The developers of the OlliOlli saga, who at the beginning of the year they did get green gray hair with OlliOlli Worldreturned to the ring with Rollerdrome, a third-person action shooter that once again made me want to throw the joystick against the wall.
rollerdrome It is available for PC, PS4 and PS5.
Ah, the evil megacorporations
There is a topic that is constantly repeated in video games no matter what genre they belong to: evil corporations. Of course I don’t blame them, since they actually have a point. Yes, mega corporations are evil entities. It is enough to observe a little who handles them to realize that they look like villains taken from any Marvel movie.
Anyway, let’s return to the lines of this note. rollerdrome It takes us to 2030. The world is dominated by mega and evil corporations – let’s hope the predictions don’t come true. In this context, we are invited to put ourselves in the shoes of Kara Hassan, a young competitor of Rollerdrome, a game that consists of shooting, death and rollerblades, who seeks to dethrone the historical champion Morgan Fray,
These types of titles usually do without a story. And, in case of having it, it is usually a simple justification for the general gameplay. Although it is not the case of rollerdromesince it not only has a story, but also has a very interesting background, the reality is that it is blurred by the way it is told (through exploration sequences that do not fit well with the proposal of the title).
Roll7 had already tried his luck in the field of skating – something that worked correctly for them more than once. So, what new experience can be added?, they thought. More complicated gameplay? Nah, that’s impossible. Cooperative experience? A quilombo. Then, to some creative soul, the light bulb went on: shots. Yes, shots. and so was born rollerdrome: a shooter on roller skates.
rollerdrome It invites us to get into arenas packed with enemies and kill them all while doing dozens of somersaults that defy gravity and any kind of logic. To defeat the enemies in question we have up to four weapons (they are unlocked little by little): pistols, shotgun, grenade launcher. Each of them has a specific function. It will depend on us how we want to take advantage of it.
To reload these weapons in question we must do different tricks with the skates. Do you remember being a boy and playing Mortal Kombat in the Sega? Yes, when you pressed all the buttons and magically did Fatality. So good. Roll7 invites us to use practically all the buttons on our joystick. With the vast majority of them we will be able to do a specific trick, so why not play several at the same time and let fate choose the trick of the moment?
In the midst of shooting and flipping, we also have to worry about dodging our enemies’ shots. Our life is limited and to recover it we must kill an enemy and pass near it to take the health points it leaves on the ground.
In order to move towards more complicated maps we must complete a series of previous challenges. Each level has a long list of them, some that are constantly repeated, like collecting all the multipliers or doing a specific trick in a certain area, and others that are more specific to each arena.
Although it is not exactly an easy title, it should be noted that the progression of the title is perfect. That first track, which was quite complicated at the beginning, will be a piece of cake when you want to repeat it, already quite advanced, to complete pending challenges. The game may seem completely overwhelming at first, but once you enter the court your fingers automatically know how to act.
Did you stay wanting more? Once you manage to unlock all the challenges, the game allows you to access “Go for it”. In short, in this instance we must face all the enemies from the first moment and suffering more damage!
An excellent visual work
In OlliOlli World The Roll7 team decided to leave behind the classic pixelart that dominated their games and opt for a cartoon aesthetic packed with pastel colors. For rollerdrome they decided to continue with that same line, although this time the character and scenario design is more realistic than cartoon.
Once again, the visual work is excellent. Being such a frenetic game, you need to be extremely careful about what you put on the screen and how you do it. Each arena is packed with items and enemies. However, each one of them, each point, is easy to see. There is no visual element that hinders the experience. At this point, the color palette and how each hue is distributed is also key.
The only negative point that I find within the charts is the variety of scenarios. Being multiple arenas, I was expecting to find new places all the time. However, the title is only limited to scenarios: General Track, Mall, Mountain Base, and Canyon.
Music as expected
Both the music and the ambient sound manage to fulfill their objective, although the latter does so more effectively. The soundtrack perfectly accompanies the constant adrenaline that the experience generates. At no time does it become annoying, far from it, but if you really pay attention to it, it lacks variety. The ambient sound, meanwhile, is forceful. It enhances and reaffirms each of our movements and our shots.
System Requirements
MINIMUM: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system – OS: Windows 10 64-bit – Processor: Intel Core i5-2125 or AMD A12-9800 – Memory: 4 GB RAM – Graphics: GeForce GT 630 (2 GB) , Radeon HD 6770 (1 GB) or Intel Iris Pro 580
RECOMMENDED: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system – OS: Windows 10 64-bit – Processor: Intel Core i3-610 or AMD FX-6300 – Memory: 4 GB RAM – Graphics: GeForce GTX 560 Ti (2 GB ), Radeon HD R9 270X (4GB) or AMD Radeon Vega 8