Rocket League Xbox One Review

Having Sold 11 Million copies across PC and Playstation 4 Rocket League now lands on Xbox One but is it worth the £15.9 outlay on Microsoft’s Power House console? Here is our Rocket League Xbox One review.

Rocket league is created by Indie game developer Psyonix from California however don’t be fooled into thinking they are a new player on the block and Rocket Leagues phenomenal success so far is a fluke. Psyonix have been behind some of you most loved titles and crucially some pretty big ones on Xbox. Did you know they were involved in Gears of War and Mass Effect 3 to name but two?

If you did think that Rocket League is some random game jam done good then you’d also be a bit mistaken. Rocket League comes from Playstation 3 sleeper hit Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket Powered Battle-Cars. Yep a mouthful and to all intents and purposes Rocket league is its shorter named sequel.

Having followed the games rise from PS3 on some very dodgy PSN servers at the time to its early beta builds on PS4 I knew it was gonna be a hit but just how big I don’t think even Psyonix would have believed. Originally released on Playstation 4 as part of the instant games collection to Playstation plus subscribers it quite easily became the best free game of 2015 on the Playstation 4.

“Add in the environmental sounds each car makes, the customisation options such as the Sunset Overdrive soda pops and the crowd chants then rocket league on Xbox One is a treat for the eardrums as much as the eyes.”

Fast forward to 2016 and we finally get to have the fun all over again on the Xbox One but does Rocket league live up to the hype and is this port worthy of your interest if you’re new to the game or wanting a reason to jump back in?

Firstly the game is everything and more that players got to experience on Playstation 4. All the battle cars and original maps are included in the game. Most importantly the huge volume of unlockable items is also available making Rocket League on Xbox one just as customizable joyful as it is on any other platform.

To cater for Xbox users there’s even some additional exclusive DLC just like the Playstation version received to make it feel more platform specific. Playstation got the Sweet tooth battlecar but over on Xbox your spoiled with two exclusive battle cars the Gears of War Armadillo and the Halo Warthog are both up for grabs. Additionally DLC previously at an additional cost on the Playstation 4 is also included. The Chaos DLC specifically, offering an additional map and game modes to offer well even more chaos per game.

If you do want to purchase even more to enhance your gameplay experience then there’s the not to be missed Back to the Future Delorean which is a snip at £1.59 and frankly there’s no better feeling in gaming when you reach top speed and see the sparks fly out and fire trail leave your competitors behind.

“Playing this game online with your friends will yield the best experience and by far the most fun”

Now when Rocket League launched on Playstation 4 there were some minor complaints around performance. Firstly it would make your playstation 4 sound like a rocket ship which for me was distracting and just not a pleasant experience. It’s improved since launch but it’s still a game that makes your Playstation get a bit hyped up inside. So on loading it onto the Xbox One this was one of the first things I was looking for. Thankfully Rocket League on Xbox One runs nice and quiet and there’s no rocket ship analogy required. I would most likely put this down to the form factor of the machines rather than anything the developer can really control. What I did find at times was that the game occasionally booted to the dashboard when joining games or upon finishing a match. Hopefully this is in hand and Rocket League gets a patch on Xbox one to rectify this.

In game the gameplay is identical to Playstation 4 and actually in many ways I found it to be smoother perhaps due to better server support or something else it just felt a little nicer to play. Servers at the time of review were not as sparsely populated as at launch but getting into a game now just takes seconds and you can pick from any of the game modes and have no trouble finding an online match whether it’s 1v1, 2v2, 3v3 or 4v4. 4v4 is where the real fun is at but expect chaos rather than precise skilled maneuvers.

“For about £15 it will deliver hours of gameplay with no two matches the same and no two battle cars alike”

It’s the joy of rocket league that great goals are more likely pulled of by accident than intention. You’ll spend likely hours circling the ball trying to do what feels like a simple task, just hit the ball. Over time you will get better and as you do there’s a real depth to the abilities you can master on each map. Knowing when to jump or when to boost into the air for that perfect aerial shot give you a great feeling of accomplishment when there’s a goal at the end. Plus you can always revel in it with the instant replays. Add in the environmental sounds each car makes, the customisation options such as the Sunset Overdrive soda pops and the crowd chants then rocket league on Xbox One is a treat for the eardrums as much as the eyes.

For those of you new to Rocket League the game offers a variation in game modes across offline single player to online multiplayer. If you want to go it alone there’s season mode which places you within a team of AI team mates of your choosing against AI opponents. Season mode allows you to select the number of weeks from 9 upwards depending basically on how long you feel like playing. It’s a basic career mode but ticks the boxes to keep you playing when your mates are not around.

Playing this game online with your friends will yield the best experience and by far the most fun. 3v3 is a mode I’d recommend and maybe best stay in the casual lobbies before attempting the competitive ones. To support some team play within the online versions there’s the in game chat where you can use the D-pad to select some preselected responses or hit the menu button on Xbox One to enter your own profanity. A controversial inclusion in many ways but I have seldom seen it used across all platforms.

So if you’ve been holding off and wondering still what’s all the fuss about please do yourself a favour and pick this gem of a title up. For about £15 it will deliver hours of gameplay with no two matches the same and no two battle cars alike. Its full of customisation options and the ability to create custom game types really adds the replay value you will get. Pound for pound there’s no better title on Xbox One in my eyes.