Roller Champions might seem like a thrilling free-to-play sports-adjacent title, however, it leaves a lot to be desired.

Roller Champions is unfortunately not quite the free-to-play juggernaut that Ubisoft might have been hoping for, at least in its current barebones and lackluster form. However, like many free-to-play titles, updates and major changes can completely fix a game, bulk it up, or turn it around completely, As it stands, Roller Champions pits two teams against each other in an oval-shaped course with the ultimate goal of gaining laps and scoring points with the game's one ball.

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While the actual premise here is fun and there is a somewhat solid foundation, the game as a whole is incredibly mundane and worse yet, often boring. It's hard not to compare this game to some extent to EA's Knockout City, a dodgeball game that shines far and above Roller Champions, even when it was initially released. The following changes and fixes to Roller Champions could potentially help keep the game moving forward month after month, in hopes of growing a solid player base.

Easily one of the most egregious and uninspired parts of Roller Champions is that the game still uses randomized loot boxes in the form of Lootballs. At the current moment, these only look to be rewards for certain parts of the game, however, it wouldn't be a surprise to see the free-to-play title monetize them down the line. However, in 2022, having loot boxes in a game feels completely disconnected from what players want in these types of games.

While Roller Champions does have a battle pass and a traditional in-game shop to purchase superfluous cosmetic goodies, the fact that Lootballs are front and present from the main menu really leaves a sour taste in players' mouths. Please Ubisoft, ditch all forms of loot boxes. They are out of touch with what fans want and they make an already lackluster game feel more polarizing right from the get-go.

Something many Roller Champions players are immediately noticing about the game is that there is a serious lack of content, especially for a game that has been delayed multiple times. Roller Champions, as it currently stands, only has one main game mode, one main stage (apart from the training stadium), and a lack of gameplay tweaks or options in the main menu.

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It's very surprising to see a highly publicized free-to-play title be so bold as to release in a lacking state. While games like this will likely bulk up content, it's very clear that Ubisoft didn't put in the time or resources to make this a fully-fledged online multiplayer experience. The overreliance on in-game purchases instead of offering players a fun game first and foremost feels really uninspired and irritating.

Roller Champions feels like a game that is completely all over the place in terms of style and presentation. The opens with a surprisingly robust cutscene with plenty of top-notch animations but also features some out-of-place pop-style music and that feels at odds with the game's cartoony tones. The main menu features a similar style of music but doesn't at all feel like it fits the extreme sports theme the game is going for.

Once in a match, there is an annoying announcer who is trying to talk like some radical and awesome dude that wants to psyche players up. Again, this style feels vastly different from the game's opening. The gameplay isn't much better since there is a lack of music or fanfare during an actual match, making the game feel lifeless and barren. These various disparate elements make Roller Champions feel like a board meeting game that lacks charm or flourish. On the opposite end of the spectrum is a game like Knockout City; a game that sticks to its cartoony and jazzy themes through and through, and with great success.

As it currently stands, Roller Champions only has one core game mode. This core game mode is at least somewhat fun, but after a dozen or so matches online, it quickly grows stale. This game mode tasks two teams to score as many points as possible, all while tackling each other to steal the ball and maintain momentum around the oval-shaped stage (of which there is only one).

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This core game mode has a lot of nuance and depth, especially for those looking to actually play as a team. Teamwork is critical to this mode since multiple laps of the circuit need to be completed prior to the game allowing players to score points for their team. Passing to each other, leaping into the air to avoid tackles, and gaining speed are all essential aspects of this mode, however, it could be built upon by adding more strategies or even something like powerups. Powerups could help this game to lean into its cartoony and over-the-top nature.

While this isn't an issue inherent to just Roller Champions, it's something that deserves to be mentioned. That issue is when players quit a match early when losing. A big problem the game currently has is that matches can last anywhere from a few minutes up to around eight minutes. While that may not seem like long, once another team plows ahead, it can be easy to lose hope in a turnaround. When this happens, many players simply quit the match, leaving the somewhat competent AI to pick up the pieces.

On top of that, many players start a match and just go AFK (away from keyboard/controller) which immediately puts that team at a disadvantage. Finding better and more intuitive ways to penalize these players while still helping the affected team could really help the longevity of this teamwork-centric free-to-play extreme sports game.

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Geoffrey is a gaming list writer for Game Rant and TheGamer where he writes about all aspects of the games industry with a specialty in indie games, platformers, and lesser-known gaming experiences. Geoffrey brings a fun, positive, and lighthearted writing style! Geoffrey is also the creator of The Indie Gaming Guild, a console indie gaming channel on YouTube that you can check out right here: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheIndieGamingGuild