Riders Republic Review (PS5)

If you’ve ever played Steep, then the concept Riders Republic is based on certainly sounds compelling. Ubisoft has managed not only to borrow and improve the idea that helped give birth to Steep but also to bring it to a level that allows Riders Republic to provide an insanely fun and always-fresh gaming experience regardless of the platform.

This may sound like a conclusion, but this is exactly the promise that you should have in mind when installing Riders Republic.

Like the majority of Ubisoft’s latest titles, Riders Republic comes with its very own pros and cons, though this time, I believe there is so much to love about this game that you should just ignore the rest.

And here’s why.

First and foremost, the graphics. It’s pretty clear from the very beginning that Ubisoft just wanted Riders Republic to look good. And yeah, they certainly managed to do it right, so everything looks super-polished, from your bike to the scenery and pretty much every single item you see around.

+6more

Don’t get me wrong, there’s still room for improvements, but Riders Republic is a game that certainly lives up to the expectations, at least from a graphics perspective.

The gameplay itself still feels arcade-ish, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Riders Republic is an action-packed fast-paced title, so if you’re not necessarily a fan of the arcade style, then you could end up disappointed. This doesn’t always mean that Riders Republic doesn’t feel realistic.

It does, though, in many regards, Ubisoft has found just the smoothest way to mix together things you’d expect in the real-life and an arcade-ish concept that is so fun to try out.

The atmosphere overall feels very vibrant from the very first event, and Riders Republic has been developed in a way that allows you to play it just the way you want. If you’re a big fan of skiing, that’s just fine, so go look for events that allow you to enjoy this mode. Are you more interested in biking? No problem, as Riders Republic seems to have a personalized path for every player.

+7more

In some cases, however, the events still mix the extreme sports scenes, so you jump from skiing to snowboarding, but in 90 percent of the case, Riders Republic gives players the freedom you simply cannot not love.

This doesn’t necessarily mean everything is perfect. Not at all, and one of the things that should be further improved comes down to the mechanics.

The crashes look awful and incredibly unrealistic, and while the biking feels more real, especially when gaining more speed, every time you hit a pole or a tree, you’re once again reminded of the arcade-style side of Riders Republic. The same thing for skiing, so this is probably one of the areas that need to be further polished in the coming updates.

The addition of cycling has certainly been a brilliant idea, and to be honest, I just love the downhill events where everything is so fast. On the other hand, I’m not a big fan of the wingsuits, and I think this is another part where the gameplay mechanics show their limits.

+7more

Riders Republic is full of exciting tricks and stunts that really don’t take a lot of time to master. Sure, there is a learning curve, but the game has been created in such a way that you’re getting tips on the screen during your first events, so the more you play, the easier it gets to become an experienced player.

The more tricks you make, the more stars you receive, and the rewarding system seems to be pretty refined, so you can easily unlock new content, such as clothing that makes your rider look more special.

But while the gameplay is impressive and the graphics are top-notch, there’s something that’s so bad it shouldn’t even be part of a game like Riders Republic. It’s not only how much NPCs talk but also how bad they do it. The dialogues are ridiculous, to say the least, and not skipping them is a major challenge that I often failed to complete. Simply because they just seem to be automatically generated using some sort of badly coded bot that you can find for free online.

Without a doubt, however, Ubisoft has nailed it this time, and Republic Riders is an impressive release that makes it so simple to just ignore its bad parts.

The Good

The Bad

CONCLUSION