I have played over 200 hours of the latest Assassin’s Creed games. Almost 80 per cent of the game involved travelling. I have travelled by boats, horses, camels, and frustratingly so, by foot. Rider’s Republic is Ubisoft’s way of saying: “Thanks for persevering through the open-world grind in an adventure game. Now here’s more of that stuff, but this time it’s enjoyable”.
Rider’s Republic is also like Forza, in a sense. That is, if Forza has no motor-powered vehicles, and contains all terrains except a well-laid road. Rider’s Republic describes itself as a “massive multiplayer outdoor sports playground”. The bottom line of the game is plain ol’ racing. But only, the activities involved in racing are variations of these three: skiing, mountain biking, and wingsuit flying. I’m playing Rider’s Republic to vicariously high-skill and stamina adventure sports by merely lifting a finger.
The game’s map appears virtually limitless. It contains different scenes and terrains of the different US national parks. As much as I have explored so far, with the exception of snowy hillsides, there was no level-ground in the map. It is like a Forza racer’s ultimate off-roading nightmare. But in Rider’s Republic, even cycling seems stable—be it the gnarliest of turns, or a 20 metre jump. Considering that the game’s default mode is online, it allows for dozens of players to be concurrently present in the same server. In fact, to make the game feel a little less lonely, the map is populated with ghost bots—recordings of other players. There was hardly a track without traffic.
To progress, we have the option to compete versus other players. As we win more events, the game moves forward, throwing us some breadcrumbs along the way. These breadcrumbs are new races and events, in-game currency, and fresh gear. Quantitatively, progress is measured through stars earnt. The progress tracker and seasonal events provide a direction for an otherwise free-for-all game.
Like mountain-biking itself, Rider’s Republic’s performance is a sometimes-uphill climb. As an online game that was released late October, the game is determined to constantly provide fresh experiences for its players, to incentivise us to explore the game.
The game is available on the Xboxes, PSes, and the PC. Beginner-friendly games that allow for both cross-platform play, and cross-progression in gameplay are hard to find, and this is one of those rare few games. A 4/5 for Rider’s Republic, only because there are no water sports. Yet.
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