'Rocket League' review: Game is like playing soccer with cars

"Rocket League" is a new vehicle-based ball-and-goal title from developer Psyonix. At first glance, the title seems to be a direct sequel to its predecessor, "Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars"; however, there are new features and upgrades that make the recently-released title a major triple-A contender in its own right. 

Simply put, "Rocket League" is soccer played with cars. Opposing teams must upstage each other on the soccer pitch and score more goals than the other team. However, instead of players making a balanced team out of soccer and pitch superstars, gamers will control vehicles. It sounds weird, but the additional clincher is that the vehicles are not the run-off-the-mill standard ones – depending on player preferences, some are even built like a monster tank. 

Gameplay is straightforward. The cars must take the ball into their own goals, and just like a true soccer game, they can steal the ball from enemies and even from each other. And because of the frenzied action on the pitch, some accidental goals are also possible. Strategies and goal runs are affected by the vehicles themselves since players need to check the stats. Although far from being physics-correct, the vehicles' handling, start and max speeds, and acceleration also play roles in coming up with strategies for a play. 

There are no weapons or power-ups available in the game, and it makes "Rocket League" all the more exciting, since matchmaking means that players will not have to rely on levels or power-ups or how powerful their items are. 

This is true for the current game version. However, there are recent speculations that Psyonix is thinking of introducing power-ups in future game expansions, although the developer is quick to clarify that if the company will be introducing in-game items, this would only be made available for private matches just to make games interesting, and power-ups will not make it to the regular gameplay. 

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