Riders Republic Reviews
Riders Republic is a truly massive extreme sports game that borrows from Ubisoft's better open world pillars. A variety of events and the ability to play against massive servers in a gorgeous sandbox provide a unique thrill that few games manage.
Riders Republic is more than a revision of Steep than it is a rewrite, a creative team taking all of the lessons learned from a rough draft and starting over from the beginning. It has more extreme sports, sure, but more importantly, it’s a profoundly more social experience. It oozes joy, without relying on the fundamentals of its contemporaries, like combat, winner-takes-all competition, and melodramatic linear storytelling.
Riders Republic is an awesome, fresh entry in both the racing and action sports genre.
Not all of the activities are equally enjoyable in Riders Republic, but the highs — namely, the harrowing downhill mountain bike races and over-the-top snow sports — deliver.
Riders Republic is exactly the game it is trying to be, with a modern take on early 2000s xtreme sports games that works in terms of everything except the corporate-mandated ambience.
Riders Republic counters many of the issues live service games of the past have faced. It doesn’t feel like an unfinished game, nor does it feel like one simply padded out with mundane content. The base structure remains but without that dullness it becomes an easy experience to get on board with. You may have to endure some awful narrative flare, but there is a lot of game here for those looking for it. What’s better is that there isn’t just plenty to be excited about now, but so much more to get excited about in the future, giving Riders Republic some serious potential to remain as a solid continuing sports franchise. Undoubtedly, it’ll have some growing pains to face, as all live service games do, because there is a particular need to make some of its modes more accessible to casual players. However, it doesn’t demand too much of those that are playing more vigorously, making it one of the most casual experiences Ubisoft has developed to date. Whether you are in it for the races, tricks or the odd bit of co-op fun, Riders Republic is a live service game that feels less like a chore, and more like a fun-filled take on the Ubisoft formula.
Riders Republic at first glance seems like something that’s too good to be true. An action sports game with real attention to detail that showcases the true, adrenaline filled spirit of the sports it features.
Riders Republic is a fantastic open world sports game that delivers big on massively multiplayer arcade mayhem whilst also giving solo players a ton of content to dig into. There's an enormous, breathtakingly beautiful world to explore here that delivers carefully curated tracks and events for each every one of its sports disciplines, whilst also giving you free reign to head on out and cut your own path through its seven national parks' worth of wonderful wilderness. Yes there's some painful dialogue here and there, as well some issues with bugs and crashes during this launch period, but none of that is enough to put us off getting stuck in and just enjoying the smorgasbord of arcade sports action that Ubisoft Annecy has served up.
A definite improvement over Steep, thanks to the Mass Races and the new bike discipline, but Ubisoft Annecy have still got a lot of work to do if they want to break into upper echelons of gaming. It should look to Playground Games and how they craft an elite open-world sports game if they want to reach that next-level, then maybe they too could be mentioned in the same breath as SSX Tricky. Fingers crossed, the potential is definitely there!
At its best Riders Republic successfully captures the sense of adventure and risk-taking that make extreme sports so appealing.
If you can ignore the game’s obnoxious attitude and in your face corporate sponsorship, you’re richly rewarded with accessible, consistently engaging representations of biking, snow sports, and wing suiting, coupled with a massive and literally awesome environment in which to compete or explore. Those that are into riding the leaderboards–or just playing with their friends–will have plenty of opportunities to fuel their addiction, but I’m guessing that just about everyone can find joy here in just goofing around in this expansive playground, at least for a while. Whether or not Riders Republic sticks the landing and stays in the playlist of many gamers beyond launch probably depends on a steady stream of new sports to try, and if an actual, thriving community pledges allegiance to the Republic’s competitive modes.
Riders Republic is a little surprise, an extreme sports game that pick ups elements from the legends of the genre and apply them to a huge open world, more social oriented, but without losing the focus on the fun part. It's far from perfect, but at least try to do something different... despite the micropayments.
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Once you get through the tutorial Riders Republic opens up into a sandbox only limited by your imagination. There’s enough to do to keep players busy for a long time and enough variety to keep things fresh. So grab your board, hop on your bike, it’s time to ride.
Riders Republic tries so hard to be cool that it deserves a roundhouse kick to the mouth, but Ubisoft's technical chops come out to play here, with an enormous online sandbox stacked to the metaphorical ceiling with high-octane events to complete. This is a game that the French publisher has clearly designed to be built upon, but even day one, with its mix of disciplines and multifaceted Mass Races, it's an entertaining ride. There are minor niggles for the French publisher to iron out, and we'd recommend muting the dialogue, but don't bail on this if you have even a passing interest in extreme sports.
Riders Republic is an exhilarating open world extreme sports game with a lot of little issues that build up over time. It's lackluster character creator and insistence on interrupting the flow quickly grows tiresome. If you're a fan of Steep, Riders Republic is undoubtedly for you. If you're not though, you can probably wait to play this game.
Riders Republic boasts an open world full of exciting challenges, scenic views, and the freedom to tackle anything as you wish, making it a surprise hit for 2021.
Riders Republic makes a strong case as one of the best and most varied extreme sports games to date, with a solid offering of unique vehicles that are fun to use and master.
A sprawling, varied, endlessly fun open-world game, and a glimmer of hope for the extreme sports genre.