But with Rocket League, it just doesn’t matter.
Patrick Klepek: Let me be clear: I hate multiplayer games.
Even when I have to review games with multiplayer, I’m cringing the whole time.
Nobody else at Kotaku was playing, and it seemed like someone should.
Luke: I’m trying to nail just why that is.
I mean, they’re other people.
Like you, I should have hated relying on this.
Patrick: Yeah, that part is really strange to me.
There’s a trophy for playing with a friend, and I still haven’t unlocked that.
But I’m like you: I should hate all these people.
A Rocket League match where everyone is out for themselves can still be damn fun.
Luke: The game’s brevity helps too.
multiplayer games that accomodate that kind of play.
Patrick: Yeah, that’s really key to it.
Five minutes is perfect.
Five minutes is a REALLY LONG TIME.
Maybe what frustrates me about “bad” players isn’t that they’re terrible at Rocket League.
You drive, you hit a ball, you try and hit it into a goal.
When I say “bad”, I’m not talking about skill.
Patrick: There’s also this interesting arc you go through as a Rocket League player.
In becoming more interesting, though, you’re less tolerant of other people’s crap.
This is especially true of how I judge my own play.
Luke: It’s got a great tutorial, which must be helping.
I was listening to a podcast recently, and they were talking about Rocket League.
They mentioned how Rocket League feels playing the soccer highlight reel.
Rocket League makes those happen on the regular.
It also helps that the game REWARDS you for engaging in those activities.
I love getting points for taking a shot.
Luke: Yeah, the rewards are smart.
As for the highlight reel stuff, again, that’s a number of really small, smart decisions.
Patrick: It’s also so easy to see how they could have screwed it all up.
I know everyone loved Mario Kart 8 last year, but you know what?
That game is a pain in the ass.
I love that Rocket League is painfully simple.
The cars are the same, nothing changes.
It’s all about your skill.
Luke: Yeah, their whole approach to new players and a level playing field is to be applauded.
But the short version is this: the old game is basically Rocket League without the exceptional polish.
That exceptional polish, however, is critical to making the game appealing.
They basically nailed the fundamentals in 2008, and spend the years since making it sing.
What’s your preferred way to play the game, by the way?
I think 3v3 is overrated.
I almost exclusively play 1v1 and 2v2.
Honestly, I think 2v2 is what the recommended mode should be.
It’s the perfect balance.
Luke: Nah, we’ll differ here.
2v2 has too much space, 1v1 is lol and 4v4 is just madness.
Patrick: 1v1 is so much damn fun because of the risk/reward factor.
you’ve got the option to mess up the opening hit—it’s over.
you might miss a single shot—it’s over.
A circular field with three teams…..
…but maybe I am a heretic and a madman.
Patrick: Some of the maps in the old game suggest that very path, Luke.
The default map in the old game IS one of the maps in Rocket League.
Splatoon, actually, made the same decision, and I think it’s really smart.
And in both cases, neither game is charging for DLC.
(With Rocket League, only aesthetic stuff will cost any money.
I don’t think Splatoon charges for anything—period.)
I don’t usually play multiplayer games, and I don’t watch them either.
But Rocket League, I could watch all day long.
When you watch other games, it can be tough to understand why what you’re seeing is impressive.
When you watch a last-second save in Rocket League, it doesn’t require much explanation.
The game’s dramatic camera angles in the replay mode certainly helps, too.
Every frame tells a story.
A story of hoots, and hollers, and high fives, and “screw this!
