Rollerdrome takes the fast-paced gameplay of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and deftly merges it with frantic gunslinging. You’ll be zipping around stylized maps wielding pistols, shotguns, grenade launchers, and more as you tackle a variety of challenges and eliminate every target in front of you. Flying around an arena at a breakneck pace is difficult on its own, but throw in increasingly powerful waves of enemies and it becomes downright chaotic.
If you need some help navigating the hectic gameplay of Rollerdrome, here are 10 tips to get you started.
Further reading
Never stop performing tricks
Performing tricks is how you refill your weapon ammo in Rollerdrome. And since all your weapons share the same ammo, you’ll need to constantly perform sick tricks to refill your clip. That means whenever you’re in the air, you should be spinning, flipping, and performing some sort of grab. This will ensure you land on the ground with enough ammo to take out your next enemy.
Grinding is an easy source of ammo
While airborne tricks are the most common way to get more ammo, don’t forget about those shiny rails scattered about every stage. Grinding on rails might not be as eye-catching as backflips, but it helps refill your ammo and lets you continue your combo as you move across the map.
Master your momentum
Rollerdrome is all about speed. Your first few matches will help you to learn the controls and quirks of each weapon and enemy, but eventually you’ll need to master your momentum. If you want a chance at pulling in high scores, you’ll need to barrel through each level as fast as possible. That means grinding on rails, jumping at the top of each ramp, and not making any sharp turns that’ll curb your speed. But once the movement system clicks, Rollerdrome feels like a whole new game.
You can get more ammo without ramps
No rails or ramps in sight? Fear not — Rollerdrome lets you perform some basic stunts after a basic jump. By simply jumping in the air and performing a grab, you can replenish a single bullet for your gun. It’s not much, but it helps in a pinch.
Change up your weapons
With so many moving pieces, it’s easy to forget you have multiple weapons at your disposal. And unlike some other games, each new weapon doesn’t make your old ones obsolete. Your beginner pistols are great for hitting targets at range, the shotgun is an absolute beast at close range, the grenade launcher is excellent for special enemies, and so on. Remember to switch these up frequently to help eliminate your targets and conserve ammo.
Use Reflex Time liberally
Reflex Time lets you slow down the action to aim at targets, perform tricks, or just get a breather from the chaos as you plan your next move. Feel free to trigger this skill frequently. The cooldown timer for Reflex Time is practically nonexistent, and you’re missing out on half the fun if you go through the game without using it.
Super Reflex Time is overpowered
Reflex Time is great — but Super Reflex Time is even better. This is triggered by using Reflex Time immediately following a Perfect Dodge. While in Super Reflex Time, your attacks will become much more powerful. There’s no limit to how often you can perform the move, so keep your eyes peeled for incoming attacks and use them to your advantage.
Grunts are free health
Grunts in Rollerdrome are more useless than the Grunts in Halo. They don’t do much besides stand around and occasionally attack you, but (like all enemies in Rollerdrome) they drop health when defeated. That means it might be worth your while to hold off on killing them until your HP is starting to dwindle, effectively turning them into a Health Pack.
Focus on challenges
Progression in Rollerdrome is largely tied to how many Challenges you’ve completed. Each level has a laundry list of Challenges to tackle — and you’ll probably need to dive into each map multiple times to complete them all. It’s best to only focus on a few at a time so you don’t feel overwhelmed during each run. Some Challenges are so difficult that it’s best to dedicate an entire run to just one. Whatever the case, make sure you’re checking out the Challenge board before starting each level so you can quickly move through the ranks.
Don’t worry about your aim
Thankfully, most of your attacks in Rollerdrome don’t need to be very precise. The game makes use of a lock-on mechanic that targets the object (or enemy) closest to your reticule. This frees you up to focus on your speed, pulling off tricks, and avoiding incoming attacks. You’ll still need to pull the trigger — and not all weapons auto-lock — but you should never be afraid of moving so fast that your aim begins to suffer.
