of days I managed to reached the final 50th level.
Overall, this game has an incredible feel to it and takes me back to the days where I would play through the Megadrive Sonic the Hedgehog games in one sitting in the days before it saving was commonplace. I did not foresee how much I was going to enjoy the game - but this is certainly a game I would go back to every of often just for a quick session on a couple of levels.
The last few levels are a little on the frustrating side as the game introduces a mechanic where your control is basically backwards, but thankfully those levels are not too long - it seemed strange that the developers introduced a mechanic like that so late on in the game, I would have preferred the game without it at all.
Some extra levels that were previously DLC are also included as a bonus.
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