Rollerdrome seamlessly blends the enjoyable act of curler skating with trick-taking mechanics and difficult third-person shooter fight. Every stage entails a brand new terrain, numerous enemies to fend off, and challenges that vary from tremendous straightforward to loopy tough.
I died numerous instances in Rollerdome, however each time, I instantly hit that Replay button to provide the extent one other go. There are video games which can be insanely exhausting for no logical cause, after which there are video games which have a large studying curve and tough challenges, however are in the end enjoyable. Fortunately, Rollerdrome is the latter.
If I had the possibility to select between 10 random video games and Rollerdrome was amongst them, it’s most likely not a sport I’d instantly be drawn to. However with its charming comic-book artwork type and distinctive combination of gameplay mechanics, Rollerdrome is unquestionably one to attempt. It even deserves a spot as one in all our finest PC video games of 2022.
Is that this… a Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater sport?
Whereas Rollerdrome and the primary Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater sport have been launched over 20 years aside and are visually totally different, they really feel so related. It’s been some time since I’ve performed any of Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater video games (though I did snag it as a free PS Plus sport), however I felt an immense surge of nostalgia on the primary stage of Rollerdrome.
Each video games have tips, challenges, and ranges, although Rollerdrome has extra visually distinctive ranges. The most important distinction? Weapons. Whereas Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater focuses on skateboarding tips, combos, and course instances to beat, Rollerdrome’s foremost character is on curler skates and has to kill everybody on the extent in an effort to end.
I’ve been eager to play Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater ever since I downloaded it free of charge, however simply haven’t discovered the time; Rollerdrome positively glad that online game craving. There have been actually instances in Rollerdrome once I felt like I used to be button-mashing as a result of I couldn’t bear in mind which button combos fashioned a sure trick. As the sport progressed, my button presses grew to become extra intentional and my tips seemed fairly dang cool.
How does Rollerdrome work?
I like interactive tutorials, and that’s what Rollerdrome provides you. Earlier than the primary stage, there are fairly just a few tutorials to work by way of, and it’s a must to show mastery of a ability earlier than shifting on to the subsequent lesson. This forces you to discover ways to do tips appropriately, as a substitute of wildly guessing throughout your first stage. There are just a few smaller tutorials all through the sport, however the majority comes earlier than the primary stage.
Earlier than a stage begins, a dashboard view reveals you the par time for the extent in addition to the ten potential challenges to finish. Once you’re in a stage, you may see your present time and rating, and once you full a problem, the achievement bar pops up on the display screen.
Each stage is stuffed with home gamers and different enemies that it’s a must to kill earlier than they eradicate you. Some enemies require a sure kind of gun to take them down, and you’ll simply swap between totally different weapons mid-level. As you shoot enemies, your ammo provide depletes. As a way to replenish your ammo provide, it’s a must to carry out tips, like grabs, flips, and grinds. When a stage acquired notably loopy, I discovered it best to carry out a easy grind on a close-by rail to restock my ammo.
Then, whilst you curler skate round, attempting to carry out challenges and knock out your competitors, you additionally must fend off assaults. There are enemies on the bottom who hit you in case you get too shut and snipers who focus a laser on you all through the sport. Fortunately, you may dodge each of those assaults, however it’s a must to strategically steadiness protection and offense in every stage.
When you’re pondering, “curler skating and taking pictures enemies on the identical time sounds means too tough to be enjoyable,” I’ve acquired excellent news for you. It’s actually not. Effectively, at the least in Rollerdrome. There are two options that make this wild mixture work completely on each stage.
First, there’s a function known as Reflex Mode, which slows every part down and allows you to rapidly transfer the digicam whilst you’re in slo-mo. You need to use Reflex Mode whereas leaping within the air, grinding on a rail, or just skating previous an enemy. Second, you don’t must be probably the most correct shooter to kill enemies. Whereas your gun does must be pointed in an enemy’s basic path, you’ll see an indicator pop up that permits you to know when your shot will hit.
There are 4 sections inside one giant match to play by way of, every with a unique quantity of ranges. As a way to unlock the subsequent part, it’s a must to full a sure variety of challenges throughout all earlier ranges you’ve unlocked. It doesn’t matter whether or not you full three challenges for one stage after which eight for an additional. As quickly as you attain the variety of complete challenges wanted for the subsequent part, it unlocks.
Extremely irritating and enjoyable on the identical time
The seemingly inconceivable issue of Rollerdrome is one other facet that jogged my memory drastically of Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater. Whereas rising up, lots of the video games out there to me have been tougher than the video games I play as we speak. Video video games weren’t releasing almost as quick, and builders and publishers appeared to make video games more durable so you can play for longer and get your cash’s value till the subsequent greatest hit was launched. (Does anybody bear in mind The Lion King or the Aladdin sport from the 90s? Tremendous difficult!)
Though I aced the tutorials and felt like I had an superior grasp on the controls, I ranked D on the primary stage. There are 4 ranks, with D being the bottom and A as the best. Once I replayed the primary stage later to achieve extra challenges, I solely managed to extend my rank to C. Putting in rank A goes to be almost inconceivable, and just for individuals who actually excel on the sport or simply wish to see all A’s throughout the board.
That mentioned, each time I used to be eradicated, I used to be fueled with a rage that made me come again sooner and stronger on the subsequent go. The extra you play, the extra you be taught every stage’s nuances and determine your finest private technique. You’ll be able to solely be eradicated in case your well being reaches 0; in case you go over the par time for a stage, it doesn’t finish till you kill everybody, however it does take factors off your complete rating.
There may be a lot to perform on this sport that makes my perfectionist soul sing with pleasure. There are 10 challenges to finish per stage, some a lot more durable than others. In fact, there’s the final word problem of rating A on a stage. In brief, the issue of Rollerdrome is infuriating, however addictive.
Rollerdrome PC Efficiency
At present, Rollerdrome is ready to launch on a few platforms: PS4 and PS5, and Steam (Home windows solely). I performed Rollerdrome on my new Lenovo Yoga 9i laptop computer and didn’t run into any points. On this laptop computer, there’s 16GB of RAM, a twelfth Gen Intel Core i7-1260P CPU, the Home windows 11 House OS, and built-in Intel Iris Xe Graphics.
This sport additionally recommends enjoying with a controller, so as a substitute of utilizing my mouse and keyboard — which I often do for third-person shooters — I paired up my PS5 DualSense controller by way of Bluetooth.
Per Rollerdrome’s retailer web page on Steam, the minimal system necessities is an Intel Core i5-2125 or AMD A12-9800 processor, 4GB of RAM, at the least a Home windows 10 64-bit OS, and an Nvidia GeForce GT 630, AMD Radeon HD 6770, or Intel Iris Professional 580 graphics card.
Nonetheless, the really useful specs embody at the least an Intel Core i3-610 or AMD FX-6300, 4GB of RAM, a 64-bit Home windows 10 OS, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti, AMD Radeon HD R9 270X, or AMD Radeon Vega 8 graphics card.
Backside line
Actually, I feel anybody would have a blast enjoying Rollerdrome. However in case you performed Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater as a child or you will have a particular place in your coronary heart for third-person shooters, you’ll actually love this sport.
Rollerdrome is totally different from the video games I often gravitate towards in my maturity, however it’s hella enjoyable. You get to expertise a singular mashup of tricking mechanics and fast-paced curler skating from a third-person shooter perspective. It’s fairly potential that you simply may wish to throw your controller throughout the room or break one thing close by whereas enjoying, however I promise, it’s such a satisfying sport.
