5 years after release, the car soccer game Rocket League is switching to a Free2Play model. MeinMMO writers Maik Schneider and Max Handwerk have been behind the wheels of the rocket cars for years and think you should definitely pop into the game for a race. Or not. It depends.
When will Rocket League be free? It’s not quite clear yet when Rocket League will switch to the F2P model. So far, there has only been talk of “this summer”. So you can take your time to decide whether you want to join or stay away from the Rocket action.
Wait, you don’t know Rocket League at all? Then the Rocket League drivers of the MeinMMO racing team Maik Schneider and Max Handwerk present their experiences with the game.
This is Rocket League – from the perspective of two drivers
Sometimes Rocket League is an angel of a game
Rocket League is terrific: Fat electro beats, colorful glowing walls, a countdown: 3… 2…1… Go! At full speed my blue shining car races off. The rocket engine fires bright flashes to the rear, giving the car the boost it needs to slam into the ball at exactly the same time as the opponent in the middle. The ball flies wildly to the side, but my duo partner is already there: With an elegant turn, he jumps off the wall, artistically hits the ball in the air and drop-kicks it towards the opponent’s goal.
The first opponent bounces past the ball – and I race forward. “I’ve got him,” I’m still firing into the chat and flying into the ball with caracho. The ball thunders toward the orphaned opponent’s goal, and the keeper has no chance. A huge goal explosion sends all the players in the arena flying through the air. 1:0 after just a few seconds – and the next goal is already on the horizon. This is Rocket League! No wonder it’s one of the best multiplayer games on consoles. Isn’t it, colleague Maik?
Rocket League is the devil: Colleague Max, let me tell you about a classic Saturday night: Once again, nothing was going on in Call of Duty: Warzone, and FIFA Pro Clubs took a beating. I already know what’s coming – The Rocket Auto Soccer game. At launch I still have hope that it will do well. But well…
The groovy music spreads a good mood for the time being. The first game is quickly found and the only car racing game that regularly flickers across my screen starts. I stay behind at the kick-off and my comrade presses the lead foot to hit the ball into the other half. I quickly get the big boost ball out of the corner and then fish out everything that comes at my goal. At least that’s what I think.
But the ball flies uncontrolled to the wall and the opponent puts a strong cross into the middle with a fantastic move – half by chance, half by luck. I set off to drift and go into boost. But neither I, nor my buddy can parry the strong shot that came from the cross. 0:1 after a few seconds – and my mood evaporates with a huge goal explosion. That, too, is Rocket League.
Why you have to love Rocket League
Practice is half the battle: “Half chance, half luck,” is how colleague Maik describes the death flank that put him and his buddy behind. And yes, sometimes there are really quite crooked things flying across the field. I’ve seen enough of that myself. But: In Rocket League, most of the goals come from rocket-steering skills.
The controls are easy to learn but hard to master. Hundreds of times you fly past the ball before you start to feel like you’ve got something. This can be really frustrating and difficult. But once you’ve mastered the skills, it’s hard to stop.
In addition to your own skills, teamwork is extremely important: a team that neglects the defense for many attacks will quickly find itself behind. On the other hand, you can’t let up in front either. The balance is crucial – and you first have to train it and coordinate it well.
Once you have fully internalized the control system with boosts and flying shots, you can create real works of art. It’s precisely this learning curve that makes Rocket League so exciting. Isn’t it?
The atmosphere is the other half: Unfortunately, I have to agree with colleague Max. The longer you play Rocket League, the better you get at chasing the ball around the pitch. Eventually you realize that you can also dribble, that flying actually works quite well, and that team coordination provides half the stadium rent.
Skill-based match-making pushes you up the rankings bit by bit, and as you get stronger, so do the opponents. This makes sense, and you’ll rarely play against overpowered enemies, but rather Rocketeers who make similar blunders as you. But with every – Season you have to get your ranking back in 10 games and these 10 games can be really unpleasant.
Fortunately, gameplay isn’t everything in Rocket League – atmosphere matters a lot. For example, Rocket League is one of the few games that lets the music play even during matches – a top feature that works well not only in Fallout. There are also countless vehicles, skins and cosmetics in general.
And you unlock a lot of them alongside playing without having to pay extra money. What’s also possible, though – Rocket League maintains a great system with micro-transactions, including a Battle Pass, which is called “Rocket Pass” here, of course.
The Cosmetics system has already caused trouble in Rocket League, but you can get pretty wacky carts together even without money. For example, by trading with other players.
These types of cosmetics are available in Rocket League:
- Massive vehicle models
- Sticker
- Lacquers
- Wheels
- Boost tracks
- Roof tops
- Antennas
- Gate explosions
- Driving tracks
- Engine sounds
How Rocket League can drive you mad
Great style – difficult teammates: That’s right, the Cosmetics in Rocket League are definitely a lot of fun. Whether you want to make your car spit melons instead of lightning bolts, or fire off a huge confetti charge during the goal explosion, basically anything goes. It’s a good bit of goofiness, but does a lot for the atmosphere in Rocket League. And, most importantly, the Cosmetics don’t give you a gameplay advantage. So, if the opponent has gnarly skins than I do, it doesn’t mean they’re going to win the game.
But you know what can really ruin your mood while playing? The in-game chat. It’s set up in such a way that you can fire off all sorts of comments via shortcuts. But, for example, “What a parade” is almost always used sarcastically when you fail grandly as a keeper.
And if the opponents (or fellow players) even take the trouble to type something into the chat, it’s already clear: Nothing good will come of it. The small field in the upper left corner is often completely bombarded with messages – and that distracts from the game. The chat can be really funny – but often enough it drives you up the wall. I have never experienced this in any other game.
Rocket League can be a pain: Fellow Max, don’t bitch about the chat! It’s the one thing that always amuses me about this game. Four times “$#@%!”, wait a second and follow it up with another “$#@%!”. The optimal outlet when the ball once again does what it wants – but also wonderfully suitable for cheering.
But the fact that you sometimes need this valve also highlights one of Rocket League’s biggest problems: When things don’t go your way, the game kills you. Strong opponents hardly forgive mistakes and the 10 games to “re-rank”, mostly after a long break, have often kept me from taking a longer look again.
After all, if you concede three claps in a row, no errant cosmetics or toxic hints in chat will help – quitting the game will bring you the most fun at this point.
Rocket League isn’t for you, but you’re into wacky multiplayer games? Then you might want to check out Fall Guys. The crazy Takeshis Castle-style game is currently driving our colleague Jürgen Horn crazy – and he loves Fall Guys anyway.
Follow us and check out our social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook & YouTube ►
● on Twitter ► esport.directory
● Facebook ► esport.directory
● Youtube ► esport.directory
RocketLeaguetips, RocketLeaguetricks, RocketLeaguecheats, RocketLeaguehacks, RocketLeaguehacks2022, RocketLeaguetipspro, RocketLeaguepaidcheats, RocketLeague, RocketLeaguetipsandtricks, RocketLeaguetipsandtricks2022, RocketLeaguetipsandtricksforbeginners, RocketLeaguetips, RocketLeaguetricks, RocketLeaguetrickshots, RocketLeaguehacks, RocketLeaguehacksfree, RocketLeaguehacksfree2022,