Over the past couple months, I’ve been exceedingly busy at work. Gaming has been difficult over that span. Even a game like Fallout 4 — probably my most anticipated title of the year — has been on the back burner far more often than I’d like since its release.
But there’s one exception to that rule, a game that rewards skill and precision while still welcoming in newcomers with its simple concept: Rocket League.
If you’ve somehow missed the wave of popularity Rocket League has achieved in the past few months, the game is simple: you drive a car around a field and try to use it to knock an oversized ball into a goal. Straightforward and to the point.
The reason the game works is that it’s addictive in short bursts. A five-minute game with one- to four-person teams flies by, thanks in no small part to tight and responsive controls that make such a basic concept so fun to play. That’s perfect for me with a hectic schedule right now; if I find myself with a short lull of work, I can sneak in a quick match between projects and not worry about breaking the immersion of a game with a detailed story.
Recently, two friends of the show were in town for a weekend and we played quite a bit of Rocket League with the local splitscreen option (a dying relic in games these days, unfortunately — I’m looking at you, Halo 5). It was pretty damn entertaining. There’s just something that feels great about boosting through the air to tap in a clutch goal or flying across the goal mouth to prevent a score from the opposition.
I’m not sure whether we’ll do a full review of the game at some point, but in the dozens of hours I’ve put in, Rocket League gets at least a 4 out of 5 in my book. There’s still more content coming down the pipe, like the recent update that added small gameplay quirks like sliders that adjust the gravity or the penalty for being blown up. It’s a blast, and it’s worth checking out through your PS4 or Steam if you get the chance.