Rollerdrome review: A blast if you don’t think too hard about it

RollerdromeCan be accurately described as Tony Hawk’s Pro SkaterWith guns. Roll7’s latest, the developer of OlliOlli, has just released it. RollerdromeIt’s a scoring-based arena shooter but with roller skates. The game tasks you with skating and shooting your way past “House Players,” enemies decked out in spiked armor that would feel at home in Mad Max. You will be captivated by the bloodsport’s fervor, thanks to its clean and crisp cel-shaded artwork as well as the pumping, synth music.

The fiction of RollerdromeThis is an extremely popular sport that is broadcast in an alternate dimension 2030. You can see why: It’s honestly beautiful to watch protagonist Kara Hassan get massive air off a half-pipe, nose grab, then pull out a pump shotgun and knock a sniper off their perch, all in one fluid motion. In a skilled player’s hands, Hassan’s runs through the game’s varied arenas look like an art as much as a murder spree.

Image: Roll7/Private Division Take-Two Interactive through Grayson Morley

It is an enjoyable game to play. Rollerdrome’s more serious narrative. Mechanically, gunplay and skating are interconnected: Tricks can get you more ammunition, while bullets will get you less enemies. That in turn, allows for more tricks that ultimately allow you to eliminate more enemies. It’s frenetic, compelling, and surprisingly easy to parse, which is important as bullets fly by, requiring you to dodge at the last second. This activates Rollerdrome’s version of bullet time, Super Reflex, which makes even the simplest kickflip look like something out of the Matrix. The gameplay is both hypnotic and difficult from start to finish. It is likely that you will quickly retry any stage after beating it. If there are two baddies, then you’ll be able to kickflip them over with your dual pistols. There’s nothing betterSince you barely missed A rank, it’s okay.

RollerdromeIt wants to make you have a great time and succeeds. Rollerdrome also wants you to know that the “blast” you are having is in service of Matterhorn, a monolithic corporation that is growing increasingly friendly with a fascist police state, and every run you complete helps that corporation perfect its growing arsenal of weaponry, which they are, of course, selling to the police — a fact that has not escaped the public’s perception, leading to a violent uprising of the working class, a coalition that includes some Rollerdrome participants like yourself, who, it is revealed at the start of the game, enter the sport of Rollerdrome by paying a six-figure fee, racking up life-ruining debt that the corporation hangs over them as both threat and promise that they can never, ever leave the Rollerdrome.

But good luck remembering that when you’re wall-riding with a grenade launcher in your hands!

Rollerdrome’s narrative portions are sequestered from its gameplay. You may be found in the locker room prior to the game or riding on the train going to the next round, reading memos, notes and letters written by evil capitalists. What you’re reading is all very concerning, but the SpielThe part that you are having fun is the most important part of the game. Youosh, powWhatever the onomatopoeia may be for rail grinding. In the heat of a thunderstorm, it is possible. RollerdromeRun, forgetting that you may be testing weapons or killing people (possibly?). prisoners or some other disadvantaged class of people in the game’s near-future dystopia. It’s too fun! It’s way, way, way too fun!

Image: Roll7/Private Division Take-Two Interactive through Grayson Morley

It seems that the two halves of Rollerdrome aren’t talking to each other. The seriousness of the story isn’t in sync with the pure adrenaline candy of its gameplay. It’s not like other movies. CryptographyOder Use paper — other games that make you think about what it is you are doing — Rollerdrome’s gameplay appears not to reinforce the critical, political narrative, but to obscure it. It became clearer to me that my desire to win and adrenaline would be erased if I entered the Rollerdrome. Rollerdrome is the fictional sport that I love. Rollerdrome, weren’t this much fun to play or to watch, how could it possibly overshadow the machinations of faceless monoliths who wish to control and subdue the public into a state of surrender? Rollerdrome must then be so fun to play that one wouldn’t wantIt is okay to disagree with others, even though one might be inclined.

So, anyway, yeah, RollerdromeIt is Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater with a gun, but it’s also a commentary on the capacity of violent entertainment to dull our senses to the violence in our actual lives. Good luck remembering that when you’re chasing an S-rank score.

Rollerdrome August 16 was the day that it became available for Windows PC, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. Deep Silver provided a code for the prerelease of the game. The PlayStation 5 review was conducted using this code. Vox Media is an affiliate partner. Although these partnerships do not impact editorial content, Vox Media could earn commissions for products bought via affiliate links. Here are some links to help you find. additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.