A game making fun of capitalism in the most based ways being crushed by the capitalistic contracting of the maw of profitability is not lost upon me or the entire development team that is out on their ass.

Rollerdrome is cool.

The game demands mechanical mastery out of you really early on, so you'll be probably practicing in the first couple sets of levels just trying to get your footing so you can advance. This game was a little janky in the responsiveness of the mechanics. I never felt like I could snap onto the rails or dodge roll as quickly as I wanted.

Still, doing a slo-mo backflip in the air, shotgun blasting a perched sniper into pieces, landing onto a rail and dual pistoling rockets and enemies while dodging the 30 other snipers on the map while looking at the remaining time while thinking out your next three moves while being mindful of doing new things to keep your combo up -- is all crazy stressful and fun. You really have to be on your shit in Rollerdrome.

I was enamored by the 1970's retro sci-fi aesthetic. What I really fucking loved was the world building between missions. The environmental storytelling would resonate with people who liked Helldivers ironic adoration for the oppressive super democratic systems the world operated in. It was like George Miller directed a Tony Hawk game. It was great.

Given the moderate success of the game, I was really hoping for a more mechanically rich and snappy sequel would come out and really cook, but a game within the studio came out (Kerbal Space Program 2) and was such a massive flop they closed the whole damn studio. Big shout to Take Two Interactive for being one of the most profitable game publishers on the planet - love you so much for this. By the way, great job closing in on that deal to buy Gearbox for like half a billion dollars. We all grieve different in times of great financial hardship.


Cool. Cool cool cool. Yessir. Definitely feeling normal and not violent. I'm good...I'm chillin. I.am.good.

Financial recessions and shareholders overpopulating an overbought stock market, drawing blood from the stone of profit revenue in many industries, and generally causing chaos for everyone. Gaming definitely feels like one of industries. It seems like gaming as we know it that isn't Candy Crush or Fortnite or CoD has reached it's market cap. The indies will soon be the only place to experience a game like Rollerdrome. It goes to show, you can't trust big publishers for shit. That's fine. Seems like a divorce between overly financial, gambling-adjacent, short-term dopamine boosts and... literally everything else -- was a long time coming for the medium. Let's wait and see who gets custody of the kids.

Reviewed on May 10, 2024


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