Back in 2016, when i purchased my first refurbished Xbox One, i desperately wanted to buy a game that i could play Couch Co Op with my friends. I did the necessary research and i found some clips on YouTube about a game where ”cars played football”. At first i was mocked its concept since i thought it was too childish for me. The majority of games that get released every now and then and are based on a unique idea end up in total disaster due to their below average execution.

Despite that fact, i found Rocket League on sale and i decided to purchase it. I also bought Doom to have something else to play in case it ended up a flop. The result was, that i became so obsessed with Rocket League that i rushed Doom to completion in order to fully dedicate my free time mastering Rocket League. So far, i have devoted more than 1000 hours on the game. But which are the reasons that I am so much fond of the game?

  1. It has a very addicting gameplay: Rocket League has one of the best gameplays i have seen in a videogame in recent years. If i had to describe it in a few words,  it is like ”playing billiards on a 3D pool table”. You can move and roll your car in all 3 axis and as a result, there are a ton of ways to hit the ball wherever and however you want. This ability that the game provides permit the player to apply in game every plan and strategy he has on his mind. When you acquire the necessary experience and skills, you will be able to put the thoughts you have in action effortlessly. No 2 matches are the same and if you find decent teammates as well as capable opponents, there  is a lot of tension involved in order to win the match. There are absolutely no limitations in Rocket League.
  2. It is not ”pay to win”: In this ”cursed” game, 3 things matter: skill, communication and luck. The more you develop each of these, the better you will get. No matter how fancy you make your car by spending money dressing it with cosmetic stuff acquired from loot crates, when in the field, only these 3 aforementioned parameters matter.
  3. There is a ton of customization options for your cars: By playing matches, you continuously unlock more and more stuff to put on your car: car skins, antennas, hats, wheels, trails, boost effects and the list goes on. As i said in the previous paragraph, there are also boxes containing special cosmetic items that can be unlocked with real money, but you can get them by trading with other players. Fortunately, its community is very energetic and will most likely continue to grow.
  4. Dedication and patience pay off: At first, you will be frustrated because you will not be able to score a goal even when you are in front of the opponent’s net. However, if you invest the necessary time and effort, gradually you will definitely become better. When you score your first aerial goal, you will undoubtedly start screaming from excitement deafening your teammates on the party chat. Eventually, you will be able to score goals while jumping from walls or even the from the ceiling. Furthermore, if you develop enough muscle memory and reflexes you will become an excellent goalkeeper and you will be able to deflect shots that are potential goals, thus receiving all the praise from your teammates.
  5. It is an E sport and it is evolving year after year: Since the game first launched in 2015, it has evolved quite a bit. If you compare the way professional players played in tournaments back then to how they play now, you will understand that nowdays the game is on a whole other level. At first, players could not even dribble the ball on their cars’ hood and aerial goals were scarce. Now, you can see professional layers passing the ball mid air, dribbling it and afterwards scoring bicycle goals. And all these in one goal opportunity. This gameplay evolution is a result of players’ creativity, since the mechanics have not changed at all 3 years now. In addition, the game is supported by MLG and other tournament organisations and every season, there are world championships where the participants have the opportunity to win huge amounts of money, sponsorship as well as a lot of fame.

If they isolated me on an island for the rest of my life and they told me that i could choose only one game to play, this would be the one. It is one of the most unique games that exist in today’s market and i can foretell that, since it is backed up by millions of players across the world, it will not cease to exist at least for the next decade. I absolutely love it and i hope that one day i will be able to create a decent team in order to take part in official tournaments. Try it. Now!!

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Image provided by Wesley Verbeek (AKA: Rawstylerzz91)