Synopsis:
Jump into the Riders Republic™ massive multiplayer playground! Grab your bike, skis, snowboard, or wingsuit and explore an open world sports paradise where the rules are yours to make—or break.
Publisher: Ubisoft
Reviewed on: PS5
Also available for: PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC
Cast: David Meyrat, Clara Thebault, Gianni Rossi, Marion Trintignant, Maina Le Dantec, Geoffrey Bourrel
Developer: Ubisoft Annecy
Creative Director: Igot Manceau
Studio Technical Director: Gregory Garcia
Game Director: Arnaud Ragot
World Director: Renaud Person
Welcome to Riders Republic, a massive open world designed around extreme sports, including cycling, skiing, and wingsuiting. The introduction into this world is guided by two rocking characters: your new friend and peer Suki and Brett, your new mentor. These two assist you in getting started in the Riders Republic world, acting as guides to walk you through the tutorial and get a handle on the multiple events around the map and throughout the game. With their guidance, you will aim to be your best and look towards taking the top spot on the podium. While there is a little bit of story in the game, it is not the focus, and you can skip over most of it and still grasp the gist of the game. During the tutorial, you’ll also set up the control scheme and level of assistance.
Moving on from the tutorial stages, you are given a few choices of where to begin. I started with cycling as it is a favourite pastime. Off into the wild, we find ourselves at our first event—a downhill race. Not knowing what to expect, I selected the racing-style controls and bumped the assistance to full, ensuring I’d land on my wheels with additional help for rotation during tricks. This control type mapped face buttons to rotation and the triggers to tricks. This first race set my expectations: a fast-paced race against a dozen others. The controls were tight, and I found it a thrilling experience. I won and followed the game’s suggestion for the next event. The event gave me a chance to test out my newly unlocked stunt bike. The stunt event opened my eyes further to the way the game works; this was again a racing-styled event, but the goal was to gain the highest score, not cross the finish line first. With a limit on the number of tricks you can perform to earn points, the challenge was on. Hitting the first ramp and spinning in the air wildly took me back to the early PS2 days of Dave Mirra’s BMX with a similar mix of music. I was enjoying showing off, hitting the finish line, and winning yet another event.
After these two events, it was back to the main hangout, where Suki introduced me to the different areas: the training room to learn new tricks, the store to buy some fun gear, and the big show — a massive sixty-four-player event — to test your skills but more importantly to jump in and have some fun. It is unlikely that you will win these gigantic events, but they are fun to play and generally involve multiple disciplines built into one. The first one I participated in started on skis, pelting down the snow at crazy speeds, dodging people, trees, and rocks, only to hit a massive jump and — boom — I’m in a wingsuit and still picking up speed. After hitting ten or more rings, I shot down to the last ring and the next thing you know, I am on a bike, pedalling for glory. These huge events show off some of the most beautiful scenery, even if you pass it at lightning speed or within millimetres of crashing.
Whoever made the mix for this game really hit it right. The range of songs fits perfectly with the game — lots of fast-paced tracks as you rocket down hills, through the sky, and across the snow. A variety of music plays while cruising, with newer, older, and remixed songs across six radio stations. There is something about hurtling down a mountain while “The Offspring — Staring at the Sun” blasts into your ears that really revs you up. These musical selections for the races match most of the events to a tee in a thoroughly thoughtful manner.
The NPC characters are nothing to write home about — generic extreme sports folks with their own stories that never really play into the game too much. They’re there to give you hints or guide you towards new events or things you should be on the lookout for, and they serve that purpose. The dialogue choices are… interesting. It very much takes me back to the ’90s, splicing random new words into sentences. Many of these make no sense outside conversational context, but these characters are harmless fun and get the job done.
The game’s graphical fidelity brings some awe-inspiring scenery: beautiful forests, desolate deserts, and massive gorges are just a few of the sights to behold during Riders Republic. The photo mode adds to this; pulling the camera back gives you a great sense of the world’s scale while capturing images to share with others. The map includes several real-world locations and national parks. Ubisoft has gone above and beyond to make the world feel alive. Seeing other players jumping, skiing, and flying as you move around the map gives you a sense of community. While the map is enormous, the creators have thoughtfully sprinkled open-world exploration rewards: landmarks, sightseeing points, and hidden items like a surfboard, a vintage snowboard, or a pizza-delivery bike. These rare items have unique abilities, from speed to spin, and they’re a fun way to spice up events and earn more stars.
The game allows further progress through earning stars. You get a range of options to earn them, but each event presents difficulty, assistance, and a list of bonus objectives. The greater the difficulty of the competitors and the lower the assistance, the better the rewards. You don’t need to win to gain stars, but it does help. Completing bonus objectives is the fundamental way to level faster. These objectives push you to rethink your approach to each event: speed-based, trick-based, or placing on the podium. Each objective offers its own star reward.
While there is a multiplayer aspect, I didn’t play much of the team events because they weren’t as fun without a friend. Teaming up against random players was still enjoyable, and the online experience felt good. The community has been welcoming, and there was always a considerable number of people online when I was playing, especially in the massive big-show events.
Riders Republic is one of the more fun things I’ve been relaxing with after a big day. There isn’t immense pressure to win every event, and progression happens with or without it. The XP systems are fair and balanced. Seeing multiple people throughout the world made me feel like part of a community, and the open world is beautiful. The variety of events and equipment types keeps the gameplay fresh — you can switch to something new quickly. Exploration is rewarded but not necessary; it was fun finding random equipment in the world or reading up on the different environments. The graphics stand out and capture the natural beauty in these national parks. I felt the remnants of old-school games like Tony Hawk, Dave Mirra, and SSX in the controls and overall feel. The musical mix is built from passion and matches the game extremely well. Now, if you don’t mind, I think I will go twang a 720 and swindle a new peak.
(Riders Republic code provided for review)
