If you can’t be at E3, getting to enjoy a demo from your home is the next best thing.
Ubisoft- Roller Champions
Roller Champions is Ubisoft’s latest title and right now, it is free to play through Ubisoft’s Uplay service. There were rumor running around about some kind of “Roller Derby” like game and I admit that I wasn’t really feeling it at first. But after a few games, I can see an appeal that could match games like Rocket League.
Roller Derby Plus Basketball Equals…
The name of the game is simple: it is 3v3 with the focus being on possession of the ball. As you make laps around the course, you light up the rings on the walls which enable you to score points. Each game is seven minutes long with a three minute overtime with a race to score five points. When you perform one lap, you can earn one point, two laps is three points and doing three laps is five points and essentially, the game.
Ubisoft- Roller Champions
Controls in Roller Champions is fairly straightforward. Using the xbox one controller plugged into the computer, you can hold the right trigger to skate forward. From there, moving is pretty simple as you can jump and bend your knees on slopes with the left trigger to build up speed when going down the side. When you have the ball, you can use the Left Bumper to shoot and X to evade attackers. You can also use X to violently tackle opponents and take the ball away from them if your team doesn’t have possession.
The main goal is to go around the course with the ball and the game does not count your progress if you’re going the wrong way. It would have been nice if you got an indicator to tell you which way to go, but really, it made sense to go wherever since you can sometimes go the other direction to cut off the person with the ball and take them down.
As much fun as it would be to go solo, this game does play so well when you have a team that knows what to do. While your team has the ball, you can press Y to initiate a pass. The good thing here is that the game itself will not toss the ball out randomly since both the person with the ball and the reciever have to both agree on the toss before it is done. It can also help the opponent since you can tackle the opponent so when the ball is tossed, it will be dropped and you can intercept.
*Insert Rolling Champion‘s Slam Dunk here*
No matter what, the ball will always follow the path of the team who has it and even if the ball is untouched, it can still make progress if left unchecked. It is a good idea to get hold of the ball and be extra careful with how you carry it along since you will lose all progress if the other team touches it. If you take a big gamble, you could end a match in three laps, or you can score one point early to put pressure on the opponent and then use that extra time to build up your lead from there.
Ubisoft- Roller Champions
Overall, Rolling Champions looks to be a rather solid game that could have the potential for something even greater. Time will tell how well the game will develop, but at least for the time being, it was an entertaining game where you could probably play a few rounds a day and enjoy the feeling of completely destroying opponents on roller skates. As of right now, there’s no word on when it will be out, but you can play it right now on Uplay on PC from now to the 14th. Be sure to check it out.
So what do you think?
Are you excited for Roller Champions? Do you think it will have a future as a possible competitive game? And what other Ubisoft titles are you excited to see this year? Leave your thoughts down below and be sure to follow us here at Culture of Gaming for more articles on upcoming games and more titles coming out of E3 2019.
