Parents' Guide to

Road Redemption

By Paul Semel, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Violent motorcycle racer with frustrating, flawed controls.

Road Redemption Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

Community Reviews

age 14+

Based on 1 parent review

age 14+

Fun arcade game for teens and up

It's an arcade style game. Very little story. The goal varies between winning a race, getting to an objective in time, and taking out opponents. Between each "level" you can purchase upgrades and refills. While I haven't seen any drug or alcohol use or heard any dialog about it yet, some of the upgrades are drugs that give you boosts. Between that, the violence, and the frequent swearing, it's not a great game for the little ones, but could definitely be ok for older kids who can handle that sort of thing. The 4 player split screen even on PC makes it something you can play with your older kids that you'll probably all get into.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1 ):
Kids say (1 ):

While some parts of this racer are fun, the portions that are flawed seriously undermine this violent, arcade-style motorcycle street racing game. While the objective of every race in Road Redemption is to finish first, doing so doesn't just mean having the fastest bike and best steering skills. It also means taking out the competition by any means necessary. Which is why, when not taking a tight turn or avoiding an oncoming car, you spend your time on the track shooting, smacking, and literally kicking the competition with bats, machetes, guns, and other weapons.

Now, as a racing game, it's okay; it needs lots of visual polish, but it has some good ideas. For instance, secret pathways aren't just shortcuts. They require you to navigate far more hazardous roads to cut past the competition. But the combat and the controls are a massive problem. Not only are the controls a bit touchy, they also don't make sense. While the buttons on the left side of the controller pad are used to attack to the left, attacking to the right requires you to use the top buttons instead of the right ones. Using the right buttons prompts your rider to try to kick at the nearest competitor, which can sometimes leave you open to a counterattack from an opponent. Coupled with uninspired visuals, terrible music, and not a lot of variety to the gameplay, you'll quickly understand why playing Road Redemption will probably cause road rage.

Game Details

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