Platform Reviewed: PC
Platforms Available: PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4
Publisher: Psyonix Studios
Developer: Psyonix Studios
Release Date: July 7, 2015
MSRP: USD $19.99 (Php 629.95)
Sport games can actually give intense feelings to the viewers, especially football and soccer. It’s a sport wherein players will have to rely on teamwork in order to win the game and the great challenge is controlling a ball with the foot without touching it with your hands, but this one is actually different. Controlling a ball with a car? Well, it’s a whole new different experience. Developed and published by indie development team Psyonix, Rocket League is a soccer-like sports-physics driven game that is currently available on the PC and Playstation 4 platforms. Sorry Xbox One players, you’ll have to be on the bench this time. Maybe in the future, you guys will also have Rocket League.
Rocket League is an addictive soccer video game title with mini-remote controlled toycars and a sequel of the 2008 Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars (SARPBC). I haven’t played SARPBC but to experience its sequel, I’m guessing SARPBC was also great. When you start Rocket League, you’ll get to see the beautiful main menu screen showcasing the game’s default remote controlled car in the field with fans waving flags just like in a soccer game. Players can actually start bumping in with other players in Play Online or start off with training to learn the basic mechanics of the game.
Gameplay mechanics of Rocket League is fairly easy to learn just like any other sports game. Almost similar to SARPBC and FIFA, Rocket League offers challenging 1v1, the tag team 2v2, the standard 3v3, and ultra-fun-hilarious 4v4 mode. Players can also change how their battle cars look. The game offers a decent amount of choices in the Garage menu especially the antenna, where players can choose the unlocked country flags if you want to feel like a true patriot and to represent your country.
Rocket League is actually an eSport material game. The core mechanics of the game is already competitive enough with its fun and exciting gameplay in the field. Having Spectator Mode, casters can already livestream matches online. The game lacks LAN support to eliminate latency issues especially in local events. With my actual experience online, playing in US-WEST even with 201ping is playable. No delays or whatsoever, it’s a game worth playing online. The game also offers a fun local splitscreen feature, you just need to attach another Xbox 360/Xbox One controller to your PC and have fun with your friend on the couch.
Battle-cars can also boost for a certain amount of time, the player needs to refill the gauge by getting those orange orbs floating at specific areas in the stadium. Control wise? The game is not sluggish with the controls which makes the game better and fun. Having a PC port can be a challenge especially in controls, the game is best to be played with a controller than with a mouse and keyboard which defeats the actual purpose of being a “PC” port. Bad key mapping and you can’t control the camera view with the mouse.
Despite the disappointing fact of the keyboard and mouse controls, graphically the game is great. The smokes, grass details, futuristic stadiums, and shiny battle-cars really caught my eye when I saw the game’s early official screenshot and trailer. Now, the game is released, experiencing Rocket League in ultra-settings and maximizing Render Quality to High Quality, the game’s graphical detail is really alluring. I’m impressed with its optimization and the game runs on Unreal Engine 3 which makes the game not that heavy on low-end PCs, making it possible to everyone to play the game. Beats the hell out of AAA developers.
The game features a techno-house-dubstep soundtrack that fills the momentum of players when playing the game. Great horn sounds when the play goals and the thrill of fans shouting counting down from 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 before the game’s timer ends!
Rocket League is a fun and addicting battle cars sports game with lots of intensity and great core mechanics that proves to be a great sports video game of 2015. Overall, Rocket League is a fun and addicting sports game and a great eSports title addition. The game’s optimization is very impressive, core mechanics are easy to learn and to get by, and the stunning graphics which overlooks the lack of LAN feature and still makes this game a great candidate for Best Sports Game of 2015.
This review is based on a review copy provided by the developers/publisher.
