There’s a brilliance to how Rocket League’s gameplay naturally curates complexity from simplicity. The game is incredibly approachable in how easy it is to understand, but the skill ceiling for the game is ridiculously high, allowing players who want that extra challenge to find it. I can’t explain how it works, other than that it makes me say, “Okay, just one more match,” for the 20th time in a row when it’s 3 AM, and I definitely have work the next day.
In a way, it’s for this very reason that Rocket League works as a sports game. It’s not just that it’s a game about playing soccer. It’s that it’s a game where the tutorial teaches you elementary basics, and from there, each player develops their own style. My roommate has trained incessantly in how to jump, accelerate, stop, flip, fly, turn, drift, and reverse when it comes to defending the goal. He’s an incredible goalie who’s taken all the aspects of Rocket League and applied them to become a better defender.
I know how to do everything he does. Still, I can’t do it like he does because I’ve trained myself in how to jump, accelerate, stop, flip, fly, turn, drift, and reverse when it comes to flying into the air, seeing where the defenders are positioned, and spiking the ball so that it goes into the opponent’s goal. My roommate and I have the same skills–the game taught us the same things–but we found what we were good at early on and how we play now is informed by that early decision, just like athletes. When I defend, I defend by trying to spike away an opponent’s shot, and that, in turn, makes me a sub-par goalie
Even players with the same skill set develop differently. A friend I sometimes play with is an excellent spiker like me, but he finds it easier to do so with short horizontal flights with his car upside down. I always spike by flying up to meet the ball at the climax of its arc, and I’m always right side up. Most sports games have you play as established athletes or allow you to create your ideal athlete, but regardless those stats ensure that you’re playing in a certain way depending on who you’re controlling. In Rocket League, there are no stats to customize. You’ll grow in your own way, and in that way, the game naturally rewards skill. You’re not getting good at mastering an athlete’s strengths and weakness; you’re the athlete that’s hitting the field to practice and find out what you’re good at and where you need to improve. And that’s why Rocket League is the best sports game of this console generation. — Jordan Ramée
