Rocket League Impressions
I was never a huge fan of racing and sports games. Mainly because I was pretty bad at them growing up. I could never get into the car simulator Gran Turismo because I wasn't much of a car enthusiast. I never liked Need for Speed because I just didn't like cars in general. I mean, I am pretty good at Mario Kart, but that doesn't say much. In terms of sports games I've played and owned a few. Most of those were NBA games like NBA Jam. I only played Madden to throw Hail Mary's (Maries?) because who else didn't? Though I am a football fan, growing up I didn't really care about the intricacies of the game. I mean most American Football probably don't either.
So if you came to my middle school self and said, "Yo, buddy (for the record no one called me buddy in middle school)...wouldn't it be cool if there was a soccer video game except instead of people there were hot wheels cars?" I wouldn't have been very enthusiastic about the idea.
But now I am older, much wiser, and open to try new things. So after a bit of cajoling from a few of my friends, I delved into Rocket League and never looked back. After almost clocking in 100 hours, I wanted to give my thoughts and impressions on the game as well as touch upon what make its so enticing to a non-sports and non-competitive gamer like me.
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| The Batmobile from BvS? A no-brainer... |
Rocket League is able to find the perfect combination of the speed from racing games with the elegance and athleticism of sports games. Speed boosts are littered around the field which allow the player to rocket into the area and pull off trick shots. The dimension of height adds a whole other dimension of control and complexity to a simple soccer match. This, however, increases the difficulty curve of the game and could easily put off newcomers. I'll get into that later.
1. Time
What really got me into this game is that every match only lasts five minutes. The short length of matches gives me control on how much I play. If I want to only feel like playing a few matches, my session will only last 20-30 minutes. Though the five minute matches can be short and sweet, they can also leave you wanting more. It's not uncommon for me to spend over an hour playing ten to fifteen matches. But that's a good thing, guys!
2. The Difficulty Curve.
The game is definitely very difficult to get into. The controls aren't too difficult to get a hold of but are very responsive, the problem is just trying to control your car. I spent hours and hours trying to get a hold of just going where I want to. And even after the 100 hours I spent with this game, I still keep making the wrong turns or accidentally colliding with my teammate. Or mess up on rocketing. But it's always nice to see the progress I've made in the game.
3. Practice & Reward
That leaves me with my last point. The game rewards you for taking risks for the sake of practicing. The tutorial section of the game gives you the crutches you need to try new things, but implementing what you learn is hard in the middle of a game. But what I've found is that people have the fear of failing. They want to pull off certain moves, but their fear of messing up and letting the opposing team get goal keeps them from trying things out. So sometimes doing advance moves like rocketing gives you the edge in a game where people are too afraid to fly.
Rocket league is also accessible. It goes on sale on Steam for $12 regularly, so it's not a huge financial investment for casual gamers to try out. The community is like any other internet gaming community, but I find there are a lot more forgiving and encouraging player than other competitive games.
Is the Batmobile from BvS also better than the cereal?
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