Rollerdrome | You Should Play This

Rollerdrome is a game that takes the notion of extreme sports and decides to crank that up several notches past ten. Tie those laces tights boys and girls, because this You Should Play This is going to be one heck of an adrenaline-fuelled ride.

To quickly outline the narrative to the game, it’s the early 2030’s (so not even that far into our future) and what’s one of the most top-billed sports people have a bloodlust for? That’s right, it’s one in which a contestant straps on a pair of roller skates and several weapons before wheeling themselves into an arena full of foes ready to cut (or shoot, burn, blow) them to pieces. Call me a monster if you want, but I have to admit- I’d watch it. 

Boom.

Of course, if you want to be the very best and earn yourself the top spot then you’re going to need to utilise those aforementioned weapons. You begin with a pair of humble pistols, but as the game progress you’ll unlock a further three weapons- a shotgun, grenade launcher, and a beam rifle weapon.

Before I get more in-depth about the gameplay, I’ll note that killing enemies and performing tricks is how you restore health and ammo, HOWEVER, there are a few accessibility options that you can turn on which can mean you have unlimited health, ammo, and reflex (slow-mo) time. Play the game how you want, but I had far more fun with these enabled, the carnage was brilliant.

As you would expect, there are differences in how the weapons work. The pistols are your ‘standard’ all-rounders really- decent range, decent damage, whilst the shotgun packs a bit more of a punch and has a super-slug shot, triggered by hitting the trigger at just the right time. The trade-off is a little less range, but it wasn’t that notable. The grenade launcher does exactly what you’d expect- makes things go BOOM. Whilst the beam rifle weapon seemed like a sniper that could also ricochet shots off surfaces. Automatic lock-on for weapons also means you’ve no excuse to miss.

BOOM.

Personally, I favoured the grenade launcher. I didn’t really get on with the rifle and as for the pistols and shotgun, both were fun to use, but it was the pure carnage caused by the grenade launcher that made me whoop with joy. When coupled with the unlimited health, ammo and reflex time assists that I mentioned, you can be sure I rose to the top, and I did so quickly.  

It’s worth mentioning the enemy types too, after all you’ve got to dispense of your arsenal on somebody. There are heavy hitters with force fields or riot shields, long range enemies, acid-lobbing fiends, mine-dropping foes, fools who try to melee attack you, and tank enemies. There are also a couple of bosses sprinkled throughout the game, but I have to say the variation was decent enough that I didn’t get fatigued by fighting these enemies over and over.

I realise part of my judgement may be clouded by the assists I had enabled, but I just wanted to have fun with the game, and for the 2-3 hours it took me to get through, I certainly did.

I should mention the actual roller-skating part of Rollerdrome, as it’ll be a selling point for some. To put it simply, each arena is laid out in such a way that you can perform a multitude of tricks on your skates. Whilst it isn’t maybe as intricate as in a dedicated skateboarding game, consider the focus is on the shooting too. In that regard, whilst I was rubbish at pulling off tricks, the satisfaction of grinding around the arena, doing a flip and head-shotting three enemies was immense indeed. It adds a frenzy and pace to the game, and it’s a different take on many that have come before.

Pew, pew.

There are also challenges to complete on each level, and an overall score to add to leaderboards (though this isn’t recorded if assists are on). So, for those out there who strive for leaderboard mastery and the claim of 100% a game, there’s even more to sink your teeth in to. Purely because my own skill level wasn’t great, I was content to simply play through the game and not focus on the challenges, but for those who wish to try, the option is there. You can also enable it so that challenges aren’t required to be completed to unlock later levels- that I like!

I’m going to wrap it up here for this instalment of You Should Play This. To summarise, Rollerdrome is a fast-paced slice of action wrapped in a shiny bit of roller-skating goodness. It takes two different genres and manages to meld them into a single and very well-made package. I won’t be striving for leaderboard glory, but the few hours I spent with the game were absolutely fantastic. Sometimes you just want to switch off and have fun. That was certainly the case here.