Rocket Arena | A Fun Game With Features Of Smash Bros And Quake
The FSG team used to work "from the shadows" on projects as big as Halo or Gears of War, but this time they opted for a refreshing new IP: Rocket Arena, featuring a variety of characters, items, and rockets of all classes and sizes.
Since it was announced, it's normal for us to compare it to something like Quake and Smash, because it mixes rocket launchers with an elimination mechanic that consists of hitting the opponent more and more, and not to kill them, but to get them off the battlefield. After playing it recently, this hasn't changed, which is pretty cool: it's as fun as it sounds. And now, with added improvements, it's time to uncover what's behind this new title from Final Strike Games and EA Originals.
What you need to know before starting the game is as simple as knowing that these are action packed 3 vs 3 battles: there are triple jumps, abilities, items, very dynamic maps and of course plenty of explosions, and the Always an interesting idea of not interrupting the rhythm: if you are eliminated, you go back in without any loading screen, an equipment menu or something, the developers want you to always pay attention to what is happening on the screen.
I understand that one of the main points of Rocket Arena is that it is accessible. Even today it is easy to find games based on a striking aesthetic with a lot of action, and it is not the exception with this game, which also tries to make its gameplay direct and simple. The only things that go into games are short tutorials that teach you how to jump, feint, and how to use missiles, and a practice game against bots. After that we will already have all the characters and modes at our disposal, and all that remains is to unlock the banners, skins and animations with which we can decorate the heroes.
This game offers 5 different modes, which are divided into four PvP and another PvE modes. We also have a competitive mode with a seasonal classification. Social modes are also on the Arena list "Harassment and Demolition" for those who are only interested in TDM.
All the characters in the cast and their weapons are very diverse: the only similar aspects are the controls and of course the ability to dodge. So, the Rev character uses missiles as if they were a machine gun, while Kayi does it as if it were a crossbow. Almost none of the characters can aim sights, and although you have to reload weapons constantly, the ammunition as such is infinite, it is something like Splatoon, you shoot to the ground to climb, to make rocketjumps, and it is not enough to give two or three you shoot an opponent to get him off the map, and there are characters that are very difficult to finish. Although there are two abilities in each characters to give us some advantage; one of them recharges every few seconds, but the second is a much more spectacular and decisive special power.
As we play the social games for several hours we will realize that they have some complexity, a kind of metagame that you do not have to follow, but that contributes a lot in the games. For example, in Rocketball, the pirate Barbabúm can be a defense due to his ability to explode everything around him, reflecting rockets and the ball itself. Whoever has that ball cannot use special abilities, but the warrior Izell has a very useful ability that helps us to throw the ball upwards, releasing a special attack with which she can launch at full speed. If done the right way, he can go a long way to the opposing team's side, catching the ball he just shot. It is a little risky, but if it goes well it brings its benefits.
In short, we are talking about a game that is solid in its genre and that has luxuries that not all games have, such as cross-platform play, output and that graphically has a generic, but distinctive style. It is very colorful, and the animations of the characters look great, the effects are spectacular and of course each map has its rules, for reasons of balancing the game and so on. The audio section also complies, it is not especially outstanding but it is in accordance with the game with sports tunes and voices in English.
Rocket Arena is a somewhat risky bet, but it is a very fun game and it meets all the characteristics that you could ask of a game of this genre at launch: cross play, qualifiers, private matches and more. The game has a good number of varied characters, maps and interesting modes, and although the game takes time to really enjoy, it is a very interesting experience and especially recommended.
