Rollerdrome Review friv games - Roll or Die
You may know Friv2Online Games Studio from the wonderful OlliOlli series, which is a skateboard arcade game that seems simple at first glance, but in fact puts forward serious demands on skills. Rollerdrome by the same team is reminiscent of the aforementioned series, but adds something else to the high-speed tricks - guns! Because with guns everything becomes much cooler.
Rollerdrome is a game about gladiator fights: the year is 2030, corporations rule the world, and the townsfolk enjoy the bloody Rollerdrome show. This is all you need to know about what is happening in order to have minimal motivation to win.
Although you can certainly dive deeper, study the activities of the Mattehorn Corporation, what is behind the popularization of a new sport, using its influence to control the government and law enforcement agencies ... in general, those who wish to give action a broader meaning than " kill them all”, will be satisfied. True, you will have to work hard, collecting scraps of the plot in between matches, but it's worth it, right?
The plot of a violent TV show and the visual style of the friv game brought back memories of the inferior 2000s shooter with a similar theme - Bet on Soldier. There, the protagonist also fought with the corporation, and the gameplay was just as hardcore . Only now the hero lacked quickness, unlike our alter ego in a helmet and roller skates from Rollerdrome. This is a damn hurricane that rushes through the arenas, famously performs crazy stunts and shoots enemies.
Rollerdrome starts out as a typical extreme sports sim like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater: tutorial missions introduce you to basic controls, jumps, stunts and cool moves. And then the heroine is handed a gun - and everything changes. It turns out that you need not only to ride beautifully, but also to shoot accurately, which is very difficult - especially if you are one of those who fundamentally do not use time dilation .
The protagonist has few guns - even fewer than the enemies. Those willingly use a variety of weapons: some are willing to charge a bat at a nearby skater, who aims from a sniper rifle from a long distance, and who is armed with a rocket launcher with homing projectiles or is covered by a police shield . Opponents are not burdened with good education, and therefore they attack at the same time, causing a lot of problems, especially in the later stages of the game.
In turn, the friv gamer gets a pair of pistols, a shotgun, a grenade launcher and a rail gun. The former are good against weak opponents or, for example, teleporting fighters. The shotgun does a good job with shields, and the "rail" allows you to target snipers and shooters with jetpacks. At the same time, each weapon has its own characteristics: for example, the grenade launcher has a very limited ammo capacity, and to deal more damage with a shotgun, you need to hit the timing exactly when firing.
And here we get to the key feature of Rollerdrome: in order to actually have something to shoot, the player needs to perform tricks - this is the only way weapon stores are replenished . And they run out of ammo fast.
Therefore, the gameplay looks something like this: under a flurry of bullets, you take off on jumps and slide along ramps, then shoot opponents. Repeat until the area is completely cleared. With proper skill, you can combine both approaches, and then Rollerdrome becomes truly breathtaking and beautiful. This is facilitated by the design of the arenas, which look like they belong in some kind of skateboard sim, not a shooter.
From the outside, this alternation of playing styles may seem strange and confusing, but you will get used to it very quickly. Despite the crazy dynamics, this is a game of planning: you must constantly monitor the position of your opponents, take into account the remaining ammunition, look for the best places to jump. The dodge saves lives, and if done at the right moment, you will also increase the damage for a few seconds. The slow allows you to aim more accurately, but it is not enough for a long time. And you can replenish your shaken health by killing the enemy - but you still need to get to the scattered green cells.
Therefore, the key to survival is the assessment of the situation in the arena, planning actions and aggressive behavior. And do not try to stay in place for a long time - your character will be immediately taken apart! Roll or die - such a slogan would definitely fit the Rollerdrome marketing campaign.
In case the intense shootouts and crazy stunts are not enough for the player, the friv2 game gives out a lot of challenges in each of the missions. And this is what prevented me from enjoying the gameplay. In order to unlock new arenas and progress through the story, you must complete a certain number of challenges, which is quite difficult, given the conditions of some of them. In addition, it does not allow you to play at your own pace, even if "own pace" is the constant execution of one favorite trick using the same weapon. However, it is strange to make these claims to Roll7, a team whose games rely on diversity and continuous improvement of the player.
Rollerdrome combines completely different game genres - shooter and arcade sports. The attempt is far from the first - to recall at least the same DOOM Eternal with its platforming elements - but very successful. The game easily introduces you into a state of flow, fascinates and motivates you to improve your technique. Despite minor flaws, this is one of the best unusual shooters among those that can be found in digital stores.