Rollerdrome is an arena shooter, actually rollerdromes, where the heroine moves on roller quads and shoots bots. Yes, Rollerdrome is a single player story game. No multiplayer, no co-op, no roguelite or battle royale elements. Just you, a couple of commercials and opponents.
Rollerdrome
Genre Action
Platforms Windows / PlayStation 4 / PlayStation 5
Roll7 Developers
Publisher Private Division
Price Steam, PlayStation Store – 999 UAH
The year is 2030, people are having fun as they can, and one of the entertainments is the modern Colosseum. “Rollerdrome” is a reality show, something like “Running Man”, only the participants compete separately from each other and the survivor goes to the next stage. The game does not have a plot as such, the young talented Kara Gassan is making progress in promoting the show, and not everyone likes it. In the background, protests are taking place somewhere, including against the cruelty of a reality show, which we learn about from radio broadcasts. So that the game does not turn into a banal alternation of arenas, between stages they allow you to walk around the level, read notes, listen to the radio and explore the lockers of your competitors. There is even a simple selection system that does not affect anything, but allows you to better feel the character of the heroine, and, frankly, it is revealed only in a few such scenes.
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The passage of the game is divided into the usual tours. First the group stage, then the quarter-final, semi-final and final. At each stage, you need to successfully complete three or four maps. To move up the tournament ladder, you need to not just go through the map, but complete a certain number of Trials.
There are conditionally basic tests that are present in every race, it is to collect bonus chips, perform a specific trick in a specific place, or just break records. Others are constantly changing, as a rule, it is to kill the enemy with a specific weapon by performing some kind of trick, complete the level without using a pistol, or vice versa, use only a grenade launcher or other weapon.
There are few weapons, only four types: fast pistols, a penetrating shotgun that kills in one or two shots, a grenade launcher that is convenient to blow up crowds of opponents, and something like a railgun – after a few seconds of charging, it causes maximum damage, especially to opponents with shields. Each weapon has a very limited ammo capacity that requires tricks and perfect dodges to replenish enemy shots. For better aiming in the game, there is a slowdown in time, but if you perform a perfect dodge from a shot and slow down time, the heroine will receive a bonus to shooting.
Tricks are generally a separate issue and the main feature of the game, which distinguishes it from other arena shooters. There are two types of them in total, these are pirouettes in the air and grinds, that is, riding on the edge of the surface; 13 for each type. It may seem that there are not so many tricks, but when missiles are circling around, several snipers are aimed at you, and a giant puddle of acid has already been spilled below, it is unlikely that thoughts like: “now I will do two Heartbreakers, then Stiyl Grub and finish everything Mamba.” At such moments, you want to replenish your ammunition as quickly as possible and get rid of the most annoying opponents. Although no one forbids showing off and showing a master class, the number of unique tricks performed is included in the overall standings at the end of each level. Also, do not forget about the time, if you ride too long the game will reward you with an unpleasant penalty at the end of the race .
There will be dozens of opponents of different types, and this turned out to be enough to build interesting combinations. They can also be conditionally divided into two types, those who stand in specific places, wait for your arrival, shoot from afar or scatter mines, and those who constantly move around the arena and pester as much as possible by attacking often on the sly. Opponents always appear in the same places, and on the one hand, this approach could give scope for solving each Arena as a puzzle, which is not in the game. On the other hand, the developers could introduce a little randomization for opponents who are constantly in their place, which would give a little surprise to each re-run. And you will have to replay the levels often, believe me. Both solutions have their advantages and disadvantages, and I’m sure the developers have made the best decision.
The game can hardly be called simple, and for those looking for easy ways, the developers have provided simplification and assistants. In the settings, you can enable infinite health or the level of damage that opponents inflict, enable infinite ammo or rapid. You can even simplify the mini-game for the shotgun, in which it deals maximum damage. But I would still recommend turning on these assistants only after completing the main story, just to play in the sandbox and finish the remaining challenges.
It was very easy to spoil the game – by poor management, fortunately, the developers behind whose shoulders the OlliOlli series understand the “wheels”. In rare moments, the camera can turn at an uncomfortable angle, and the heroine has inertia and does not always instantly respond to a change in direction. This is hard to write down as a disadvantage due to the genre of the game and the nature of the movement on skates, but sometimes the inability to make a sharp turn is a little annoying. The PS5 implemented the features of DualSense, nothing outstanding, but it’s good that the developers have not abandoned its capabilities.
It took me almost 10 hours to complete the main story, but if you’re a more focused player, you can do it in half the time. It will not be enough, you can try Out For Blood, which opens after the main game. In this mode, we already play like champions and essentially confirm our status at the same levels, but more difficult. In fact, this is a New Game +, which is plot-driven.
According to the trailers, the visual solution, as if raster graphics, did not strike, and even repelled, but in practice this style, similar to the Moebius style, allows you to distinguish enemies well against the background of the arena, besides, there are not so many games with such visuals, which only adds Rollerdrome’s personality.
Rollerdrome is able to present several dynamic evenings and interest in potentially good lore, which seems very sparingly so as not to distract from the main thing – dynamic action to the delight of the public.
