The original Rock Of Ages was one of my favorite indie games of last gen, so naturally I was stoked when the sequel was announced back in June. The original released in 2011 and honestly I played it much later when it was a free title through PS Plus. For those of you who haven’t played it, allow me to introduce you to a goofy and charming gem and it’s equally silly sequel; Rock Of Ages 2: Bigger and Boulder.

There is actually a pretty funny pun hidden in the title: Boulder. How is this a pun? Well the whole premise of the original Rock Of Ages was to navigate a boulder through different courses throughout history and art eras like the classic black and tan Greek pottery style or Renaissance era Leonardo Da Vinci. It is very loosely based on the Greek myth Sisyphus, in which Sisyphus is punished for being crafty and deceitful and forced to push a boulder up and down a hill for all of eternity. You do this throughout history as you try to break though the castle gates of many historic luminaries such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Leonidas, Vlad Tepes, and many others to squash them with your happy faced boulder. Each of the four boulder types has their own abilities and characteristics to allow you to rock and roll the way you choose.

As if controlling a boulder wasn’t enough, there are also tower defense elements involved to stop your enemy from breaking into your base first. Even the defenses are quirky, utilizing failed flying devices from Da Vinci as well as elephants and classic castle towers. The story is ridiculous in the best of ways and never takes itself seriously, leading to many hilarious cut scenes between Sisyphus and important historical figures. One of my favorites involves Leonidas kicking Sisyphus off a cliff yelling “This is Sparta” only to find out the cliff is actually just a small gap and Sisyphus just fell on the other side. This is made all the more funny by the clever art style. It’s in the same vane as South Park’s animation but a little more stiff and built on classical art styles. Add in some silly sound effects and it’s just about as goofy as video games get.

I had a lot of fun with the original and laughed way harder at a stupid boulder than anybody ever has in the history of mankind. The sequel is promising to ramp the laughs up to 11 (ACE’s words not mine), while also adding 4 player multiplayer online and two player split screen in which you and a friend can go up against another twosome to see who rocks harder (you know, because your a boulder). Utilizing Unreal Engine 4, the game is promising better physics and more destructibility all while looking like a real life painting. Okay maybe not an actual painting, but they are aiming to be 40% less historically accurate which just makes for more hilarity in my book.

Another thing ACE team is adding to the sequel is more customization options. There were very limited customizations in the original but ACE is adding more funny faced boulders as well as colors and custom banners. ACE will also be exploring new art eras from history like ancient Egypt and the late Gothic era, putting their own goofy spin on it.  The game is currently being developed for PS4, Xbox One and PC with a release planned for sometime in the fall. I for one am overly excited to roll into ROA2. It is quickly becoming one of my most anticipated releases of an already quality stacked fall, if for nothing else than the humor and the dumb boulder expressions.