Chaos, cars and football

Speed meets precision, action meets chaos and cars meet football with Rocket League. The fast-paced car-based sports game is probably the craziest thing you will play this year.

Games take place in a walled arena, kind of like indoor or street football but instead of players everyone’s got small cars that can go super-fast, do backflips and demolish each other.

The game takes a while to get used to, especially with the fast-paced nature of the game being super crucial to the core gameplay. Players drive around the field picking up boost refills while trying to nudge the ball into the opponent’s net. While it may sound simple, try it with six cars on the field doing back flips at high speed and a ball three times the size of a car, yeah that is Rocket League.

The game has more than just one mode as players can choose to jump into casual or ranked games. Casual playlists include 1v1, 2v2, 3v3 or 4v4, while ranked matches are 1v1, 2v2 or 3v3. Each playlist feels different as the dynamic of the game completely changes as you add or remove players, it’s quite extraordinary as a matter of fact. However, if fast-paced online play isn’t your thing then Rocket League still has you covered with exhibition matches and a wicked season mode. Choose your car, your AI teammate, set up your team, pick your difficulty and you’re ready to go. The season mode can go all the way to a 36 week season, i.e., 36 matches leading up to playoffs against the top few teams. It’s a whole different experience with the AI being more precise and calculated but also dumb as hell at times. Even lower difficulties will give you a good run for your money. The singleplayer also plays and feels a lot smoother than online play, so you’ll find yourself going back quite a bit to hone your skills.

The game also offers a lot of customisation with a ton of different cars, decals, wheels and flags to show off your in-game progress. In most matches you’re going to have a mix of tiny trucks and sports cars wearing wizard hats with flamethrower afterburners; no I’m not crazy that’s just Rocket League and it’s the best thing I’ve played all year.