“SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY! We’ll sell you the whole seat, but you’ll only need the EDGE!”
I can still hear those booming words from my childhood when monster trucks and MX dirt bikes would invade the arena down in Indianapolis, and the TV would run all those intensely narrated commercials. While I never went to any of those events, I remember the level of excitement that just the commercials could generate. That’s the same level of excitement you get just spectating a match of Rocket League, so imagine how much fun you’ll have actually playing it.
I’m proud to say I was playing Rocket League back before it was “cool” …back when it was on the PS3 going by a completely different (and much longer) name. Now those Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars have arrived on the PS4 and PC and the world of eSports and soccer may never be the same. After all, who wants to control perfectly mo-capped athletes executing strategic plays on their quest for the World Cup when you can hit the turbo boost on your roadster and slam your bumper into a giant ball sending it arcing into your opponent’s goal only to explode sending out a shockwave blasting all the cars to the other side of the arena?
First let me apologize for the delay in this review. Rocket League is one of those games that is so captivating I honestly thought I had posted my review months ago when it launched. Instead, I guess I had just been streaming over 100 hours of gameplay on both the PS4 and PC/Steam versions. Not that a July review would have made a difference. PS4 Plus members were getting the game for free and judging from the record sales on Steam, the $20 price tag for the PC version wasn’t scaring away anyone who was remotely interested in the game. And rightly so, as Rocket League is quite simply the best “sports” game I have ever played, but even more remarkable, it has a fantastic driving mechanic and control scheme that many racing games fall short of attaining.
A few things have happened since the game launched that I can include in my tardy review. The first DLC dropped and there is another coming very soon offering more cars, accessories, customizations and trophies. The first official season has also begun, so those who love playing in the ranked matches can really get competitive. Rocket League has also had some official eSports recognition with commentary coverage and real cash prizes. Yes, this game has literally exploded onto the gaming scene much like a giant soccer ball passing into a goal.
So, what makes this game so appealing? First and foremost, you don’t have to be good at the game to have fun. By design, there is quite a bit of random kookiness going on with the physics, not to mention all the variables of multiple cars, a curved/domed arena, and good old-fashioned luck. This makes Rocket League highly approachable for novice players, and the more you play the better you get whether you realize it or not. I still recommend the short series of tutorials that will teach you the basics and advanced technics like aerial hits, etc.
Rocket League offers up a single-player season mode that has you facing off against AI bots, but honestly, the only reason to even explore this is for practice and a few trophies/achievements. The real meat and potatoes is when you head online for real matches with real players. As with any multiplayer game, it helps if you are playing with friends – friends who communicate. You can always tell a team that is randomly racing around going for the ball versus the team where one guy is tending the goal, and another is waiting down field for the other player to steal and center the ball. That’s not to say unspoken matches with complete strangers aren’t fun. The designers have even worked in a simple chat system using popular phrases accessible with the D-pad. Most impressive of all, PC and PS4 players are able to compete with one another in one of the few cross-platform games ever released.
Rocket League is highly addicting with that “just one more game” mentality thanks to seemingly innocent 5-minute games that turn into 5-hour marathons. It’s just way too easy to hit that REMATCH button. When you win you are on a high and want to play again, and when you lose you instantly get this “I’ll beat you next game” attitude. The next thing you know, it’s 5am and the guy who is supposed to be goalie hasn’t moved in two minutes and you hear him snoring in your headset…true story.
Rocket League has a fantastic professional sports quality of presentation with a great replay system that will save the entire match and let you play around and edit highlight footage at a later time. You have full control over the camera to achieve exciting shots like those seen in the screenshots – views you’d never see during an actual match. During the game you have your standard car camera, or you can lock the view to the ball, which is actually the best way to play assuming you can learn to drive using non-relational steering. I tend to use a combination of both cameras.
There is some fantastic music, mostly in the menus, where you will be spending considerable time when tricking out your ride with all sorts of hats, antenna toppers, paint jobs, decals, rims, and more. With over 10 billion combinations it’s pretty much a guarantee that no two cars will ever look exactly the same in any online match. While there is no commentary during the match you do get some great crowd reactions, cheers and shouts during a shot attempt, and authentic FIFA-style chanting during the final moments of a game. Cars have unique engine noises, and each booster has subtle variances, and each goal sends out a sub-woofer trembling BOOM and loud victory horn.
I’ve reached Veteran status on both PC and PS4, but as for which system is best, I have to give a slight bump to the PC version. The graphics are noticeably cleaner, and power-users can really crank up the resolution and still get silky framerates. The PS4 version is also good but image quality is slightly lower, and you can see some framerate issues in more populated games. After the most recent PS4 update many of the sounds were moved to the DualShock 4 speaker, which some may find annoying. They should have at least made it an option. Setting up voice chat is similar between both systems but chatting between PS4 and PC requires a 3rd party chat utility. It also seems the PC community is less prone to dropping out of a game the first time they fall behind.
Whether you got it for free or have to pay $20, Rocket League is without a doubt the most addicting game of 2015 and my vote for Best Sports Game of the Year. Sure, it might not be a real sport, but you know it’s only a matter of time before somebody turns it into one, and until that day arrives, I’ll be playing as much Rocket League as possible, because the more you play the better you get.
