Rocket League is a power-packed video game that combines the high-speed environment of race cars with the grace and finesse of football. Read on to find out more about Rocket League’s gameplay and features!

Welcome to the world of Rocket League!

Rocket League is a vehicular simulation video game developed and released by Psyonix and Panic Button Games. It was released in July 2015 for Microsoft Windows and Playstation 4. Now the game is available for almost all the major gaming platforms. The game offers a fusion of the world’s most popular sport and the world of rocket-powered cars. Since September of last year, the game has been free to play for all users across every platform. Rocket League is a sequel to Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars. The gameplay is similar to its predecessor, released in 2008 for PS3. Rocket League’s features include both an online and offline mode and allow cross-platform play.

Gameplay and Mechanics of Rocket League

The standard game mode involves a rocket-powered car striking a large ball across the field. Matches are five minutes long, and the player with more goals at the end wins, with sudden-death overtime taking place in cases it’s all square. Rocket League allows both single and multiplayer modes for users. It combines the simple theme of indoor soccer with a destructive touch of demolition derby. Jumping, speed boosts, ramming your opponent, and dodging attacks are additional features that intensify the action. The standard mode allows matches of 1v1 to 4v4 in both casual and ranked matches. In the online mode, game seasons that include a hierarchy of tiers are present. A win or loss will decide whether the player’s rank increases or decreases.

Improvements

From the get-go, it is evident that the developers have prioritized quality over quantity. The simple premise of race cars and football is improved to match the requirements of modern-day gaming. Even after six years since the game’s release, it has not suffered even the slightest drop in the overall quality of gameplay. This is mainly due to the game requires a comparatively low standard of system graphics. The minimum requirements are NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 or its equivalents. Thanks to these simple requirements, there are little to no harsh demands from one’s PC/console. It also allows more flexibility in texture detail and renders quality. Display features like bloom, dynamic shadows are also highly adjustable. Both these qualities pave the way for a wider range of gameplay and visuals. New and improved connection indicators and much-needed changes to cross-platform gaming provide the icing on the cake.

Additional Modes

The developers released the following modes in a bid to improve the overall gaming experience and provide users with a theme change as well.

• Mutators – Aerodynamics of the ball undergoes constant and varying changes during a match.
• Custom Training – Practice sequences that allow the user to improve their skills.
• Snow Day (2015) – Ice-hockey-themed mode where a puck with distinct physics replaces the default ball.
• Hoops (2016) – Basketball-themed mode in which a basketball replaces the default ball.
• Rumble – It allows users to freeze the ball’s position and throw their opponent off course.
• Dropshot – A field of hexagonal tiles and an electrified ball replace their default counterparts.

DLCs and In-Game Purchases

• The makers introduced a new Loot Box system in September 2016.
• It includes exclusive upgrades which will be purchasable through keys only and not using real money.
• A rotating Item Shop allows users to buy featured items on a two-day timer and daily items on a one-day timer.
• Upgrades like cars, wheels, and others will be purchasable at the item’s credit value.
• The game brought in a new Battle Pass feature in September 2018. It is valid for a few months and allows players to new customization features.

What’s next?

The fans of the Rocket League need not worry anymore about new upgrades as developers confirmed a ton of cool new features. Here are a few of them:

• The refresh rate has been increased to 120Hz for all Playstation users. This update comes as a relief for a large majority of fans who were slightly unsatisfied with the gameplay.
• The 4th official season of the game is underway as of 11th August 2021, and it brings some exciting new changes.
• Upcoming features include Extra and 2v2 Heatseeker game modes, which are exclusive improvisations to the current ones.
• Brand new cars like Outlaw, No-Name Topper, Tanker Wheels, Amikoo Decal and Lava Boost.
• A Rocket Pass premium special now includes the latest hierarchy of 70 and more different tiers.

In the long-term, Psyonix has confirmed that they are working on bringing the game to Unreal Engine 5. This news will come as a treat to the fans who have long waited for such a collaboration. The makers have stressed that such a shift will take a considerable amount of time. The news was confirmed by Rocket League senior community manager Devin Connors. Epic Games announced in May of this year that UE5 would be released in early access shortly. Several games have released their demos which is a solid reason for fans to expect Rocket League soon.