Rollerdrome is very much a game for perfectionists. You know, the kind of player who craves the challenge of getting the highest score, completing all the challenges, and knowing that, above all else, you’ve earned your place on the podium.
A curious game, Rollerdrome shares parts of its DNA with skateboard-trick style games like the Tony Hawk series, and arena shooters like the venerable Unreal Tournament (yes, where the now ubiquitous Unreal Engine got its name). The devs have taken two fairly disparate types of games, smashed them together at high speed and have ended up with something that just works.
The premise is quite simple: in a dystopian future version of London, people engage in a vicious blood-sport, where roller-skate wearing, gun-toting champions take on house players, in a kill-or-be-killed match which is all about style. You see, it’s not just about surviving, it’s about getting the highest score possible. The more flashy the tricks you pull off, the more spectacular the kill, the higher the score. And there are lots of flashy tricks. Jumps, grabs, spins, rail grinds, wall runs, last-second dodges. Not just purely for style, they also (thanks to the magic of video-game design) refill your ammo. No tricks, no guns.
Thankfully, tricks themselves are fairly easy to execute. First up, there’s no falling over (though you can run off the ledge in some levels), so the worst that will happen is that you lose momentum (which will be a problem when it comes to getting the best score possible). Secondly, the controls are quite straight-forward, making executing the most complex tricks a doddle, whether you’re playing with keyboard and mouse, or a controller.
There’s more to it, however. Each time you kill an opponent, your combo counter increases, which is vital to getting the highest score possible. Leave off killing for too long, however, and the counter resets. This can make the difference between scoring in the low 100,000s, and netting yourself well over 1,000,000 points.
Spicing things up considerably are the different weapons (pistols, grenade launchers, shotguns and even a crossbow) and enemy types. Each weapon and foe feels distinct – whether it’s pesky snipers, bat-wielding melee types, or heavily armoured goons wielding rocket launchers – and given that all your weapons share a common ammo pool, tactical thinking and precision is definitely the order of the day. Also, before you get worried that this all sounds a bit overwhelming, there is also a slo-mo ‘reflex’ mode which lets players briefly slow time (very handy for shooting rockets out of the air). Even with all of these tools at your disposal, getting the best score possible is still quite a challenge, and any mistake made on your part (and nearly everything that goes wrong is down to your own errors) can cost you. All of this means that it will take players multiple attempts to master each of the maps, with their different layouts and foe rosters.
All up, Rollerdrome is a game that bounces between fast and frenetic, and super-slick, and will have players coming back again and again. Extremely satisfying and lots of fun, Rollerdrome is easy to recommend. ■