TabletopTictacs
Member
by Coolcole93, BShadowJ and NicolajNN
Developer/Publisher: Psyonix
Platforms: PC (Steam), PS4 (Playstation Store)
Release Date: July 7th (Worldwide)
Price: $19.99/19.99€/£14.99/FREE on PS+ for July
System Requirements:
Minimum:
- OS: Windows Vista SP2 or Newer
- Processor: 2.0 GHz Dual core
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: Nvidia 8800 or ATI 2900
- DirectX: Version 9.0c
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Hard Drive: 2 GB available space
- OS: Windows Vista SP2 or Newer
- Processor: 2.0+ GHz Quad core
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: Nvidia 260 series or ATI 5850 or better
- DirectX: Version 9.0c
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Hard Drive: 2 GB available space
- Additional Notes: Gamepad or Controller Recommended
Soccer with cars finally makes its triumphant return in Rocket League: the long awaited sequel to the 2008 cult classic PS3 game Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars!
The game throws up to 8 cars at once into a 100% physics based game of SOCCER
(real name: football)
Customize your car with 150+ items and compete in 1v1 up to 4v4 matches, online or offline, featuring up to 4 player splitscreen, PC and PS4 cross-platform multiplayer, and full bot support.
Best of all? It’s FREE in July if you have a Playstation 4 and PS+.
- Up to 4v4 rocket fueled skill-based gameplay
- Up to 4-player drop-in, drop-out splitscreen (including online)
- PC and PS4 cross-platform multiplayer!
- Offline Season mode
- Tutorial, Training and Free Play modes
- Online and offline bot support with multiple difficulty options
- Customize your car with over 150 items
- Customize your control scheme and camera settings on PC and PS4
- Comprehensive replay editor
- Extensive stat tracking and leaderboards, with ranked play available
- Text chat and in-game quick commands on PS4 and PC, as well as voice chat
- FREE DLC arenas for as long as people are playing the game
- PS4 Exclusive Sweet Tooth car
- Free for PS+ in July
- Steam achievements and Playstation Trophies (including a platinum on PS4)
So what can your car actually do? There are 4 main techniques: boosting, jumping, dodging and flying.
Boosting
Boosting gives your car a burst of speed, meaning you can hit the ball much harder than you’d normally be able to (and even demolish your opponents if you’re going fast enough!). To boost, press and hold the boost button (Circle by default on a Dualshock). Boost is limited, denoted by the meter on the lower right corner of the screen. Get a top-up by driving over the yellow pads dotted around the arena, or drive through boost canisters along the sides to fill up your meter completely.
Jumping
Jumping lets you hit a loose ball before it lands, giving you the edge over your opponents. To jump, press the jump button (Cross by default on a Dualshock). Holding Cross will make your car rise even higher, and pressing it again in mid-air will perform a double jump. Being able to judge the height of the ball is one of the key skills to learn if you want to get any good at Rocket League.
Dodging
Dodging your car makes it perform a rapid flip through the air, giving you a hard, powerful and accurate shot. If you’re out of boost, dodging will also increase your speed. To dodge, tap Cross to jump, push the left analogue stick in the direction you want your car to flip, and tap Cross again. You can even dodge backwards when in reverse by pushing the analogue stick down instead of up, helping you out of those sticky situations where your car is facing the wrong way.
You should remember that dodging is the only way to increase your speed when in reverse.
Flying
The ability to control your car in flight is what really separates the newbies from the hardcore 1337 pr0s. Master flying, and you’ll soon find yourself on every dubsteppy, effect-heavy highlight reel YouTube has to offer.
To fly, start by doing a regular jump, then turn the front of your car up towards the ceiling and hold boost before your car lands. You can use this technique to cover every single inch of the arena, so no ball is ever out of reach. A word of warning though: mastering the aerial will take you months of dedicated playtime.
There are various modes available in Rocket League at launch.
Tutorial, Practice and Free Play
New to Rocket League? The game has you covered with a series of tutorials and training modes to teach you the basics. Even for returning veterans, the hardest training modes present a hell of a challenge.
In total, there are three training modes with three difficulty settings each (Rookie, Pro and All Star).
- Striker (to improve your shooting)
- Goalie (to improve your defense)
- Aerial (to improve your flying)
You can even do Training or Free Play while the game searches for an online match.
Season Mode
In this offline-only mode (which can be played in up to four player split-screen), you choose a team name, symbol, car colours and team size, then play a full season against bots. First you play in a league format, playing against every other opponent in the league. If you do well enough, you’ll move on to the playoffs in a knockout bracket. If you win it all, you win the Championship and the Season!
Your friends can join you at any time through split-screen or Share Play on PS4.
Offline Exhibitions and Online Private Matches
Private matches are available on and offline, and you can add as many bots as you want to these games. If you are playing a 3v3 online private match and one of your teammates drops out, their space will automatically be filled by a bot. When they rejoin, the bot will leave. If you only have 6 friends and want to play a 4v4, you can set bots to make up the final 2 spaces from beginning to end.
If you're after an offline challenge, you can also try Unfair mode. In this mode, you play alone against up to 4 bots. Bots have three difficulty settings, so you can make them as simple or challenging as you wish.
Oh, and it’s worth repeating that just like every other mode, you can play splitscreen in any of the modes outlined above. Whether you play on the same team or against each other is completely up to you.
