Rollerdrome combines Max Payne and Skate with spectacular results

digitaltrends.com:

The developer behind OlliOlli World, one of 2022’s most underrated games, still has another skating game up its sleeve this year. Roll7’s next game is Rollerdrome, which made a strong first impression with its distinct visuals and unique mix of rollerblading and shooting at June’s State of Play. While the game launches next month, I got the chance to go hands-on with Rollerdrome early.

Though it’s a bit more complicated than the simple skateboarding of OlliOlli World, Rollerdrome shows that Roll7 is still at the top of its game when it comes to making games that feel awesome to play. It’s like Skate meets Max Payne, and that’s a combination I never knew I wanted until now.

In the world of Rollerdrome, a megacorporation called Matterhorn tries to distract the masses from its seedier exploits with a massive bloodsport tournament where contestants compete to survive in increasingly difficult gauntlets. Players control a newcomer disrupting the competition and Matterhorn’s plans, and although the story isn’t super detailed with a lot of cutscenes, first-person locker room exploration segments prior to each match do a good job at world-building and demonstrating how monolithic and threatening Matterhorn really is.

Inspired by comic books, Rollerdrome’s aesthetic is very similar to that of Sable, one of 2021’s best indie games. It features stark, cel-shaded colors that pop off the screen and give each arena you fight in a distinct look. The game knows its premise is a bit ridiculous, so it doesn’t try to feel that real with its visuals, even if its narrative has themes and undertones that are certainly applicable in our world.

In practice, Rollerdrome tasks players with earning as high a score as possible as they rollerblade