Video game fans come to the medium for a variety of reasons. For some, it’s the graphics, while others might focus on the story and want to experience a good storytelling experience. Then there’s the group that comes to games for the gameplay, for that magical sense of empowerment, where players can experience things that are way beyond the reach of everyday modern life. rollerdrome is a game made for this third group — an indie game that not only offers one of the best video game experiences of the year, but also a combination of systems that is brilliant in its simplicity.
in his heart, rollerdrome is a combination of the score chase, time-attack skate gameplay of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater with ‘s stylish slow-motion third-person shooting Max Payne. The developers of Roll7 have created a game that takes the core of each of these genres and blends them into an experience that is much simpler, but for an obvious reason. This merging of two different genres has resulted in one of the best-playing games this year.
Like the gameplay mechanics, the setup of rollerdrome is unique. Players are thrust into the role of Kara Hassan, a competitor in the titular Rollerdrome, a violent futuristic blood sport used by an evil mega-corporation as a tool to appease the masses. To compete, players must roller skate through a level and kill bloodthirsty fighters known as House Players who wield a variety of different weapons and are tasked with killing Kara.
story aside, rollerdrome is a game that revolves around the gameplay mechanics. Players must battle through each arena, killing enemies with firearms that can only be reloaded by performing tricks such as grabs, flips, and grinds as Kara swings herself through the level. This may sound difficult, but players cannot crash or fall by performing tricks. In fact, it is impossible not to do a trick. In addition, the firefight is supported by a generous lock-on system, which takes the need for precision shots off the shoulders of players. Rollerdrome chooses not to focus explicitly on its trick systems or shooting mechanics, instead offering a simplified version of each combined in its incredibly unique gameplay loop.
That does not mean that rollerdrome is an easy game. It’s actually quite challenging, but the challenge always feels fair. Each level bombards players with different types of enemies, attacks that span the entire level, and geometry that is often difficult to navigate as they are bombarded from all directions. In many cases it feels like rollerdrome requires perfection from the player, but even when a run ends in death, it always feels possible to achieve – that the wanted perfect run is just one restart away. This is a testament to the game’s design.
In fact, Roll7 could have easily delivered a more technical trick system like its most popular series, the sidescrolling skateboarding OlliOlli games, does. OlliOlli even requires players to press a button to perform tricks, a feature that would be disastrous for rollerdrome‘s flow as it would have been implemented. Mobility and perpetual motion are an essential part of rollerdrome‘s gameplay, and making the trick system more technical, or dropping players, would completely ruin the sense of flow the game offers.
The same can be said of the targeting systems. As mentioned, the speed of rollerdrome‘s gameplay requires perpetual motion, and players often have only a small window to shoot at any enemy, even with the slow-motion mechanic. A game that required players to make accurate, free-range shots while all this was going on would be a lesser game.
Both design choices come together to produce a title that feels as good to play as it does to look at – a game that not only empowers players with its unique blend of familiar styles, but gives players a powerful and capable feel. gives even when just starting out. rollerdrome will never be a technical trick-based skate game or the most impressive shooter, but it doesn’t have to be, because it’s something completely different.
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