What is Rocket League? Game Modes, and Soundtracks in 2023

Rocket League is a football video game of 2015, developed and published by Psyonix Studios for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, and Nintendo Switch. From 23 September 2020, it became free-to-play for all platforms and was also added to the Epic Games launcher. This is the sequel to Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars (2008).

Game Modes of Rocket League

The player will control a car, called the Battle-Car, in a rectangular field with two doors on the smaller sides. There are two teams (Orange and Blue) from 1 to 4 players. The game’s object is to get the most balls into the opponent’s goal, and the team that scores the most goals in 5 minutes will win the match. In the event of a tie at the end of regular time, the golden goal will be used in extra time, i.e. an unlimited time in which the first goal scored is worth the victory of your team and the end of the match.

Driving over yellow circles symmetrically scattered around the playing field, getting about an eighth of the turbo (12). Driving over spheres in the corners and the lateral centerline of the playing field makes it possible to obtain the complete recharge of the turbo (100).

This serves to increase the speed of the player’s car if used on the ground. While if used in the air (thanks to a jump), it helps to deliver more powerful aerial shots than those launched. The amount of turbo acquired is present in the appropriate indicator located in the lower right corner of the game screen.

If the online servers do not find any players to include in the game after a few seconds, one or more bots are inserted substitutes that adapt to the experience of the players already present in the game. But only if the game is not valid for the official Rocket League ranking. Otherwise, the game cancels the match due to a lack of participants to not favor one of the two teams.

Soccar

In the Soccar mood, on a soccer field, or graphic variants, the two teams, made up of 1, 2, 3, or 4 players each, will have to score a number of goals greater than the opponents in the goal of the latter, using a classic spherical ball.

Snowday

The Snowday mode transports the cars of the players on an ice hockey field where, instead of the classic spherical ball, the two teams, composed of 3 players each, will have to reach the goal using their own hockey puck; the movements and speed of the disc are noticeably different from the classic spherical ball.

Hoops

The Hoops mode transports the players’ cars to a classic basketball court where the two teams, made up of 2 players each, must score as many baskets as possible in the opponent’s basket.

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Rumble

Rumble mode is a Soccar mode in which players are assigned random special powers to drastically intervene on the outcome of an action or the behavior of an opponent.

Dropshot

They were added with the update in early 2017. The match takes place in an octagonal game arena, the floor of which is divided into panels, which are destroyed when hit by the ball. The players must destroy the floor of the opponent’s half in order to make the ball “drop” out of the arena.

Tournaments

After the addition of Free to Play, tournaments are also added. Only 3v3 tournaments are added, up to season 4, where 2v2 tournaments are added.

The player classification is more or less associated with a lobby with other players similar to their classification.

With Season 4, Special Modes tournaments are also added without affecting the player’s ranking.

Competitive

The game also features a competitive mode, which follows the basic game rules and gives the player a rank for each game mode (1v1, 2v2, 3v3). There are 8 ranks in the competition; they are respectively: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Champion, Grand Champion, and Supersonic Legend.

Timed Mode

Running on the tips

Added in the 2019 “Radical summer” update and re-launched in early April 2020.

The mode reflects the rules of the normal game with some peculiarities that differentiate it: a few seconds after a player makes the first touch on the ball, all players will see pins on their car, thus allowing them to stick the ball to their car when it hits the ball.

When a player catches the ball, the turbo switches off. When a player touches the ball, even though it is already attached to another player, it sticks to the last one who hits it.

Seeker of Heat

In this mode, usually in teams of 2 or 3 players, the ball, after being hit, will automatically go to the opponent’s goal; each hit will make it faster, and therefore harder to take. The ball has a luminous trail that makes it similar to a spectrum (it was used to simulate a ghost during the HAUNTED HALLOWS event, dating back to October-November 2020, coloring it green and pink).

Speed ​​demon

In this mode, added in summer 2021, two teams of 3 players will have the availability of an unlimited turbo, and with each touch, they will hit the ball with more force than normal. In addition, it will also be easier to demolish opponents.

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Development

On 22 February 2014, Psyonix confirmed the sequel to Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars, called Rocket League.

The game was made playable in closed alpha for PC in February 2015 and subsequently in two closed beta sessions for PlayStation 4 in April and May 2015.

On June 3, 2015, the launch date of July 7, 2015, for PlayStation 4 and PC was made official, and it is revealed that Sweet Tooth’s machine (the character from the Twisted Metal series) is unlockable in the PS4 exclusive game.

In July 2015, the month of its release, it was part of the PlayStation Plus Instant Game Collection in North America, Europe, and Oceania.

Transition to Free-to-Play

On September 23, 2020, Rocket League began the transition from being an exclusive title to being a free video game (free to play), due to the purchase of the title developer company, Psyonix, by the Epic Games company, has resulted in the transformation of this phenomenon into a global title where there are no barriers, cross-play is added from the moment of launch and accounts are shared to unify the same ecosystem.

The fact that Rocket League becomes free implies that playing online will be free and cancels the option of having an online service such as Nintendo Switch Online or PlayStation Plus, the subscription services of Nintendo Switch and PS4, respectively. On Xbox, it is also possible to play Rocket League without paying for an Xbox Live Gold subscription.

Soundtrack

The official Rocket League soundtrack was released on July 1, 2015, in both disc and digital format. It contains original compositions by Psyonix sound designer Mike Ault with other collaborations.

Reception

The criticism, already to the beta version of the game, has been very positive. With critics praising the fact that it is “engaging and fun”, as well as the game visuals “are very detailed”. After E3 2015, the game receives several nominations and awards, including the E3 2015 Best Sports Game award from PlayStation Universe and the E3 2015 Best Multiplayer Game award from GamingTrend.

Rocket League has generally received positive reviews, where most reviewers praise the multiplayer component, calling it fun, simple, and engaging, calling it one of the best competitive games in recent years. However, some users have pointed out that simple core concepts belie the true depth of the game, which stems from a developed understanding of physics and “floating” control mechanics.

Sales

On July 11, 2015, Psyonix announces that there are 120,000 and 100,000 regular players on PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows respectively. July 14 reaches 2 million downloads. 3 days later, the number doubles to 4 million.

At the end of July 2015, the game had over 5 million downloads, with 179,000 regular players. Psyonix claims that they did not expect such rapid success, which exceeded their expectations.