Ubisoft and open worlds, this is a love story that has lasted for many years and is not ready to stop. Riders Republic's open world has the particularity of being only partially fictional, as it is inspired by real places. The map has the good idea of taking up the topology of different American national parks (Mammoth, Yosemite, Grand Teton, Zion, Sequoia, Bryce and Canyonlands) and assembling these different elements into a playground as vast as it is varied. This method makes it possible to offer very different biomes and therefore to move very quickly from a snow-capped mountain to a green plain traversed by flowing streams, or even from an arid desert canyon to a relatively dense forest. Suffice to say that walking around this megapark is rather pleasant. If the graphics engine does not offer anything exceptional, it still fulfills its function correctly, in particular thanks to pretty light effects, an optional subjective view which increases the speed effect tenfold, and nice and realistic traces left in the snow. . Far from having a purely aesthetic interest, the variety of landscapes is above all there to allow the different disciplines of the game to express themselves fully. Three main categories of sports, which can roughly be divided into six sub-categories, are thus available to the player: cycling (races and tricks), skis and snowboards (races and tricks), and aerial ( wingsuit and rocket wing). It is possible to switch from one piece of equipment to another at any time, and even to simplify your life when moving from event to event thanks to much faster additional means of transport (snowmobile, rocket bike, rocket skis, paramotor…).
STEEP BY STEEP
All the equipment, whether dedicated to competition or exploration, benefits from arcade-style gameplay, and therefore immediate handling. Some picky players and simulation enthusiasts may be upset, but it must be recognized that this accessibility enhances the initial game pleasure. And between the different levels of difficulty, the need to place tricks embellished with grabs to score as many points as possible, and the possibility of removing the automatic landing, there is still plenty to do for lovers of challenge and "skill". Achieving good scores also allows you to win more stars (one for each race completed and one for each optional challenge completed), and therefore to advance your avatar's career more quickly, which in particular allows you to unlock equipment. always better and additional events on the map. Knowing that the highest level of experience is reached at 7000 stars, a long life is guaranteed.
The multiple basic tests and special events are also playable in solo against the ghosts of other players, or directly in multiplayer. The most massive races bring together up to 64 players, which is always good to take even if the action on the starting line turns out to be quite chaotic and unreadable. Depending on the type of event, the game recommends activating the Pilot controller configuration (for the races therefore) or Trickster (for the stunts) instead. The first forces you to use the buttons to perform the tricks but gives control of the camera thanks to the sticks, while the second allows you to release the tricks in a more natural way thanks to the sticks but prohibits any control of the camera. These two proposals, together with the possibility of switching from one to the other as soon as desired, are clearly the result of a desire to do well and to adapt both to different events and to different tastes. players. But this duality also indicates that the developers failed to find a "magic" configuration that would instantly suit all situations.
LIVE THE REPUBLIC?
This small downside is unfortunately not the only one, the game failing to reach the perfection of a Forza Horizon (from which it is clearly inspired). Thus, if a rewind function is present, it does not apply to other virtual competitors in solo, and therefore ultimately wastes our time. The management of physics is quite confusing. Sometimes certain obstacles let us pass when we expected to eat them in the face, and other times a simple pebble stops us in full swing in a rather unexpected way. Moreover, the scripting of the career misses the mark as far as the atmosphere is concerned. The dialogues in particular exude clumsy youthism, and multiply the outings bordering on the ridiculous ("we surpass ourselves by keeping the class" and we unlock "cool stuff"). The overemphasis on fun and neon colors, along with wacky outfits and clownish dance emotes more often cause discomfort than entertainment. History to stay in youthism, let's say that it is quite often cringe and uncomfortable. The challenges of the Shackdaddy Bandits, tests a little more delirious than the others (race in black and white on wooden skis, delivery of pizzas…) still stand out positively from the lot. This is not the case with the store, some cosmetic items of which are only accessible by paying real money. The curse of micro-transactions has struck again. Let's end on a positive note: the different radio stations offer us more than 80 different songs, some of which are performed by big names (Aphex Twin, Awolnation, Ice-T, Green Day, Petit Biscuit, The Offspring, Vitalic, Wiz Khalifa…).
