An incredible extreme sports experience with one of the coolest worlds I've seen from Ubisoft. Having 6-7 major national parks just Frankensteined into each other is absolutely insane and brilliant for a game like this. Game is let down a little by the fact that it tries to be Fortnite, but the bones here are good.
Fantastic game, had a lot of fun playing each and every sport. All the mechanics are extremely satisfying while being complex and interesting. I was able to complete all (except for maybe 3) campaign missions on 3 stars except for the ones which required grinding the sponsors to unlock. As for the cons: The graphics are laughable, it felt like 720p with some smoothing. The RNG would not give me 900 bike even on max career level, so I couldn't get 3 stars everywhere. There are kind of a lot of levels which are not that exciting, I wish there were fewer, but more challenging ones. Finally, it was impossible to find enough people to start a match in multiplayer, but the mass races don't have this problem and are very cool, although I see no reason why we should wait like a minute between matches and why there are only 3 maps, it gets boring quick.
I think this is one of those games where you probably already know if it's for you or not.
I really enjoyed Steep, really enjoyed this, will probably really enjoy the next one if it ever gets made.
I found the downhill biking and wingsuit events genuinely quite exciting (especially in first-person) and the various collectibles that are dotted around the giant and varied map were actually pretty fun to collect thanks to all forms of sports being constantly available to you.
The UI is definitely over-complicated and the matchmaking falls apart given everyone is riding with different level transportation (and those levels massively affect the speed at which you travel), but as a single player experience (which, granted, you stupidly cannot access whilst playing offline) I thought this was a blast in which I was more than happy to see to the end of each sports career.
I remember the licensed Steep soundtrack being way better than this though and ended up resorting to playing Spotify from my PS5 whilst playing which works a treat!
I really enjoyed Steep, really enjoyed this, will probably really enjoy the next one if it ever gets made.
I found the downhill biking and wingsuit events genuinely quite exciting (especially in first-person) and the various collectibles that are dotted around the giant and varied map were actually pretty fun to collect thanks to all forms of sports being constantly available to you.
The UI is definitely over-complicated and the matchmaking falls apart given everyone is riding with different level transportation (and those levels massively affect the speed at which you travel), but as a single player experience (which, granted, you stupidly cannot access whilst playing offline) I thought this was a blast in which I was more than happy to see to the end of each sports career.
I remember the licensed Steep soundtrack being way better than this though and ended up resorting to playing Spotify from my PS5 whilst playing which works a treat!
When I first saw the trailer, it looked like a good time to mindlessly play for fun. And was I right! The open world is much, much larger than I anticipated. Every solo and pvp event is on the map for you to explore. You can trick out on bikes, snowboard down a mountain, ski a race, glide through hoops, or test your rocketwing through natural arches. The map is a beautiful blend of real national parks. From snow covered cliffs to red rock stone arches, it's gorgeous. They did an amazing job with the environment.
You can explore with a radio station or turn it off if you prefer. When you first experience a big event with an edited song playing in the background, it gets you pumped! However, there is a downside to having songs tied to events. If you're a completionist, you may have to replay event for stars. Hearing the same song, over and over, was annoying. The radio is limited and you cannot change it during an event. I am burned out on certain songs. The main narrator is overly talkative. I had to mute my sound a couple of times because I wanted to concentrate; not hear his terrible puns for the 47th time.
The sound is a minor complaint. The most complaints I have seen online, and experienced, are about mass races. Every 30 minutes, the game runs an event with 64 players in real time to compete. It can be fun, but frustrating if you're wanting top three. Some of the races use your equipment. Each equipment has its own stats. That means someone can easily pass you if their bike/ski has a higher speed stat than you. Players complained about the unfair balance. So the game added more races to have everyone on the same piece of equipment with the same stats. Now there's an issue of 64 players all bound together by moving the same speed ping ponging together. You can be moving straight, have another player bump into you, and be launched a direction. It's less about stats and more on luck, hoping you aren't tossed around. They need to continue tweaking this but overall the game is well done.
At 70 hours I have earned my platinum trophy. But I did not complete every event, earn every star, or finish every challenge. There's a ton of content and I felt it was well worth it.
