Developer: Ubisoft Annecy
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platform: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Tested on: PS5
Riders Republic – Review
Back in 2016, Ubisoft Annecy developed a fairly original arcade experience by the name of Steep. While the reviews were fairly mixed, the game proved to be an original arcade experience that reminded many of classic arcade titles from older generations. The reviewer that reviewed the game on our site basically thought the same thing. Now, the same studio is having another go at this concept with Riders Republic, a game that builds upon the aforementioned foundation where events are scattered throughout an open world. On top of that, more disciplines were added and an even higher focus on online play was embedded into the game’s core. We were quite entertained by Riders Republic, but not everything felt as impressive as it could have been.
Story
Riders Republic has a bit of story value present, even though this so-called story feels more like an annoying tutorial rather than something engaging. As is common in a lot of ‘racing’ games, you’ll be an unnamed new kid on the block, who has the potential to become the best the world has ever seen. In this case, you could make it to the big league(s) by showing your skills in different extreme sports. We can’t fault the developers for trying to create a red thread to motivate you to keep unlocking new events but the ‘surfer bro’ vibes that emanate from this game get quite annoying over time. It’s not that the overall concept or idea behind the story is bad, it’s just brought in such a generic and somewhat annoying way.
Graphics
We have tried the PS5 version of the game, and it looked both impressive and underwhelming. The game doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be. The environments are crafted with realism in mind, and they sometimes look absolutely stunning. The characters and their modes of transportation, however, look as if they came out of a vehicular-based Fortnite, which creates a stark contrast between them and the environments. While it did work to a certain extent and created something very likeable, we were soon treated to loads of clipping errors and other visual bugs. We also have to mention that even premium costumes are not properly designed, and the animations and/or costumes themselves clip through your bike or scooter. The latter is utterly disappointing, especially if players pay extra (actual) money to look cool, to only have your furry suit’s tail sink in the saddle of your bike.
Sound
The sound design is top-notch; if you can drown out the annoying characters that are part of the story. The 90s called and they want their awful stereotypes back. More than once we found ourselves rolling our eyes into oblivion by the cheesy dialogues between the characters. Luckily, the music is absolutely great. We were treated to popular songs from older games, and we were even able to relive some of The Offspring’s glory days. The soundtrack is certainly appealing, but it seems that Ubisoft also just picked tracks from other (older) popular arcade games such as Crazy Taxi. Then again, Ubisoft clearly saw that if it’s not broken they sure as hell shouldn’t try to fix it.
Gameplay
Riders Republic is a multiplayer-focused extreme sports game, where there’s a heavy focus on racing or performing tricks. The game throws you in a massive open-world environment, where you can uncover new regions for new events, but also for secret items stashed away. As you play more and more, the game will open up more events and disciplines as you go. You’ll have to be connected to the internet at all times for this one, as your opponents will be the ‘ghost’ data of other players for normal events, and you’ll directly take on other players during the mass online events. The concept is quite solid, and we actually had a great time, but the game is far from being properly polished. Those looking to play offline will be disappointed, as they can only access the Zen mode, which allows you to freely roam around the world, but not actually do much more than that.
As mentioned before, unlocking new events is done easily by just playing the game. The same can be said about your bikes and other gear for the disciplines. Sadly, the game just feels very rough around the edges, and this is very noticeable when taking a closer look at the controls. For a game that’s all about racing and performing tricks, you never truly feel in control and everything is just very clunky. This in combination with the very random and dodgy hit detection for ghosts and actual opponents, and you might find yourself enraged from time to time. At certain points you drive through other players as if they’re thin air, and at other points you find yourself being knocked off the track entirely, losing your top position for no reason. The latter also happens with random ‘obstacles’. One time you can ride over a jagged rock with no consequences, and the next time you find yourself doing a full 180 because you came too close to a small piece of rubble. The controls and physics need a whole lot of polishing to make the game feel less random. Nonetheless, if you’re looking for some good old-fashioned arcade fun, this might actually not bother you that much.
Conclusion
Riders Republic is a fun game to sink several hours in, especially with the many events and online options on offer. We do find that this is one of those in-between games, where you mainly play it when you’re in-between bigger titles or when you just want to have some good old-fashioned brainless fun. The game does take a lot of time to properly master, but random crashes and online players just throwing you off the tracks may infuriate certain players or just feel a bit too random. That being said, Riders Republic is certainly worth picking up if you’re looking for a fun arcade experience to play alone or with your friends. We do find the price tag a bit too steep but you can’t really go wrong with this one if you’re into these types of games.
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