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Riders Republic: Tips and tricks to get started

Jesse Lennox
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Are you ready to ride? Ubisoft’s massive extreme sports game Riders Republic has launched onto the scene with more options on how you want to bomb your way down the mountain than any other game. No longer do you have to choose between a skiing and snowboarding game and a mountain bike or, heck, even wingsuit game. This open-world experience lets you do them all, and sometimes even all at once! With so many different methods to jack up your heart rate, it might feel a little overwhelming to learn how to properly race with each of the options available.

Unlike in real life, there are a few universal mechanics worth learning that can apply to all, or at least most, of your extreme sport of choice in Riders Republic. The game itself wants you to experiment and explore, which you will spend plenty of time doing, but at the same time may gloss over some of the essentials you will want to keep in mind. Whether you’re trying to reach the top of the podium, or just hit a satisfying line from the peak of the mountain all the way to the base, here’s some tips and tricks to get started in Riders Republic.

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Learn to brake

Drifting on a bike down the snow.

Just like learning any real sport, the first thing you should master in Riders Republic is how to brake. Now, we’re not saying you’ll want to actually stop during a race, but braking is essential to make it around tons of tight corners and turns in all categories of races. Even wingsuit and jetpack races will have moments where just trying to hold top speed will end up with you falling behind as you skid off-course.

Anticipate what’s coming ahead in a race. If you know a sharp turn is coming up, it can be wise to cut back on your speed early, brake around the turn, and cut it as close as possible. Winning a race isn’t about hitting top speed, but rather having the most consistent run. It can feel counterintuitive, but trust us, the brake is your most powerful tool.

Start out using Racer style

When you first load up into Riders Republic, one of the first options you will be presented with is what style you want your character to use. Your choices are Racer or Trickster, but don’t sweat this decision too much. Racer style essentially makes your character, and the camera, easier to control, but sacrifices your ability to directly choose what tricks you can do. You can still pull tricks off, but this style is clearly intended for making downhill and race events easier.

Trickster is, well, the opposite. Instead of face buttons relating to tricks, you can use the analog sticks to pull off more intricate and creative tricks for way higher scores in trick events. But, with the stick now used for tricking, you won’t have that camera control.

Racer is a good choice when first learning the game since not having that camera control can feel quite awkward. However, once you get to grips with the game, you might want to experiment with Trickster more. Aside from some of the higher-level trick events, Trickster isn’t necessarily required for any events. Thankfully you can swap back and forth between styles easily via the menu.

Master the manual landing

By default, Riders Republic will have an auto-landing system turned on. What this system does, when left on, is correct your rider after a trick to make sure they will land safely. Sounds good, right? Early on, maybe, but you will quickly want to ditch it and learn to land yourself to be able to pull off way more dangerous and extreme stunts. The more you can risk in a trick, the higher your score, after all.

This will take some adjustment, but if you switch it off right away you will quickly feel out and learn how to land after hitting a trick or spinning. Failing your landing will lead to some wipeouts, but that’s all part of the experience. Playing it safe with auto-landing will only end up handicapping you as your skills grow.

Avoid the pack

Riders Republic players riding bikes.

A cluster of racers is one bad, or intentionally bad, move away from becoming a massive pileup of bikes, skis, or what have you. Through no fault of your own, you could end up eating a face full of snow or dirt because you couldn’t avoid the domino effect of all the racers around you losing control. Falling not only slows you down in the moment, but forces you to start from scratch again to build up all that speed you had, which can feel agonizing. This is most important in Mass Races, where the number of competitors is highest.

If you have to choose, hang back a little from the pack. Keep your eye on those ahead and wait for the inevitable crashes to thin out the pack, or moments where you’re safe to squeeze ahead. Those ahead are also more likely to drain their sprint meters faster, letting you swoop in at the tail end of the race for an upset. Don’t sweat being behind for a while in a race. The ones who start out in first almost never remain in first all the way to the end.

Experiment in the practice area

This is mainly for people who want to get into the trick events and online trick battles. There are a lot of tricks in Riders Republic, and pulling them off isn’t easy. Once you’ve turned off auto-landing, you will want to master the execution and timing for as many tricks as you can before heading into these events. The practice area is perfect for learning all the aspects of how tricking works for all the different sports you can hit. Try diving in and mastering one sport at a time rather than switching too much early on. You’ll find a lot of the skill will carry over from one sport to the next, but the differences can make it hard to get the basics down if you swap too frequently while trying to learn.

Don’t mess with first person

Riding a mountain bike in first person.

One really cool aspect of Riders Republic is the ability to go into first person at any time. You should by all means play around and feel the vertigo of racing down the mountain from this terrifying perspective, but when it comes to actually competing, lock yourself in third person. For one thing, any time you do a trick, the camera will automatically pull out to third person to show off the trick, which can be massively disorienting as you are shoved out and back into perspective. Needless to say, you’ll have a very bad time in first person doing any trick events.

For races, first person can be exhilarating, but you’re so much more limited in awareness compared to third person. You won’t be able to see other racers on your flanks, and it can be much more difficult to see the track ahead of you, as well as accurately determine how far away you are from hazards. Play with it all you want when exploring the map, but if you want to be competitive in either event type, you’re only putting yourself at a disadvantage in first person.

Keep an eye on your compass

Riding a bike through the snow to a checkpoint.

Finally, don’t ignore your compass. Until you’ve done a race multiple times, which will probably be a while considering how many different courses there are in Riders Republic, you probably won’t know what’s coming up ahead. Courses are hard to predict, which is why your trusty compass will tell you what direction the upcoming checkpoint is in even when you can’t physically see it yet. Following its direction will keep you from veering off in the wrong direction on some of the more open races.

With that, you have all the basics you need to hit the massive open world of Riders Republic and shred, fly, and ride your way to victory.

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