It seems like the ranting of a madman, yet the idea of rocket-powered automobiles spinning through the air in cage-soccer battles akin to Thunderdome turns out to be just crazy enough to work. The sequel to Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars, Rocket League by Psyonix, has a white-knuckle strategy in teamwork to control the enormous ball on offense and defense, as well as ridiculous entertainment like front flips in ice cream trucks assisted by turbochargers. Despite servers that are rarely flawless, Rocket League's fast-paced, fluid craziness makes for an incredible experience.
In the main mode, two teams of three race up and down the pitch after the league's enormous equivalent of a soccer ball in visually different but functionally identical vehicles (though 1v1, 2v2, and 4v4 variants exist). The best part is that playing doesn't require any prior knowledge of driving games or soccer. The instructions are straightforward: drive quickly through glossy, neon-colored arenas while performing creative stunts and attempting to smash a ball that keeps bouncing into an incredibly small area.
That sense of limitless mobility is at the core of Rocket League. It's mostly due to the application of what I would refer to as "physics plus," in which the concepts of momentum and gravity are given a colorful makeover to enable driving on ceilings and walls as well as absurd mid-air direction changes that would melt a real-world driver. But because of its amazing movement—which is so arcadey and satisfying—I frequently have to tell myself to slow down or stop doing stunts when a little prod or bump will do.
There are real, potent levels of satisfaction to be felt when you see a teammate lining up a shot from the corner and read the situation, slamming on the brakes to nudge the "pass" into the goal with a perfectly timed barrel roll. It's exciting to see that beneath the seemingly chaotic mashing of metal in Rocket League, there is a layer of strategy. Tapping your jump button puts you in the air, where tapping it again with a direction held performs a somersault, barrel roll, or bicycle kick. It might sound simple – and really, it is – but timing a strike to connect with a speeding ball, and controlling the direction you send it sailing, down to precise angles, takes some skill.
Apart from the intense and addictive gameplay, Rocket League lacks many things that would enhance the whole experience. Through the player-progression system, which awards experience for winning games, accomplishing in-game tasks, or really doing anything, you can unlock a tiny stable of absurd automobiles or decorative decals and accessories.
Although driving a truck with a sombrero is entertaining, there isn't much of a sense of progression that alters how you play a match because there are only a few concept models, a dozen or so sportsters, trucks, exotics, and at least one ice cream truck (available only to PS4 owners). Even if all of that is entirely reasonable in the interest of creating an even playing field for online games, I would have preferred to see each car have the strengths and weaknesses that are suggested by their real-world equivalents: trucks and vans are slower but more formidable defenders, sports cars are quick but difficult to control attackers, and then the middle is all-purpose but balanced roamers. Especially when assembling a team to compete for a whole season, it seems like a lost chance to create a deeper bond with your vehicles in the garage.
However, mastering the surprisingly complex mechanical depth of Rocket League's numerous controllers and flighty mechanics offers a different progression path. The focus of the Rocket League experience is always on diving into the next heart-pounding encounter, regardless of whether that arc takes you through easily accessible exhibitions, split-screen local cooperative play for up to four players, online competitive or ranked matches, or the entire 36-week extended season mode.
And while there are leaderboards to track your statistics and global prowess, Rocket League servers struggle to support the influx of PlayStation 4 and PC players hunting for the same and cross-platform matchmaking bouts, rendering most of Rocket League’s online features – including the online party system – spotty at best. Fortunately, the AI is formidable on either difficulty setting above Rookie, both as teammates and opponents, so Rocket League doesn’t lose much in a completely offline existence, which is good, because its online suite is largely unreliable.
Advantages
Limitations
The Verdict
An entirely new audience can experience the same thrills with Rocket League on Xbox One. Even with the absence of cross-platform play, matchmaking lobbies remain crowded due to its well-earned success to date. There has never been a better moment to pick up Rocket League, what with its already affordable price and added DLC material included.
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