Official Score
Overall - 20%
20%
Bikerz manages to do the unthinkable by turning a seemingly exciting concept into something that is an absolute slog. This title suffers greatly from repetition, and players will be bored of its antics well before all is said and done.
The tantalizing combo of road combat and motorcycles is the stuff video games are made of, and Forever Young Games looks to tap into this vein with their new title Bikerz. However, though this title may offer a number of bikes and weapons to choose from, the development team has managed to make this seemingly interesting concept dreadfully dull.
Bikerz Review
After choosing their bike, rider, and weapon, players will get on their bikes and ride through a number of long stretches of road. This is far from a Sunday drive, however – a number of ne’er-do-wells are also hitting the streets and are looking to take you down. In what is a battle of wits and weaponry, it’s up to players to take down these rivals while making it to the end of each stage.
Sounds like an interesting concept, right? However, what is here is broken beyond repair. For one, the gunplay is duller than dishwater – players will be endlessly firing their weapon while slowly moving away from the fire of their foes. This leads to a lame game of chicken where players slowly move up and down until the enemy is vanquished. The powerful weapons and weak enemies make this seem far too easy, and weapon, shield, and health power-ups make it next to impossible to lose. If anything, the greatest amount of variety we saw each playthrough was changing up the radio station, which is about as exciting as it sounds.
Bikerz also has a serious problem with repetition. Players will be doing the same thing in each stage, with the ultimate goal being to get to the end of each area. It often feels like a waiting game as repetition sets in sooner rather than later. Some sort of variety to each stage, or just anything really would have made this one stand out. It just feels woefully generic, like one is playing with clip art that has almost no variety from stage to stage.
Unfortunately, the slapdash presentation does not help this title’s case. Scenery repeats itself ad infinitum like something out of The Flintstones, and there’s no sort of animation to the characters. It can be almost comical to see a single sprite stay in place with random bullets firing out of its general vicinity. The end result are flat sprites that just glide along, which looks absolutely sloppy. Some of the vehicle choices are questionable as well – we can safely say we’ve never seen anybody do a drive-by in a Volkswagen Beetle.
To keep players going, money can be collected along the way that can unlock additional characters, bikes, and weapons. Though the weapons pack more power, there’s not enough variety to really make these unlockables worth pursuing.
Bikerz manages to do the unthinkable by turning a seemingly exciting concept into something that is an absolute slog. This title suffers greatly from repetition, and players will be bored of its antics well before all is said and done.
