Choose your payload
There are four types of weapons in the Rollerdrome, which you will unlock throughout the game:
- Pistol: Classic dual pistols. They provide quick firepower, so they are ideal for taking down incoming missiles or mines. You can also use them to lock down stun enemies. However, pistols don’t deal as much damage as other weapons, and they’re not always effective against heavily armored enemies.
- Pistol: Slower than pistols, handguns are still a force to be reckoned with. Waiting for the crosses to line up during Reflex Time can knock you down with a Slug Shot – a powerful blow that can knock down weaker enemies with a single shot.
- Grenade launcher: One, it looks cool. Second, the grenade deals AOE damage and can be used to take out multiple enemies at once – just make sure you line up your shots.
- Z-11: This long range energy laser is great for sustaining your combo when you find yourself far from enemies.
Combinations are achieved by eliminating enemies in quick succession. Swapping weapons allows you to take advantage of multiple weapons while maintaining a combo. Try blowing up Mecha Brut’s door with a properly positioned grenade before closing it and finishing it off with a shotgun. You can also fire your own grenade with the pistol, making sure it explodes near a specific enemy. You can even use the detonator to change direction mid-air, though you’ll also take damage – so use this technique sparingly! Use Slug Shots to lock down stun enemies, and then finish them off with a quick smack from the pistol before they have time to teleport away or take cover.
And remember: it’s not just your own weapon at your disposal. A savvy player should be able to force enemies to use their attacks against each other (or even themselves).
Reaction time
One of the main mechanics that you will need to use in Rollerdrome is Reflex Time. You can access Reflex Time by pressing L2 – but use this carefully, as Reflex Time only lasts a moment before it needs to be recharged. In Reflex Time, you’ll experience a brief moment of slo-mo gameplay, which is a great opportunity to use a quick-fire pistol and lock down your enemies.
During Super Reflex Time (which you can access by perfectly dodging just before entering Reflex Time) you’ll get a noticeable power boost – it’s a great time to Use pistols at short range or Z-11 to hit enemies far away. Most of the time you will access Super Reflex Time by dodging enemy attacks, you can also activate it by dodging the explosions of your own grenade launcher – allows you to activate it your way without waiting for the enemy to attack.
Bullet
No more bullet? Time to do some tricks. In Rollerdrome, ammo is obtained by performing skating tricks, so you will need to focus on that as well as kill your enemies. The best success for your money comes from combining and stringing tricks together – you can do this by stringing tricks together with wallrides, sharpeners and grips. Try using the Time Reflex Trick while in mid-air to get good sights on enemies and take them down effectively. Using a variety of tricks, rather than just repeating the same tricks over and over, is key to getting the most out of your ammo, so create a variety of different styles and utilize them wherever you are. when you can. If the balance between keeping your combos and killing enemies at the same time is difficult, you can also get a floating yellow Combo Token to keep your combo going while you do a few tricks. Quick spell to get a little more ammo. Then it’s time to eliminate your enemies and win.
Rollerdrome is available August 16 on PS4 and PS5.
Many thanks to our amazing developers Bartosz Rakowski (consultant), Dan Gronner (lead QA tester), David Jenkins (lead QA) and Jacob Mills (high level 3D designer) level), who provided their advice and insight for this article.