Riders Republic might be the best extreme sports game in an age
There’s a duo of arcade games that are often – and quite rightly – pined over by lovers of the genre, and all these years later the legends of Blur and Split/Second seem almost inseparable (indeed, the two were released around the same time, one of the many reasons behind their lack of success and the subsequent demise of the talented studios behind both games).
Riders RepublicPublisher: UbisoftDeveloper: Ubisoft AnnecyPlatform: Played on PCAvailability: Out October 28th on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series S/X
Spare a thought, though, for the equally often overlooked Pure, Black Rock Studio’s predecessor to Split/Second. Here was an arcade racer with an incredible sense of speed and verticality, and one that captured the thrill of hurling yourself down the side of a steep plateau that’s rarely been matched ever since. If you loved mountains in all their stupendous drama and beauty, Pure was the game for you.
And now Riders Republic, it seems, might well be the game for you. I’ve spent half a day with the recent beta and been frequently stunned by it all, enjoying its overexuberance and over-the-top take on the various extreme sports it takes on. I’ve not really felt that same pure thrill of speeding downhill through wilderness and then getting the sweet release of a stupendous drop and equally breathtaking vista since, well, Pure – and Riders Republic really could be one of the very best big budget extreme sports games in all those long years hence.
Riders Republic – Customization Trailer Watch on YouTube
It’s all very Ubisoft, with a big – actually, make that colossal – map that slowly unfurls as you progress, and soon enough it’s crowded with seemingly endless distractions; a mountain bike course here, or a stunt run there. What a map this is though – the Justice League of great American parks, as Donlan elegantly said, with Sequoia, Yosemite, Bryce and Half-Dome all smooshed together and somehow losing none of their sense of impeccable scale – and like Steep it’s accompanied by a brilliant 3D model you can comb over.
