If someone asks me to explain what Rollerdrome is, I will put it like this: Tony Hawk Pro Skater, with guns and actual skating. Now, calling the game that simplifies things because it has a lot going for it—mostly positive things.
Developed by Roll7 and published by Private Division, Rollerdrome seemingly took the skill-based easy-to-play, hard-to-master gameplay of OlliOlli and mashed it with good storytelling and easy shooting mechanics.
Welcome to the 2030s
With tension between the public and the world government rising, the leaders decide to introduce a new bloodsport- Rollerdrome. In the violent sport, the players go through a series of gauntlets against deadly House players, combining skill and stylish tricks while trying to survive.
The story takes inspiration from various Cyberpunk-inspired retro-future works, alleviating that feeling even more thanks to the art style. While playing Rollerdrome, it reminded me very faintly of movies like Robocop, where a giant tech corporation’s controlling people and media out there to cover the wrongdoings. Rollerdrome uses pre-chapter environments for its storytelling through items, documents and more.
Of course, to keep the story engaging, players put themselves in the shoes of Kara Hassan, a newcomer to the tournament. There’s no character creator like OlliOlli World, so if one wanted to create their character, too bad.
Another strength of Rollerdrome is its comic-book-inspired art style. The art and environment give the game a very distinct look and feel. Remember how I said the title reminds me of the old 80s retro-futuristic science fiction movies? The art style is one of the contributing factors to that.
Do skills, complete challenges and be the champion of Rollerdrome
Of course, the gameplay is another contributing factor to the game’s fun experience. Before we move on, I would like to stress that the default controller controls aren’t comfortable to use. Even the keyboard and mouse controls were a painful experience.
Sure, the game is easy to play and hard to master, but when the control scheme act against having fun, there is some problem with it. Of course, everything is rebindable, but default controls out of the box are annoying and gave me wrist and hand pains after a while.
Now where the game excels is in the gameplay. Given the premise, players take part in Rollerdrome, which is a mash-up of skating and shooting together. Each level starts with players taking a long run through a corridor and entering the area in style. Most styles are done with the respective controller, which is the reason the game asks you to play with a controller.
R1 on the controller lets one flip Hassan, and Square allows Hassan to hold her rollerskate. Similarly, X allows players to jump and Y near a wall will let her do wallrun. Of course, there is a trick dictionary, so players can look at the button combination to do the stunts. The more one chains and style doing them, the higher the scores. Of course, they are necessary because doing them replenishes the ammo of the guns. The game also has bullet-time mechanics, which slows things down and lets players, you guessed it, style.
End of the round, players get an overall score and grading based on their performance. Later levels unlock once players rake in a certain overall score, which one can go into the accessibility settings and override to breeze through the levels.
Overall, Roll7 used the fundamentals they learnt from past Olli Olli games and applied them to Rollerdrome pretty well. The game’s challenging and fun at the same time.
Graphics of Rollerdrome
One would think that seeing the title come out on PlayStation 5 would be demanding. Fortunately, that isn’t the case, and I am glad to report that Rollerdrome is very well optimized for every system. We tested the game at 1080p on an RTX 3060 system paired with Ryzen 2600 and 16 GB Ram at 3000mhz.
We experienced no frame drops, lags or stutters. It ran very smooth and pleasant. The art style makes everything looks crisp and pretty to look at. But what about the older system?
Fortunately, we tested the game on a GT630 system of a friend of mine after launch. In 2022, I cannot believe I am saying this, but the game somehow ran without any issues at 1080p and everything cranked down. Of course, it didn’t look as pretty as my system but it still ran well for the most part.
Closing Thoughts
Roll7 genuinely surprised me when they announced Rollerdrome this year. Partly because of the mode of work the studio prefers and because of their previous release from this year. Fortunately, the quality didn’t dip for one moment throughout my gameplay experience in Rollerdrome.
Apart from the uncomfortable default controls, everything works in sync to create a brilliant, single-player experience. One would be doing a disservice if they enjoy skateboard games and do not play Rollerdrome.
A copy of this game was provided by the publisher for coverage purposes.
Roll7's Rollerdrome brings a brilliant mashup of roller-skating and gun shooting in a world inspired by retro-futuristic work. Consisting of great gameplay, soundtrack and story, the passion of Roll7 ooze from every corner of the game.