Online Matchmaking
Want to hop into a quick game online? No problem. Just filter the playlists and servers to find the match type you’re after and hit search. The skill-based matchmaking will quickly find you matches at your own skill level. You can also party up with online buddies or splitscreen friends before searching.
The following online playlists will be available at launch:
Unranked (Solo or Team)
- Solo (1v1)
- Doubles (2v2)
- Standard (3v3)
- Chaos (4v4)
- Solo (1v1)
- Doubles (2v2) (party enabled according to: this post!)
- Standard (3v3)
As with private matches, a bot will automatically replace a player who quits. This means you will never be a man/woman down.
Maps
The game will release with four unique arenas. On top of this, there are three bonus maps (existing arenas with altered weather/conditions). These are:
- DFH Stadium
- Urban Central
- Mannfield
- Mannfield (Stormy)
- Beckwith Park
- Beckwith Park (Stormy)
- Beckwith Park (Midnight)
Unlike SARPBC, all the actual fields of play in Rocket League are rectangles, and the distinction between arenas is only cosmetic. Psyonix have hinted that they will be adding ‘crazy’ arenas back into the game with the release of free DLC.
Cars
There are 10 base cars on PC and PS4. All players start with Octane and must unlock others at random by playing single player or online matches.
The full list of cars is:
- Octane (SARPBC remake)
- Backfire (SARPBC remake)
- Breakout
- Gizmo
- Hotshot
- Merc
- Paladin
- Road Hog
- Venom
- X-Devil
As a bonus, PS4 players also get an 11th car: Sweet Tooth.
Psyonix have not yet revealed how Sweet Tooth is unlocked. Apparently, it’s up to us to find out.
One thing worth noting is that the difference between cars is cosmetic only. There is no variance in speed, acceleration, boost capacity, or anything else between cars (just tiny differences in their hitboxes). This is by design, and one of the key reasons why SARPBC lasted for so long; an online match is just you against your opponent, with no extrinsic factors swinging the game in anyone’s favour.
Customization
There are 150 items in Rocket League. Combined with all 10 cars, this works out at over 10 billion total customization combinations.
You can choose your cars’:
- Body
- Decal
- Paint (primary and secondary; one option for each team)
- Wheels
- Rocket Trail
- Topper
- Antenna
While your car’s primary paint colour is within a gradient of the team you are on (blue team gives you turquoise to dark blue, for example), your secondary colour can be anything you wish.
Q. Why didn’t they keep the name of the original PS3 game?
Q. What are the differences between cars?
Q. What happened to the crazy maps like Utopia, Galleon and Cosmic that were in SARPBC?
Q. How long does each match last?
Q. What happens if the game ends in a tie?
Q. Sometimes the match doesn’t end as soon as the clock hits zero. Why is that?
Q. I'm worried that the customization options will make it difficult to see who is on each team. Can I turn it off?
Q. How do you unlock items?
Q. So wait, what is the use of XP then?
Q. What is the level cap?
A. Nobody outside of Psyonix knows. In an online stream, Psyonix_Dave said there were “like 100” levels. We’ll reach that by July 8th
Q. What are the controls?
A. Here are the default PS4 controls:
Don’t like the defaults? No worries, the game has COMPLETELY CUSTOMIZABLE CONTROLS. Yes, even on PS4.
Q. Can I play with mouse/keyboard?
Q. Can I change the camera?
A. Yes you can. Both platforms have multiple camera options including FOV, camera distance, angle, and more.
Q. How does cross-platform multiplayer work between PS4 and PC?
Q. I don’t want to play against players on another platform. Can I disable it?
Q. Are there dedicated servers?
Q. Is there an Official Soundtrack available for purchase?
Q. Is there an Official PS4 Premium Theme available for purchase?
Q. I only care about the resolution/FPS wars. What is the resolution/FPS?
Q. Is there a spectator mode?
Below is a list of screenshots, videos and streams that we feel capture the fun and beauty of Rocket League. It’s not all about the wonder-goals; it’s about the atmosphere and community spirit as well.
Screenshots
Videos
Rocket League - OMG It Has Everything! (Official Trailer by Psyonix)
Rocket League - Beta Montage with NeoGAF (by GAF member xenorevlis)
Rocket League - Beta 2 Montage with NeoGAF (by GAF member xenorevlis)
Kronovi - Rocket League Beta 2 Montage | Edited by Fyshokid (by Kronovi/Fyshokid)
Preview Montage - ROCKET LEAGUE (by Linkuru)
Rocket League Gameplay Montage (by Fyshokid)
Streams
RocketLeague - The Official Twitch.TV channel for Rocket League by Psyonix Studios!
FreezingWolves - Amateur Shoutcaster of Rocket League
RocketLeagueCentral - Will be streaming high level tournaments to Twitch.TV
RocketWorldLive - Will be streaming the Rocket League world championships to Twitch.TV
Throughout Rocket League’s life, there will be numerous semi-official NeoGaf tournaments. Win one of those to have your team’s name forever immortalized in this section.
NeoGAF Steam Tournament #1 - The Flying Ball Busters (Mizzourah - Pepiope - TeegsD)
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1076309
Special thanks to BShadowJ and NicolajNN. They both did just as much - if not more - work on this than me.
Now let's all have some fun
