Rollerdrome

I don't know what I expected. I bought a cheap key a long time ago and just started playing this. I really liked the aesthetic and the concept, inspired by fictional future sports appearing in older sci-fi movies. The game is simply driving/shooting around an arena and racking up points. There's nothing more. The only hint of plot in the first twenty minutes is learning the name of the main character (Kara Hassan) and learning that the first tournament is taking place in London in 2030. I just rolled my eyes and thought, "That's right."

one of the best games i've played in recent memory, wasn't expecting much, but was blown away by the slickness of the gameplay and some truly amazing storytelling, i really like how the story enhances the gameplay and doesn't get in the way of it, you can really feel the pressure mounting on you as you progress through every stage. all of this is accompanied by a stellar soundtrack which just makes you want to go faster and faster, an excellent game.

A prime example in why form over function can turn flair into flop. Tragically, allowing people to play this with keyboard and mouse will sour their experience early. It did with me, as its the gaming equivalent of going to a vegan restaurant as a non-vegan and being yelled at for having your elbows on the table. I wanted to enjoy this, and it looked right up my alley. But once I got the PS5 controller going, the experience brought me past the second mission. Third one still caused me to die though, but again, the "assists" which were probably asked for by their publisher saved the day and got me past that. Then came the third roadblock - you got to complete "challenges" to progress to the next level, because how else are they gonna stretch play time? 5/5 aesthetic, 4/5 presentation, 2/5 gameplay. I am weighing down just because of how frustrating it is - and I wonder if at some point if was ever considered that Kara Hassan could trip or fall and be left vulnerable to attack - and they just went with limited bullets as being the primary constraint instead of balance. Thank god, I might have flipped the table otherwise. Far be it from some random stranger to tell you how to sell your AAA-publisher game, but if you wanted it to do well and not end up on as a key bundle game, you needed to put this BS PAST the refund window.

This is a tragic case of a game with a really good idea, but clearly didn't have enough time to flesh it out in its gameplay or its story. The unique art style is amazing and no other game in existence looks anything like it. The maps as well are also fun to play on and I like the initial idea of it being a deadly sport among players, but as you play you realize that there isn't much of a story regarding you play as or anyone else, you don't even fight any players like yourself who are also skating around. its just the same 7 enemy types on every map. I like the idea of killing enemies to get health and doing tricks to get ammo, though you get such little ammo that you will be forced to do tricks more than shot enemies themselves. Not to mention that you only get four weapons to swap the entire game, the boss fights here are ok at best, nothing memorable. Though the biggest problem is the controls, the actual animations and tricks and all are perfectly fine but its often frustrating to make turns when you are going at high speeds, taking control away from you and it ruins a lot of your momentum. This doesn't feel intentional and feels like the game was left unfinished. This whole idea of this being a sports tournament is also really dumb because you are just fighting mobs and not actual competitors like yourself so it eliminates any stakes it could have had. Despite the initial idea being unique on paper its execution is lackluster

I'll revisit it sometime but this first half hour has been such an unbelievable drag for me. I feel like something can be there. But there's limited tricks you can actually do, slow enemy spawns, levels feeling padded out and non-action packed. I'm confident it gets better, but it's first impressions are very poor.

Tony Hawk with guns. S+

I bounced off of this game a couple of times before it clicked, but every time I was able to see the clear vision behind ROLLERDROME. That is why I came back again and again to give it another shot and it was worth it. Every minute of gameplay is intense action, with challenging mechanics and controls, in this wild mix of Tony Hawk, Max Payne and Running Man-like retrofuturistic blood sport. Loved it in the end.