Rocket League (PS4) – football, but not as you know it

Splitscreen gaming is kept alive and well in this amazing new multiplayer mix of football and destruction derby.

Do you remember that episode of Top Gear where they were playing football with cars? Well, that’s what Rocket League is. The remote control style cars are faster and (considerably) more manoeuvrable but sometimes the simplest ideas are the best, and Rocket League is certainly one of the most entertaining new multiplayer games of the year so far.

If all this sounds familiar, beyond the Top Gear reference, it’s because this is actually a sequel to the unwisely named Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars (aka SARPBC). This time developer Psyonix has realised that the whole simplicity thing also applies to the name, and thanks to the game being free this month on PS Plus this will hopefully be enough to push it into the Premier League.



There have been a few attempts over the years to make arcade style football games, such as the Mario Strikers games, but they never properly compensated for the lack of realism with equally nuanced gameplay of their own creation. Rocket League is patently impossible in real life: whatever Clarkson and co. got up to it didn’t involve jumping their car into the air whenever the want or using a turbo boost to fly across the pitch when you do.


Your cars can even perform a forward roll through the air, which as silly as it sounds is actually one of the most versatile abilities. If you’ve temporarily run out of boost power then it’ll speed you up, but you can also roll in any other direction, allowing you to quickly reposition your car for a desperate last minute save or line yourself up before punting the ball at the opponent’s goal.

Rocket League (PS4) – blasting off again

As silly as they sound the controls are expertly balanced, and despite the basic visuals there’s an impressive attention to detail. The controller rumbles subtly as you dribble, and the screen shakes whenever you touch the ball – with a strike proceeded by a fighting game style pause to drive home the power of the shot.

One of the only major complaints we have is that the physics engine does feel a little too much like you’re driving around on the moon. Well, maybe not the moon but let’s say Mars. We would’ve preferred if the cars controlled a little heavier than they do, but they’re at least consistent and you get used to the game’s particular stance on the laws of physics very quickly.

It can also be a little tricky to actually keep track of the ball at times, but there’s an optional ball cam that tries to compensate for this. Although the real countermeasure is simply practice, and making sure you take the game seriously. Because it takes real skill to do well at Rocket League and as simple as the controls are, mastering them is another thing entirely.

To its credit the game provides a detailed tutorial for the three fundamentals of shooting, defence, and flying. But we haven’t even even mentioned the absolute best feature of the game: four-player splitscreen mode. At at time when offline multiplayer is under more attack than ever Rocket League is at its absolute best when played by four jeering players all crowded around the same TV.

Rocket League (PS4) – this might be the closest you get to a new Twisted Metal in a while

If you don’t have quite enough friends to go around, either offline or on, then places are filled in automatically by bots, which is something most triple-A multiplayer games don’t even bother to do. In fact you can add as many of them as you want in private matches, as the game does its best to let you play however you want.



SARPBC fans, if there are such people, may be a little disappointed to find that the maps are a lot more simplistic than the original. But that’s apparently because people only used to play the basic Urban one from before. There are still plenty of customisation options for your car though, with 150 options for the 11 cars (which for the PlayStation 4 version includes the Sweet Tooth ice cream van from Twisted Metal).

There’s a very old school feel about Rocket League, from the emphasis on splitscreen multiplayer to the inherent simplicity of the whole concept. That’s not a criticism or caveat though, instead it’s an acknowledgement that this is the sort of thing that gaming needs more of. You don’t need to like football, cars, or even video games to enjoy Rocket League; you just need to like having fun.

Rocket League In Short: A superb multiplayer game that takes a very simple premise and crafts from it one of the best competitive arcade games in years. Pros: The controls and moveset are near perfect for what the game’s trying to do, and the range of options and modes impressively complete. Full support for splitscreen multiplayer and bots. Cons: The physics can seem a little too floaty at times, and it’s sometimes difficult to keep track of the ball in a particularly frantic match. Score: 9/10

Formats: PlayStation 4 (reviewed) and PC

Price: £15.99

Publisher: Psyonix

Developer: Psyonix

Release Date: 7th June 2015

Age Rating: 3

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