Rocket League – First Impressions

Arcade-style soccer (or football) meets adrenaline-filled vehicular mayhem in a recently released title called Rocket League, the successor to 2008’s Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars. This futuristic sports action game has a relatively simple concept (run your car into a giant ball to score goals or save your own goal), but the graphics and arenas are highly detailed and the physics system is quite advanced. The player can really get a sense for creating momentum, literally mass and velocity, immediately after jumping into the game.

Here are some Key Features:

• Physics-driven Gameplay: Select one of nearly a dozen, rocket-strapped vehicles capable of performing impossible aerials, amazing passes and dramatic goals. Drive on the walls, ceilings, or right through your opponents at supersonic speed!
• Total Customization: Explore more than 10 billion possible Battle-Car combinations with unlockable paint types, decals, wheels, rocket boosts, and more.
• Gameplay Variety: Test your mettle in 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, and 4v4 match-ups across multiple stadiums, or try Unfair Mode in a “one against many” handicap match.
• All-New Season Mode: Create your team and compete against multiple, uniquely-themed football clubs as you drive your way to the play-offs and championship.
• Local, Online, and Splitscreen Multiplayer: Play co-op or competitive in any combination of 2-, 3-, or 4-player splitscreen, or take your friends online for intense 8-player action against individuals or other splitscreen players.
• PS4/PC Crossplay: Break barriers and enjoy optional cross-platform matchmaking for PlayStation® and PC users alike.
• Dedicated Servers: Super-smooth online technology ensures an even better Rocket-Powered Battle-Car experience.
• Broadcast-Quality Replay Editor: Import entire, full-length games and fast forward, rewind, or view the action from anywhere in the arena.
• PS4-Exclusive Sweet Tooth: Hit the pitch as the world’s most famous ice cream truck from the legendary Twisted Metal™ series!

My first impressions:
Seriously, just after seeing this trailer, I knew the game would get me extremely hyped-up and ready for high-flying, goal-scoring action. And trust me, Rocket League delivered! The music is bumping as you drive on by and enjoy the beautiful graphics all around you. Although you probably will not have much time to focus on scenery when you’re in an online match. This game definitely requires some skill, but that is exactly what makes it so satisfying. There’s nothing quite like when you make your first big play, or score your first goal, and the game keeps on giving in excitement as you continue to play people with different strategies/skill-levels online. While we live in an age where video games are often accessible immediately to the mass (non-core) audiences, I think it’s good that not just *anyone* will immediately master this game… you’ll have to put in your time to get the controls down, master the physics of each of your possible moves, and most importantly: master your mind! Personally, my mind first defaulted to the thought, “Hey, if I’m driving fast, I’ll get to the ball first and win.” This mindset will leave you shaking your head in the end; the game is a wonderful mix of fast and slow/technical, as sometimes it is better to anticipate where the ball is about to go, or slowly ease up to a ball that has been sent flying high into the air and only slowly descending. Once you have a feel for the times that require speed and the times that require more technique, you’re a force to be reckoned with, and that makes Rocket League’s gameplay so rewarding.

If you’re still not convinced that this game is the real deal, just read the YouTube comments on the trailer and the reviews on Steam. They’re overwhelmingly positive.
Grab your copy of Rocket League now on either PC or PS4 (Playstation Plus members get it free)!