Tag Archives: Open

Reiter Republic

RRP $ 60.00

"Riders Republic is a thoroughly entertaining extreme sports game that avoids the mandatory insignia of most open world games."

advantages

• Easy to understand gameplay

• Everything feels rewarding

• Complicated world design

• Crazy sporting events

• Excellent social modes

disadvantage

• Camera is not ideal

• Stylistically inconsistent

• Arrogant microtransactions

Ubisoft's open world games can be a chore. Franchises like Assassin's Creed and Far Cry follow the same structure and throw players on a gigantic map with a seemingly endless number of activities to do. These are massive games full of distractions that you will keep playing even when you are running out of good times. But Riders Republic, the publisher's newest title, wields that power forever; it removes any constraint from one of gaming's weariest ideas.

Riders Republic was developed by the team behind Steep and is an open-world extreme sports game that is structurally not far from Assassin's Creed Valhalla – only with bicycles instead of longships. A big world with a laundry list of symbols to jump back and forth between? That’s what you’ll find here. The main difference, however, is that I actually wanted to complete activities and didn't feel like I had to. Who cares if a game has a million things to do when they're not really fun?

Riders Republic works because it never forgets to be, above all, fun. Regardless of whether players cycle through a ravine in a wingsuit or cycle down a mountain with 31 other players in a giraffe suit, every micro-challenge is a quick and digestible hit for the joy of extreme sports. It's not the deepest experience, but it's one I was happy to immerse myself in for an hour and just as easily could walk again without feeling pressured to move on.

X game

Riders Republic is essentially a much more goofy twist on the Forza Horizon series. Players are thrown onto a giant map made up of California state parks that Frankenstein have pieced together into a natural sports utopia. The only real direction they're given is to compete in various events – there's biking, snowboarding, skiing, jetpacking, and wingsuiting – and earning enough stars to complete the ultimate Red Bull sponsored race. The game doesn't really care what you do once it lets go of you – and that's a relief. I've never felt so free in a genre that is supposedly based on freedom.

There's a simple but effective catch here. Almost everything that players do gives them stars. Finish a race? Get a star even if you are last. Discover a landmark on the map? Take a star. Did you accidentally perform a stunt while exploring? Here is your star. It doesn't matter if you're good at the game or just there to play around; Riders Republic will make you feel like you are making progress no matter what. No activity feels like a waste of time or something that you have no choice but to assert yourself.

This hook works just as well because the sports gameplay is so easy to learn and play from moment to moment. Cycling or skiing is as easy as accelerating and steering. Certain gear can drift, boost, or pull tricks, but nothing ever feels overly complicated. The effectively simple mechanism directs the focus to the essentials: the thrill of racing through an open world with full freedom. It is so much fun to fly through a canyon with a jetpack and immediately switch to a snowboard and then tumble out of the air to slide down a snow-capped mountain.

The only point where the game gets tricky is with the control options. Players have a few different control schemes, but there are two primary ones. One assigns tricks to the face buttons, while the other (called Trickster) lets players use the right stick instead. The latter feels a lot better and gives players much more precise control when it comes to performing tricks and landing. Unfortunately, this means that camera control is sacrificed, which is not always feasible. Considering the game is getting messy with its massive multiplayer races, sometimes I really had to adjust the angle to see over the herd of drivers in long giraffe costumes that enveloped my field of vision. You will also get more points for tricks if you land them in Trickster mode yourself. It's a shame that the more natural and rewarding control scheme is the less practical.

No matter what sport I play, the controls feel so intuitive that I can navigate the complicated world with ease.

It's a minor complaint by and large. No matter what sport I play, the controls feel so intuitive that I can navigate the complicated world with ease. The landscapes are carefully constructed to turn simple stretches of terrain into bike paths or snow trails that put my skills to the test, even if I'm just driving around freely. You could take all of the actual goals and objectives out of Riders Republic and I still think I'd love to just drive around and soak it all up (there's a zen mode where you can do just that, too).

The social network

There's no shortage of things you can actually do to take advantage of these pleasing mechanics and smart world design. Players compete in various challenges that appear on the map as they advance each "career". Most of the events are about racing, but there is a little extra spice here and there. One of my favorite missions was asking me to ride my bike around a small campsite delivering pizza while my character was complaining in Italian the whole time.

Riders Republic is best when it's silly. While standard races are consistently fun tests of skill, some of the stranger missions add absurd charm to the game. In one race, I snowboard through a blizzard while classical music is playing. In another, I'm in a group of cyclists dressed in T. rex inflatable suits. You never know what a particular challenge will look like until you start the race, and out of curiosity that made me try as many as possible.

Playing solo would be entertaining enough on its own, but the game's social integration really makes it special. During the game, the map is constantly populated by other players who go about their business (or at least ghost data from real people). It is impossible to feel alone while driving. Sometimes I would find myself riding a wingsuit down a mountain to a racing marker just to skim a running bike race. It seldom happens that I really feel part of an online world full of people, even when playing a 100 player game like Fortnite.

Playing solo would be entertaining enough on its own, but the game's social integration really makes it special.

This feeling is best illustrated in the game's mass races, which are a standout feature. Players can line up for a 64-player race at various intervals. It is absolute chaos in the best sense of the word. Watching a crowd of bikers clash at the start line is pure slapstick comedy, and it's an exhilarating feeling to be ahead of the pack. They are also usually some of the longer gauntlets in the game and act as a multisport triathlon. Every time one shows up on the map, I stop what I'm doing to participate.

Other online modes are just as creative. There's a brilliant 6v6 trick attack mode that works like a team version of Graffiti by Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. Considering this is a live service game that will likely be updated over time, I am already excited about the possibilities here. This is what makes Riders Republic particularly fun. This is a solid, insane foundation that feels like it could be twisted in an infinite number of ways. While Ubisoft doesn't, the game includes a creation tool that allows players to create their own custom events. Keep giving me a reason to invite me in, and I'll keep going until my legs (well, thumbs, I think) are sore.

Out of fashion

The most noticeable aspect of the game is its sense of style. While the game's spiritual predecessor, Steep, was a bit more down to earth, Riders Republic is all about pizzazz. The colors are bright, the cosmetics are crazy, and the soundtrack is eclectic. It's an all-round happy atmosphere for players of all ages.

However, all of this is a bit unfocused. As I played through the game, I was never quite sure who the intended audience was. Take the soundtrack, for example. It's not just between genres, but also between eras. In a minute I'll hear a pretty modern sounding pop rock song. In the next minute, Ice-T's 1988 Hit Colors began playing. I later become a parachutist as the ukulele cover of Gangster’s Paradise, followed by The Offspring’s Staring at the Sun. Sometimes the soundtrack tries to be hip and youthful. Sometimes Tony Hawk tries to be a pro skater. At other times, I have no idea who it is addressed to.

This is also present in the dialogues that try to sound young and hip, but end up slipping into terrifying terrain. Jokes keep falling flat when non-gamer characters dive into the MTV humor of the "for Shizzle" era. It all has a "How are you fellow children?" Atmosphere that feels a little strange.

Then there's the game's cosmetics store, which opens the dreaded microtransaction conversation. While some clothing and items can be bought with in-game currency, others can only be bought with real money. However, these higher quality items get mixed up with anything else that feels unnecessarily deceptive. I would often see an item of clothing that I dug up in the store, instinctively click on it, and realize that it took me real money to buy it. Given that this is a full retail game, the microtransaction addiction feels a bit aggressive here – especially since kids are a likely target audience here.

Playing through the game, I'm never quite sure who the intended audience actually is.

I enjoy Riders Republic the most when I just ignore these aspects completely. Due to the free and fluid pace of the game, I can turn the volume down and have music or a podcast play in the background. I don't mean that as a blow to the game; it speaks to how strong the core gameplay is. The fact that I can block out the loudest parts and still feel like I'm getting the full experience is impressive. Riders Republic gives you the freedom to play your way, and that includes the freedom to get rid of things you don't want to do.

Our opinion

Riders Republic makes optimal use of Ubisoft's open world template. It's a thoroughly fun extreme sports game with lots of variety, an abundance of challenges to hunt, and great social hooks. All of its sporting events are easy to learn and play, making it perfect for quick drop-ins. Its sense of style has gotten a little out of hand and it doesn't have the sleekest camera solution, but I'm always excited to heat it up and see how much more it can beat its craziness.

Is there a better alternative?

Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1 + 2 is a bit more stylistically focused. If you want something less arcade-like and more technical, the Forza Horizon series offers an identical structure.

How long it will take?

That depends on how much time you want to invest. It feels like there are well over 100 hours of content here for the die-hard who want to play it like a service game. Even if you just hit the correct endgame, you will likely pass the 30 hour mark.

Should you buy it?

Yes sir. Riders Republic is just fun. Few games this year have given me such simple joys that make me want to keep playing.

Editor's recommendations