Rocket League

Overview

Rocket League is a multiplayer-focused vehicular "sports-action" game developed and published by Psyonix Studios. The game is a variation on the real-world arena sport of soccer featuring highly-mobile four-wheeled vehicles instead of humanoid characters. As a sequel, it expands upon the core gameplay of its predecessor Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars with new features such as car customization, in-game tournament support, revamped matchmaking, adjustable match-specific modifiers such as "Low Gravity" and "Cube-Ball", and dedicated server support.

Rocket League began its alpha-testing stage on February 27, 2014 on PC, although Psyonix confirmed that the game would be available on other platforms. The game was originally released July 7, 2015 for PS4 and PC and allows cross-platform multiplayer between these two platforms. The game was released for the Xbox One the following year allowing a similar cross-platform multiplayer between the Xbox and PC variants of the game. Rocket League can be played using split-screen in both local and online multiplayer modes.

Gameplay

Two teams of players pilot their vehicles inside a fully-enclosed arena for five minutes while attempting to knock a large round ball into their opponents' goal in order to score points, with one point awarded for each successful goal. The number of players per team can vary between one to four, although three-versus-three is the maximum team size for ranked play. Matches begin with the ball placed stationary in the center of the field and all players starting on their respective sides in symmetrical team formations. Matches end once the ball makes contact with the ground after the match timer reaches zero. In the case of a tie, a sudden death (or "golden goal") period is played and continues until the final winning point is scored.

Players maneuver their vehicles on the playing field with standard gas, brake and turning controls typical of those found in other driving or racing games. The arena walls that enclose the playing field are sloped and can be scaled by vehicles with enough momentum to maintain adhesion. Boost may be collected at various regenerating "boost points" around the field, which can be spent as needed to temporarily increase a vehicle's speed. By boosting continuously for a short time, players can activate a faster second-tier boost capable of demolishing opposing players' vehicles upon contact. Demolished vehicles respawn on their own team's side of the field a few moments after being destroyed. Vehicles also have the ability to jump and then further manipulate their trajectory mid-air with a double jump. This high level of mobility allows players to perform advanced maneuvers like bicycle kicks or even achieve limited flight.

As a player completes matches, their player profile gains experience and levels, and Rocket League's matchmaking system uses this to match players of similar skill with one another. Bots are used to fill abandoned player slots during standard online multiplayer matches; however, bots are disabled for ranked play, which can lead to team imbalances if players quit a ranked game mid-match.

Mutators

Players are able to affect core aspects of the game through mutators. These can be set in both offline and online play. Public online matches rotate through a series of predetermined mutator combinations which cannot be changed. However, private online and offline matches give players the ability to set all mutator options however they would like. More settings can be changed manually than are found in preset combinations from public matches.

Customization

Players may customize their car in a variety of ways. There are 17 different bodies to choose from, including those from DLCs. Each body has a set of decals to choose from, usually six or seven with another option for no decal. Players can select primary and decal paint color and finish for each team separately. Including those unlocked in the various DLC, there are 31 wheels to choose from. Additionally, there are 45 rocket trails to choose from, which show when boosting. 26 toppers are typically available, with one more for alpha players. Finally, there are 276 antennas to select from, including national flags, random objects, community flags, and video game homages. Players may also select or disable titles from the Garage, but these do not affect the appearance of the car.

Each customization type, except paint and titles, also tracks one statistic. Bodies track wins, decals track saves, wheels count distance driven, rocket trails check boost time, toppers follow goals, and antennas count time played. Each option, such as the Star, within the customization type, like Topper, keeps track of the statistic only while it is equipped. For instance, the Backfire body does not count wins while the Grog body is in use and vice versa.

Crates

Players can earn crates after a match is completed. These crates can only be opened from purchasing keys. In them are cosmetic items such as car bodies, rocket trails, wheels and decals. All of which can be pulled with a different tracked stat than usual.

List of all crates

Champions Crate 1

Champions Crate 2

Champions Crate 3

Champions Crate 4

Player's Choice Crate

Turbo Crate

Nitro Crate

Overdrive Crate

Accelerator Crate

Haunted Hallows Crate

Awards

Awards are given to players for helpful or skillful play during the match, each with its own point value. Some awards are tracked by car customization options, but all total award counts may be found in the "Stats" section of the "Extras" menu. A small live feed of awards is displayed in the top right corner of the screen and shows those earned by both teams. A large point bonus is also given to players who stay until the end of a match. The winning team will receive 1000 points while the losing team will receive 750 points. In solo play, these values are halved.

Awards grant reduced points when playing alone with bots.

Titles

Titles are generally awarded based on level. Champions of large, official tournaments may also be given a custom title, such as the "PAX Champion" title.