Rollerdrome is a blast if you don’t think too hard about it

polygon.com:

Rollerdrome can accurately be described as Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater with guns. The latest from Roll7, developer of the OlliOlli series, Rollerdrome is a score-based arena shooter, but on 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. The presentation of the game, from the clean, cel-shaded art to the pumping synth soundtrack, is designed to lock you into the thrill of the titular bloodsport.

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In the fiction of Rollerdrome, which is set in an alternate-dimension 2030, this is a massively popular televised sport. 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.

This is a game that feels good to play, which is important, given Rollerdrome’s more serious narrative. Gunplay and skating feed into each other, mechanically: Tricks get you more bullets, and bullets get you fewer enemies, which in turn helps you do more tricks, which finally allows you to clear out even more enemies. It’s frenetic, compelling, and surprisingly easy to parse, which is important as bullets fly by, requiring you to