Rocket League | PS+ Monthly Pick

High octane, fast paced, adrenaline fueled football matches… that is Rocket League. As the roar of the crowd resounds throughout the arena, a countdown begins and each team eagerly awaits kick off. Whether you’re team Blue or team Red the player is now locked in and a part of some skilled motoring football mayhem. I know, right? Football and cars, how could it work. Well, with an oversized ball and cars that feel like they’ve been plucked straight out of someones Micro Machines collection and filled with the ridiculous power from the Fast & Furious movies, it’s great.

It’s clear after kick off that this isn’t just a reckless match up of players filled with mindless carnage. It actually requires a level of skill to win each match. Being able to jump and do a trick mid air means the player can pull of some pretty cool shots and with a replay option after a match ends you can watch it over and over again. Each arena has no harsh corners or edges meaning the player can drive straight at the ball or other players at full speed without hitting a barrier, ensuring the play remains fast paced. Let’s be honest, what would a car game be without ridiculous speed? This little indie title provides just that, and with a boost the player can smash into an opposing player, bury a shot on goal or suddenly retreat back for that memorable save. As the player uses their boost a trail of smoke, beams or fire (with many more to unlock as the player progresses) emit from the car leaving stunning imagery on screen.

Outside of the arena you can spend some time customizing your vehicle of choice for the next match. Being able to have a customized look for team Blue and team Red was a nice feature because this meant you could have a completely different style for each team and not just a different paint job. You start off with some options to tweak your motorized character but more become available by acquiring points after each match you win. What I did like about it’s customization was that it only applies to how your vehicle looks, there are no stat changes, no increase in speed, no changes to durability or handling. I can see how it can be both a good and bad thing though. Only changes to a cars appearance mean a player is left with the same car for every match but with a different skin. This prevents teams being unbalanced and unfair match ups happening. A win or loss can’t be put down to the amount of power or lack thereof on each team.

The game has a great arcade feel and look to it from the start up screen to when that final whistle blows. The variety of the colours in this game are fantastic and its great to see the different combinations players put together to get their overall desired look.

When it comes to matchmaking there are plenty of options. The player can either join an online match set up with random team mates or enjoy a local co-op match with friends with up to 4 players. I personally have never had any problems joining an online match and throughout each match the game played with a nice fluidity without any loss of frame rates or lag.

Developed and published by Psyonix Rocket league was released on the PS4 and Microsoft Windows. A football(soccer) vehicle game with physics mechanics Rocket League is available in this months PS Plus instant game collection. If you’re looking to just kill some time or rise in the ranks of it’s online community this game is a must have. Enjoyable, fun and with a hint of competitiveness you’ll be left hearing yourself saying, just one more game. You can download the game here on the PSN, or if you’re interested and want it for PC, you can get it here.

Wayne Gannon
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