Riders Republic

Riders Republic is a fantastic open world sports game that delivers big on massively multiplayer arcade mayhem whilst also giving solo players a ton of content to dig into. There's an enormous, breathtakingly beautiful world to explore here that delivers carefully curated tracks and events for each every one of its sports disciplines, whilst also giving you free reign to head on out and cut your own path through its seven national parks' worth of wonderful wilderness. Yes there's some painful dialogue here and there, as well some issues with bugs and crashes during this launch period, but none of that is enough to put us off getting stuck in and just enjoying the smorgasbord of arcade sports action that Ubisoft Annecy has served up.

Extreme sports, massive multiplayer tests and a huge open world, full of adrenaline-pumping and exciting activities, you will find in a game that explores fresh and fun ideas, without more.

Then there’s just simply the atmosphere. This game is absolutely gorgeous. The levels are based on seven real locations in the Southwestern United States, each with faithfully recreated topography and landmarks. The game is filled with landmarks to find and read flavor text about. It has totally inspired me to visit some of these locations someday, hopefully before they’re gone, whether due to climate change or just the course of nature, as the game heeds on several occasions. You can play the game in Zen mode to explore unperturbed or really get lost traveling slowly from location to location between events and just enjoy the environment ad nauseam. I highly recommend it.

Riders Republic is the dream come true for the extreme sports fans and a delightful experience for those who are looking for a fast paced sports game with tons of things to do.

With small technical problems, Riders Republic has a story that shouldn't exist. If you ignore the ''overbloating'' of some of its elements as it happens in every Ubisoft title, it is still a great game.

Riders Republic has managed to tweak the majority of small gripes that were in place in an already fun beta release and in its final version, given gamers easily the best extreme sports simulator on the market - ironically done by embracing the craziness of the sports themselves and making events increasingly zanier as progression is made. For purists, they will find the type of experience that will link them in memory, back to the seasons of being out there on the trails and slopes (or in the air if anyone has actually tried that mental gliding thing). For the stay-at-home gamer, this really is as close as it feels to being out there with the added enjoyment of the extreme element pushed to its… well, extreme, all without a scraped knee or full reconstructive surgery in sight.

The game crashed on the Xbox Series X semi-frequently, but I pressed on, knowing that right around the corner I was likely to find some new thing that would surprise and delight me.

Riders Republic is a game with an annoying attitude, an alarming number of different sports and an overwhelming world map. Despite that, the game impress with great controls, varied challenges and a world filled with fun activities. In addition, the fact that we are not spoiled with well-made ski, snowboard and bike games, makes Riders Republic a more than welcome addition to the genre.

Riders Republic has all the annoying elements of a modern game that wants to keep the player constantly in their game, so they can spend more money. At least, it’s doing it with a very good gameplay, improved in all the aspects that went wrong with Steep.

Riders Republic offers a cornucopia of extreme sporting choices for players to choose from. By giving enough attention and fine-tuning to each individual sport, it has created an evergreen title to receive future updates or expansions to build upon well into the future. With a solid foundation offering solo and group players fun and exciting experiences, Riders Republic has set the stage incredibly well. While its predecessor Steep failed to capture a lasting audience, I feel strongly that Riders stands a much greater chance at retaining players’ interest due in part to its tongue-in-cheek tone combined with the game’s sheer variety of extreme sports adventures and energetic open world. I look forward to returning to Riders Republic to bike down mountain paths or fly through narrow canyon gaps while listening to alt-rock radio sometime soon.

Riders Republic on Xbox takes the basic framework of Steep and adds a whole load more to it to create a very fun arcade sports title. The skiing and snowboarding events feel like the SSX games in their heyday, the rocketsuit and wingsuit events are exhilarating, and the bike events ensure you are constantly one wrong move from total disaster.

Riders Republic is a solid sports game, graphically satisfying and with all the right cards to give you many hours of fun thanks to an accessible control system, many customization options and a wide variety of events. It's not perfect and it will need some updates, but it's undoubtedly the best extreme sports game available today.

Riders Republic is a hell of a good time, a freeform open-world sports game that encourages you to follow your passion and find your own fun.

Riders Republic is an excellent, arcadey extreme sports sandbox with bonkers multiplayer events, an impressive open world, and unfortunate server issues.

A definite improvement over Steep, thanks to the Mass Races and the new bike discipline, but Ubisoft Annecy has still got a lot of work to do if it wants to break into upper echelons of gaming. It should look to Playground Games and how they craft an elite open-world sports game if they want to reach that next-level, then maybe they too could be mentioned in the same breath as SSX Tricky. Fingers crossed, the potential is definitely there!

Ubisoft's second effort into mountain and extreme sports is an obvious hit. Leveraging the tech of modern platforms makes Riders Republic a fast-moving, always exciting open world, but it also makes room for those who just want to soak up the scenes of life from the mountaintop. While the audio tracks may have you reaching for the mute button, it's maybe a better experience with your own custom soundtrack free of the super-dorks roaming the cutscenes anyway. In a year where Ubisoft's sandboxes were seeming stale, Riders Republic manages to keep me chasing down every icon like I rarely do anymore.

I suspect Riders Republic might be something very special indeed. We’ll have to wait and see what the community does with it, but early signs look promising. There’s a rock-solid foundation to build upon, and such a wide range of events to take on that each set a high bar in terms of what could come next. It does feel a little directionless at present. There's simply so much on offer that it's difficult to find focus within the noise. This direction and focus will likely be shaped by the community in the coming months, as user-created content takes over from the events on show at launch...Whether you want to race on a bike, fly through rings with a rocket strapped to your back, or simply explore the gorgeous natural views, Riders Republic has you covered. If you can handle the incessant hipster speak, that is.

Owing to its precise gameplay and satisfying open-world, Riders Republic has the makings of an extreme sport fan's dream. It just would have been nice if the title's exhausting and obnoxious attitude had been checked at the door.

To conclude, Riders Republic is clearly a good game that will certainly delight gamers who love thrills and extreme sports. We'll put aside the aspect of microtransactions in a game sold at a high price which darkens the picture a bit, because it remains a very good game experience. Technically, the game is not as good as Forza Horizon, even if it is strongly inspired by it in its gameplay structure, but the map is simply brilliant, large and full of surprises for the ingenious players who like exploration. A very good end of year surprise to be consumed without moderation, but while wearing a helmet.

If Riders Republic may disappoint Steep fans (the title goes against the spirit of the game of 2016), this new production remains a must for all thrill seekers. With its many playable sports disciplines, starting with the bike which offers exhilarating sensations, its exotic world and its many modes available both solo and online, the latest production from Ubisoft Annecy will undoubtedly keep you busy for the long haul.

Riders Republic is the game designed for all lovers of extreme sports, orphans of a product capable of satisfying their desire for adrenaline. The new Ubisoft title, net of some technical problems, is the new meeting place for fans of tricks and thrilling races.

Riders Republic isn't called Steep 2 because of new gameplay functionnalities and its added little bit of craziness, but at its core it really is just a sequel, without much innovation. Still fun to play though, if you find your own pace through the repetitiveness.

Riders Republic is a fun game that offers a wide range of exhilarating and unique activities that mostly benefit from its 'always online' gameplay model, but also suffers from a few shortcomings. The world feels alive, the Events are a blast and the game looks gorgeous. However, some aspects of the game are a little lacking at launch, namely the multiplayer modes, customisation and air sports.