The latest trailer for the upcoming video game Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair from publisher Team17 and developer Playtonic shows off the various ways in which levels can change based on how players interact with the environment. While it certainly isn’t the first video game to feature alternate states for different levels based on environmental factors, the variety of them on display is intriguing regardless.
In the trailer, which you can watch above, the game’s eponymous Yooka and Laylee navigate a top-down 3D world while occassionally entering 2.5D levels to accomplish certain goals or tasks. While out and about in the 3D section, players can apparently trigger certain factors that will affect the 2.5D levels. Showcased in the trailer, for example, is the ability to flood one level with water or freeze another. It’s unclear exactly how much of those levels will be unique to those environmental factors, but it does appear to be significant.
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One question is, of course, if there’s any exact benefit to the different versions. Is there a reason to do, say, a frozen level versus the one that isn’t? Traditional level design logic would imply that there will absolutely be costs and benefits to doing one over the other, but it remains to be seen exactly how much impact it will have.
What do you think of the shifting levels? Does it make you interested in playing through the game multiple times to see all the possibilities? Let us know in the comments, or hit me up directly on Twitter @rollinbishop to talk all things gaming!
Here’s how Team17 describes Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair on its website:
“Rescue Queen Phoebee’s Royal Beettalion Guard and prepare to take on Capital B’s most dastardly challenge yet in this brand new platforming adventure hybrid!
“Yooka and Laylee must combine their abilities to take on a series of challenging and vibrant 2.5D levels, as well as explore and solve puzzles in the beautiful 3D overworld.”
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is scheduled to release this year for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. You can check out all our previous coverage of the title right here.
