It was never quite obvious what the game would become – but now that we’ve been able to dive in, the potential of this Ubisoft-developed online multiplayer romp, which combines basketball, pinball and high-speed roller derby, is incredibly clear.įrom its fluid, skating movement to its stressful, tackle-heavy matches, Roller Champions has come roaring out of the gate with a distinct sense of personality and flair. I left the game wanting to do just a little bit more to be able to one-up a foe and flip them a finger, and was left clinging to a title that I loved but couldn’t fill my hunger for success.Roller Champions had a long path to launch, dotted by alphas and betas, plenty of player feedback, and a mounting sense of anticipation. An essence of flair or swag, the power to make an individual better than anybody else. This makes Roller Champion accessible for everyone, and a great title for a few hours of fun, but to retain a grinding player base, it feels like something is missing.
But unlike Rocket League, for example, where you have the ability to warp in mid-air with air rolls and flip resets, there’s little you can add to a pass, a jump, or a fling that can set you apart from any other individual. While you can easily burn hours with friends body-slamming opponents into the ground, the tactician in people only really exists in passing and boosting - a roller derby technique of flinging your teammate forward to gain traction. Its problem lies with variety, which does suffer in each game.
Replicating the sports genre, it screams participation trophies, rather than a gold medal or wooden spoon, despite its efforts to make a ranked playlist. Where Roller Champions falls short, however, is in its simplicity. Yes, this element means that you can effectively jump back in, kick on your skates, and be just as good as you were six months ago, but for those gamers whose fire is fuelled by competition and progression, Roller Champions doesn’t quite ignite that instinct. Even when the score is tied, the pace of the game picks up as adrenaline kicks in, and deep into overtime, you'll be whizzing around with palpitations, hoping to be the hero that can save the game with a huge tackle or make the throw that will finally see you victorious. It's a straight jostle from the moment the ball drops from the heavens, and you're never truly out of reach of your opponents. Don't make the mistake of underestimating how hard doing three laps untouched is, but the chance of making a Hail Mary play when you're 4-0 down is a stroke of genius. Three laps and you get five, that's the game wrapped up. However, complete two laps without being battered and bruised and you can score three points with a single goal. Working on a first-to-five basis, players can score a goal after completing a single loop of the circuit and hurling the ball into a hoop. The competitive nature of a single game is also to be praised, giving a team the chance to perform outrageous comebacks with a single move. You can admire the work put in by Ubisoft to perfect the tackling and throwing mechanics that could easily feel janky and glitched, but instead, you can fly around at breakneck speeds smashing your way through opponents in a hockey-esque brawl before skirmishing your way around the arena with beautifully designed passes. There are no additional wacky movement mechanics, just press and go, which is all Roller Champions needs to hook you in.įrom there, the gameplay is as smooth as butter on freshly-popped toast. More savvy players will then take advantage of an extra bumper to perform team boosts and another button to 'uppercut', which is a fancy term for a supercharged jump most used for saving shots, but that's it. Its simplistic nature only requires a set of five buttons, one trigger to skate and the other to throw, then three buttons to pass, jump, and tackle in defence, or dodge in attack, with the analogue sticks doing the movement. From the get-go, a tutorial shows you pretty much exactly the only things you need to know to be a success in Roller Champions, as you become accustomed to the tackling, throwing, and general skating skills that generate speed to get the blood pumping.
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