
Worthless in some modes imperative in others.Ī good "hero shooter" works when its range of classes encourage teamwork and coordination, and thus make any team framework viable in any mode. But he's an imbalanced damage machine who can instantly turn the tide in a round of team deathmatch. Should you need to move the "rocketball" (this game's version of a flag) from one side of an arena to another, he's not up to snuff, as his "teleport" ability isn't a movement-tech option. One example is Plink, the preteen wiz-kid who can absolutely lay waste to foes thanks to his default barrage of mini-rockets that kinda-sorta home in on targets. The trouble begins with a cast of 10 characters who are clearly not designed to shine in every mode. Is there a game worth recommending here? Almost. Let's say EA somehow straightened its messaging about money and respected players.

before trying to squeeze us all for a few more bucks. Maybe, just maybe, EA should have removed all ties to real-world money in its "launch" period, thus forcing players to explore how the natural act of playing the game leads to new outfits and decorations. And once you're in the game, all of the modes are available no gameplay is gated behind further payments. What's more, a majority of the launch game's cosmetic options can only be earned via gameplay. A first-time player can rack up a ton of in-game currency by simply playing one match with each of the 10 characters, which can be spent on certain cosmetic unlocks.

Had the UI been redesigned to reflect how the in-game economy works, EA might have left a different impression. The ways Rocket Arena nudges you to spend real-world money, after you've already paid $30 to start the game, would be hilarious if they didn't feel like a slap in consumers' faces. Buy new outfits! Buy a battle pass! Buy decorations for your "totem," a flag that briefly appears between matches. Advertisementīefore the game tries to answer that question, however, Rocket Arena slaps you across the face with an interface that looks straight out of Fortnite. In Rocket Arena, nobody can hurt themselves, and this fact, coupled with the tutorial's insistence that you learn the move to climb up walls, might make you think the whole game is a blast-to-jump movement frenzy.

This high-speed maneuver comes with a damage tradeoff: jump farther, take blast damage. Things begin awkwardly thanks to the tutorial's focus on "rocket jumping." For the uninitiated, classic Quake games revolve around the idea of blasting yourself to a higher jump by launching a rocket at your feet.

ROCKET ARENA PC REQUIREMENTS OFFLINE
There's zero offline mode to speak of beyond a simplistic practice mode if you want to fight the game's AI, there's an online option, tucked into a few menus. Pick from 10 combatants, each with their own specialized rocket launcher as a primary weapon, and jump into 3v3 online battles. And, yes, before hitting "publish," I had to make sure I didn't accidentally type Rocket League, the name of a wildly successful 3v3 car-soccer game.ĮA's new game, admittedly, leans more into the title as a concept, because it revolves almost entirely around rocket launchers as weapons. Apparently, that mod's name was never trademarked, and this new game's developers at Final Strike Games swooped in to nab it in 2017.įrom here on out, any italicized mention of Rocket Arena refers to the new 2020 game. "Rocket Arena" is also the name of a fun 1v1 tweak for games like Quake III Arena that gives two players every possible weapon at the start of a match, then places them in a high-speed duel.
ROCKET ARENA PC REQUIREMENTS MOD
EA's version of Rocket Arena, not to be confused with the Quake mod of old.īecause this is Ars Technica, we must start by differentiating this new game's name from the popular, long-running mod of the same name.