You can explore with a radio station or turn it off if you prefer. When you first experience a big event with an edited song playing in the background, it gets you pumped! However, there is a downside to having songs tied to events. If you're a completionist, you may have to replay event for stars. Hearing the same song, over and over, was annoying. The radio is limited and you cannot change it during an event. I am burned out on certain songs. The main narrator is overly talkative. I had to mute my sound a couple of times because I wanted to concentrate; not hear his terrible puns for the 47th time.
The sound is a minor complaint. The most complaints I have seen online, and experienced, are about mass races. Every 30 minutes, the game runs an event with 64 players in real time to compete. It can be fun, but frustrating if you're wanting top three. Some of the races use your equipment. Each equipment has its own stats. That means someone can easily pass you if their bike/ski has a higher speed stat than you. Players complained about the unfair balance. So the game added more races to have everyone on the same piece of equipment with the same stats. Now there's an issue of 64 players all bound together by moving the same speed ping ponging together. You can be moving straight, have another player bump into you, and be launched a direction. It's less about stats and more on luck, hoping you aren't tossed around. They need to continue tweaking this but overall the game is well done.
At 70 hours I have earned my platinum trophy. But I did not complete every event, earn every star, or finish every challenge. There's a ton of content and I felt it was well worth it.
having liked steep very very much i was expecting way more from this game. first off the intro is way too long and way too cringy, just shut up and let me play ffs. then with skiing and snowboarding being my favorites sports irl i was very disappointed, why couldnt they just port the same gameplay mecanics and controls from steep it was just 100x better. if you liked those sports in steep you wont recognize them in riders republic.
then the progression system might be the worst, i know steep is a smaller game but the progression was way smoother in it, you got a gold medal you got a new pair of skis or something, but the worst is that in riders every gear have different stats, i hate that, i feel like theres no personality any more you cant have a favorite snowboard or pair of skis you just pick the best even if its ugly. Something else that i hate is this punk aesthetic, i guess some people are fans but not me, i liked the silly costumes on steep cause thats something you might see on the slopes but to an extend, i feel like in riders it represents the fortitization of video games if that makes any sense...
the game is also just too arcady but not in a good way like ssx. i feel like this game is a mountain bike first and foremost, this they did nail, i think bmx is my favorite.
something else that might be skill issues though is the fact that i found this game way more difficult then steep, like i got all the gold medals in steep in every event, some were sure more difficult then others but i got them all in the end, but in riders i struggle to even get bronze even in the beginning. i dont know if its because of the new stat system and like you have to return later to an event with better gear to get gold but i hate that tbh.
i think i played this game for like 2 days before giving up. one thing i must say though is that the map is way better then steep with way more variety but its pretty obvious why.
then the progression system might be the worst, i know steep is a smaller game but the progression was way smoother in it, you got a gold medal you got a new pair of skis or something, but the worst is that in riders every gear have different stats, i hate that, i feel like theres no personality any more you cant have a favorite snowboard or pair of skis you just pick the best even if its ugly. Something else that i hate is this punk aesthetic, i guess some people are fans but not me, i liked the silly costumes on steep cause thats something you might see on the slopes but to an extend, i feel like in riders it represents the fortitization of video games if that makes any sense...
the game is also just too arcady but not in a good way like ssx. i feel like this game is a mountain bike first and foremost, this they did nail, i think bmx is my favorite.
something else that might be skill issues though is the fact that i found this game way more difficult then steep, like i got all the gold medals in steep in every event, some were sure more difficult then others but i got them all in the end, but in riders i struggle to even get bronze even in the beginning. i dont know if its because of the new stat system and like you have to return later to an event with better gear to get gold but i hate that tbh.
i think i played this game for like 2 days before giving up. one thing i must say though is that the map is way better then steep with way more variety but its pretty obvious why.
all the sports feel so good, and the ones they’ve added post launch (BMX and skateboarding) have exceeded my expectations in how unique of a feel they have within the control scheme of the game. high skill ceiling and huge variety of activities, plus tons of cosmetics to grind for and make outfits out of which is a completely lost art in today’s AAAs. will die slept on.