LogFAQs > #957663327

22. Rocket League (Xbox One, 2015)


One day in the summer of '11, I went with some of my friends over to some guy's house that I didn't really know. He had a PS3, and we all played some game called Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars (SARPBC). I hadn't played anything like it. It was a game with the abstract rules and visual flavor of soccer using ridiculous vehicles. I had such a blast in those few hours that I thought about it from time to time over the ensuing years. I had heard about Rocket League, but I didnt delve into it, so I never made the connection that it was the follow-up to SARPBC until I bought Rocket League in 2016. Since then, it has been one of my go-to multiplayer games.

RL expanded upon SARPBCs formula greatly, and while things have changed some since the developer Psyonix was purchased by Epic and later went free-to-play, most of what I love about the game has remained. The funny thing is that I barely play the standard soccer game that most available modes feature. I mostly stick to three modes: Rumble, Snow Day, and Drop Shot.

Rumble is the standard soccer game with powerups added to it. You can do things like freeze the ball, cover your vehicle with spikes so that you can literally carry the ball, a tornado that sweeps up the ball and opposing vehicles alike, and much more. I think that theres around 12 total, and they are all pretty unique from one another. The game can get absolutely bonkers, and its hard to take seriously.

Snow Day is basically hockey. I mean, theres a puck instead of a ball, and the field is covered in ice. This mode I feel plays to my personal strengths the best. Im not the best aerial player (timing is a problem for me), so a game like Snow Day where the puck stays mostly on a surface is something that I can excel at. Im also best as a facilitator (setting up goal opportunities for others and centering) and a non-goalie defender (blocking and ball clearing), and this mode is just perfect for taking advantage of my skill set.

Dropshot is definitely the most unique mode of them all. This one is I guess I would say volleyball? Each team has their own side, and your task is to damage the oppositions side by having the ball hit the ground there while you were the last team to touch it. The ball is color coded to make it clear who was the last team to touch it. A single tile takes two hits before the tile is removed, and that offers up goal opportunities for the opposing team. If you hit the ball and it lands on your side, there is no damage done, but if you hit it on your side where the floor was removed, then it will result in an own goal. Even though the aerial game is probably the most crucial here out of all the modes in the game, I still love this game to death. Im great with anticipation and have a knack for directional hitting that make me a great defender and sometimes sneaky and underrated source of offense. Sometimes I play one of the standard soccer games/tournaments or a limited time event, but I probably play Rumble/Snow Day/Dropshot 90% of the time.

If theres one thing that saddens me about the game is how lame other players are in terms of vehicle customization. You can customize a lot. You can choose a body, decal paint finish, color combination, wheels, boost smoke/form, topper and antenna. You can also select non-vehicle related areas like your nickname, player card background, goal celebration, and more. I go fully goofy and fun. Am I going to have an oversized 10 gallon hat topper with pizza wheels, a holiday sweater decal and a goal explosion that sends out a storm cloud with a face. You bet your ass I am! Whenever I play ranked mode, which sadly is most of the time because that is now the only way to play Rumble/Snow Day/Dropshot, I am met with people who go for an edgy or cool look and dont use toppers or antennas and seldom use crazy wheels or decals.

I know Games as a Service is something that I feel like B8 views negatively, but I honestly am glad they exist given the generally short lifespan of multiplayer games from generations ago. Rocket League has now been out for six years, and it is still going strong with no signs of slowing down even as hundreds or even thousands of online multiplayer games have come since to potentially wrestle players away from it.

---

KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu