A recent article on Eurogamer featured a piece with Dan Geisler, creator of the Road Rash series all those years ago. In it he talks about utilising Kickstarter to fund another Road Rash game, or at least, a spiritual successor. That’s because the Road Rash IP is stuck in the hand of EA without much of a future in sight. I fondly remember the Road Rash games, especially all the mayhem you could get up to. It wasn’t just about racing. Here’s a list of reasons why Road Rash should return to thrill gamers again.
5) Nostalgia
This may be a straight-forward reason, but nostalgia alone will ensure that many gamers will want to buy this game. Many want to return to this game not only because it reminds us of years gone past, but also because it is still a rather unique game without many to compare to. We had a lot of variety in the earlier days of gaming whereas now every successful game will spawn numerous clones. Road Rash is still one of a kind and rekindling that nostalgia factor would be good for any publisher.
4) Multiplayer Potential
With better internet infrastructure, and with the next-generation of consoles upon us, Road Rash would be a great game to play in multiplayer mode. You’ve got the standard method of racing and whacking anything in sight. Developers should be able to expand that, with perhaps team modes where select team members can focus on racing whilst others focus on taking out the competition. Or something else. Surely there’s more creativity out there. So long as the netcode is good, a game like Road Rash should be jolly fun.
3) More Potential Obstacles
The old Road Rash games had a lot of weapons and hazards during its time. A newer game will of course take advantage of newer hardware, allowing for even more variety of weapons and hazards to put in the way of gamers. I’m reminded of Split Second, a racing game with environmental hazards strewn about, triggered by players. I’m not asking for something similar, but I feel that there is still room for innovation within the genre.
2) Vehicle Combat Games Are Fun
Just in general, vehicular combat games are fun. From Twisted Metal to Destruction Derby and even harking back to, of course, Road Rash. Road Rash has the added bonus of being on motorbikes, meaning all brutality will see humans flying around like rag-dolls. Very fun. I still fondly remember using a cattle prod, chains and just your bare fist to knock riders off. You could also just knock you opponents down by ramming them into oncoming traffic.
1) Not Many Motorbike Games
There just aren’t many motorbike games out there. Trials Evolution is probably one of the few in recent times. That game has a gained a lot of praise too. Compared to racers involving cars, the variety pales in comparison. As such there isn’t really much in way of competition for a motorbike centric game. This would allow Road Rash to gain a lot of momentum without a similar title in its way. Gaining the license to use real world motorbikes would just add even more potential to the game.
0 Comments