Rollin', rollin', rollin': New screens, movie and impressions!

Rolling is a title originally developed by the guys at Rage; when that developer-cum-publisher folded, SCi elected to pick the title up. The game itself is a rollerskating sim in the vein of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, except "in the vein of" probably doesn't drive the point home strongly enough. Rolling wants to be Tony Hawk Pro Skater so badly it hurts.

The career mode apes Tony unashamedly, providing a variety of wacky and not so wacky objectives; collect pieces of a logo for instance, or free a goat from its pen. There's also a practice mode in which to test out some of the more complicated moves, and you can enjoy some split-screen multiplayer thrills too if that's what rings your bell.

There are a bunch of different multiplayer modes; you can compete for the highest score, sparay your tag on more surfaces than your rival, or even attempt to put him out of commission with a time bomb - it's all good enough without really leaving us agog.

The presentation isn't lacking; there's some smart footage before the game of real-life skaters, seemingly attempting to top themselves in the most creative ways imaginable, while the game's visuals are solid if a little drab.

No complaints about the soundtrack; Chuck D makes an appearance, as do The Hives, while we thought we caught a blast of the extremely funky Cannibal Ox in the mix, too. There's also a skatepark editor, if you think you can do a better job than the game's designers. All very comprehensive and everyhting you'd expect from a game in this genre.

Fire up a game and there's a bunch of guys to choose from - the top inline skaters in the world, no less - each of whom has a different set of attributes and so handles slightly differently. You can also deck your skater out in an outfit of your choosing, making him look as goofy or as cutting edge as you prefer.

But once you make it onto the skatepark, it's not just the style of play, but the actual implementation that's derivative of Tony Hawk's. Furthermore, one of the dodgier elements that was finally abandoned in last year's Pro Skater 4 is still present here. In career mode, you're constantly up against a strict time limit, meaning there's never time to relax and explore a level at your own pace.

You can grind, jump, spin, pull tricks; maybe we're missing something, but there didn't seem to be much in the way of distinction between the inline skating here and the board-based action of Activision's title. Furthermore, the early courses really didn't capture our imagination in the same way as the competition.

By no means a bad game, we can only work up a lukewarm response to Rolling on this evidence - while technically it's solid enough, there's nothing here that we haven't seen elsewhere. Hopefully the finished game will offer an edgier experience. Rolling launches in Europe for PS2 and Xbox on October 24.

Rolling movie (Xbox, PS2)
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