Review: Rocket League Video Game

Review: Rocket League Video Game

It’s like a Gumball-3000 race combined with soccer

Do you like racecars? Do you like Soccer? Do you even care about either? Well not to worry, the PS4 and PC game Rocket League has something for everyone – even if you do not care about going fast in cars or care about soccer. You may also lose friends playing it, but we’ll get to that later.

rocket league 1

 

The basic premise of the game is simple: play soccer with really fast race cars. When I first heard about this game last year and how much praise it was getting, I thought that such an absurdly simple game couldn’t be that good. I kind of like soccer, and I guess I like cars – after a few months my friends finally convinced me to buy it. Pretty soon I was screaming with delight going a Gorillian (really fast Gorillas) miles per hour hitting a giant soccer ball with a car.

 

I admit that is a gross simplification. Rocket League is simple, but there is a lot of strategy and teamwork behind the game. For example, I play a lot of two vs. two or three vs. three matches. You have to communicate with your buddies on who is going to attack the ball, who is going to goal tend and when, and how you want to set up scoring opportunities. Alternatively you can have chaos which I estimate approximately 78% of games devolve into.

 

I also must make mention that this game turns everyone into a soccer hooligan within minutes of playing. You can communicate with your opponents via voice or text chat, which means that memes and insults are part of the game. Every missed shot is something to be mocked, every goal is usually lauded over, and winners (and even the losers) engage in banter at the end of each match, usually. Colorful, playful banter – where nobody is insulted on race, gender, sexuality, spirituality, or nationality (I’m lying, it’s like going to a Liverpool/Manchester United game and the community is toxic).
rocket league 2

The game is easy enough to learn, but hard to master. Myself, I play the PC version available on Steam using a mouse and keyboard. The controls are simple, but I’ve been told that it is way better if you use a controller. You control the direction and speed of your car and use it to hit the giant soccer ball and hopefully score on the enemy team. Or if you’re like me, you’re frantically mashing your keyboard, hoping and praying the ball goes in the correct direction with some reliability.

 

Rocket League is available for about $20 on both Steam and Playstation 4. I wholly recommend it if you have some friends to play with. Matches take about 5 minutes each, are action packed, and the game is easy to learn but takes time to master. Just brush up on some modern day banter tactics and memes before you play and you’ll be all set!