''Road Redemption'' is a

vehicular combat Vehicular combat may refer to: * Armored warfare, the use of armored fighting vehicles in combat ** Combat vehicle, a military vehicle designed for such combat * Vehicular combat game, a game genre focused around fighting while driving ** List of v ...

racing video game Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic raci ...

developed by EQ-Games and Pixel Dash Studios. The game is a

spiritual successor A spiritual successor (sometimes called a spiritual sequel) is a product or fictional work that is similar to, or directly inspired by, another previous product or work, but (unlike a traditional prequel or sequel) does not explicitly continue th ...

to the ''

Road Rash Road rash is a colloquial term for skin injury caused by abrasion with road surfaces, often as a consequence of cycling and motorcycling accidents. It may also result from running, inline skating, roller skating, skateboarding, and longboardin ...

'' series and was released for

Windows PC Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

on October 4, 2017. Console versions of ''Road Redemption'' were released on November 6, 2018, for

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...

, and

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

Gameplay

The game is a

to the ''Road Rash'' series of

s. The game aims to replicate the

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...

-like simplicity and silliness of the ''Road Rash'' games, while introducing more modern graphics and gameplay mechanics. In addition to the melee weapons featured in ''Road Rash'', ''Road Redemption'' introduces

firearms A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originated ...

in the players options for weapons as well. The game will feature

split screen Split screen may refer to: * Split screen (computing), dividing graphics into adjacent parts * Split screen (video production), the visible division of the screen * ''Split Screen'' (TV series), 1997–2001 * Split screen, a focusing screen in a ...

multiplayer modes, including the computer-based ones, which is more of a rarity for the platform. The proposed

Wii U The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4. The W ...

version would have also featured the ability for multiplayer sessions to take place with one player on the television and the other using just the

Wii U GamePad The Wii U GamePad is the standard game controller for Nintendo's Wii U home video game console. Incorporating features from tablet computers, the GamePad has traditional input methods (such as buttons, dual analog sticks, and a D-pad), touchscre ...

screen.

Development

In 2009, Ian Fisch, a long time fan of the ''

'' series wrote a blog post on why the game needed a revival. He had intended for the blog post to be a call for developers

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...

to revisit the series, but following the commercial failures of racing/combat hybrids such as '' Split/Second'' and '' Blur'', he believed there would be no appetite for such game from an established publisher, so began working on his own take on the game. The game was first announced April 2013, alongside a

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

crowdfunding campaign. The campaign raised over $173,000, successfully exceeding its $160,000 goal. While the game was funded for development, it missed the 198,000 stretch goal for a

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...

Oculus Rift Oculus Rift is a discontinued line of virtual reality headsets, virtual reality headsets developed and manufactured by Oculus VR, a virtual reality company founded by Palmer Luckey that is widely credited with reviving the virtual reality indust ...

version. Paul Fisch, a developer on the game elaborated on reasons why their Kickstarter campaign did not "take off" in a piece for '' The Penny Arcade Report''. In it, he blamed the timing of the campaign launch and general crowdfunding fatigue. Developed

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

–based studios EQ-Games and Pixel Dash Studios, the game was initially intended for an August 2014 release, which was pushed back to November 2014 at the release of the

alpha version The software release life cycle is the process of developing, testing, and distributing a software product (e.g., an operating system). It typically consists of several stages, such as pre-alpha, alpha, beta, and release candidate, before the fi ...

in April 2014. While an early

beta version The software release life cycle is the process of developing, testing, and distributing a software product (e.g., an operating system). It typically consists of several stages, such as pre-alpha, alpha, beta, and release candidate, before the fi ...

was released through

Steam Early Access Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release development cycles, such as pre-alph ...

in September 2014, the game missed its 2014 release date, and a lack of further updates in 2015 lead to fears of the game being cancelled. An update in April 2016 clarified that development was still proceeding, with a Q3 2016 release date planned for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

macOS macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

and

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

, and

versions are planned for sometime afterwards. Initial 2016 updates did not mention the Wii U as a platform, again causing speculation towards cancellation of that particular version, but DarkSeas Games clarified that the Wii U version was still planned, but was relegated to a release window after the PS4 and Xbox One versions, citing extra work that would have to be done to get the game running on the less-powerful Wii U. In May 2018, DarkSeas Game announced they had shifted development to a

release. After the game's release, DarkSeas Game's also intends on making the game

open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...

, allowing for people to create

mod Mod, MOD or mods may refer to: Places * Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band * M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US * ...

s for the game. DarkSeas Game's also teamed up with

Yacht Club Games Yacht Club Games, LLC is an American independent video game development studio and publisher based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 2011 by former WayForward Technologies director Sean Velasco. The company announced its first title, ...

to bring their ''

Shovel Knight ''Shovel Knight'' is a platform video game developed and published by Yacht Club Games. Development was crowdfunded and the game was released for Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, and Windows in June 2014. It was ported to OS X and Linux in September 2014, ...

'' character to the game as a

playable character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...

Reception

Pre-release

Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 alongside parent company Gamer Network. In 2008, it started in the formerly eponymous trade fair EGX (Eurogamer Expo until 2013) organised by its parent company. Fr ...

's Steam Early Access review of the game, Dan Whitehead praised the game despite its quirks and glitches, stating "There are a lot of problems, in other words, and the development team has a lot of balancing and polishing to do if Road Redemption is to become a genuinely satisfying and well-rounded successor to its inspiration. Yet for all of the scruffiness, rough edges and half-baked ideas, the game works brilliantly where it matters."

Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure made up of line segments connected to form a closed polygonal chain. The segments of a closed polygonal chain are called its '' edges'' or ''sides''. The points where two edges meet are the polygon ...

referred to the same early build as "a crazier, deeper ''Road Rash''" that was "as fast, crazed and violent as its obvious inspiration." The game's $40 price point for an

alpha release The software release life cycle is the process of developing, testing, and distributing a software product (e.g., an operating system). It typically consists of several stages, such as pre-alpha, alpha, beta, and release candidate, before the fi ...

caught criticism from some websites.

Post-release

According to the

review aggregate A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, ''Road Redemption'' received "mixed or average reviews".

References

External links

* {{Tripwire Interactive 2017 video games Cancelled Wii U games Crowdfunded video games Kickstarter-funded video games Linux games MacOS games Multiplayer and single-player video games Indie games Nintendo Switch games PlayStation 4 games Post-apocalyptic video games Racing video games Road Rash Vehicular combat games Video games developed in the United States Windows games Xbox One games