Sometimes a simple premise is all it takes to make a hit game. Rocket League, despite its silly concept of cars playing soccer, became a big aSometimes a simple premise is all it takes to make a hit game. Rocket League, despite its silly concept of cars playing soccer, became a big a hit when released, and the new game Kabounce aims to follow in its footsteps.
The game tasks players with competing in a PvP environment to rack up points in a manner that combines soccer and pinball. The matches are timed and feature two phases, one where you roll around the map racking up points and evading the enemy team, while the other has an open goal allowing you to race for the hole to deposit your points. Each player can do a sort of jump attack that allows you to slam down, and if timed properly, will result in you stealing the enemy’s accumulated points. I found that this worked extremely well during the deposit phase, working almost as if I was a goalie.
There are some additional nuances that are involved, such as jumping and a boost option, which are easily mastered after completing the associated tutorials. To hone your skills, there is a small set of challenge courses that can be completed and replayed for a higher score/better time. With the exception of this and the option of playing with bots, there is no single player content, which may turn off some players. I found the parkour challenges fun, although they can all be completed in under an hour; I wish that more of these were included, or that more will added in the future. There is also a race option, but it requires you to be in a party and I do not have any Steam friends with the game, so I was unable to even try this mode.
The game controls well using a gamepad, while the keyboard seems a bit with the keys used. I quickly opted to hook up an Xbox 360 wired controller for my time with Kabounce. The buttons mapped perfectly and worked well with the frantic gameplay the offered.
Visually, the game does not disappoint when playing through the challenges or with bots; however, the deafening dubstep music that plays throughout is kind of nerve-racking and resulted in it being played on mute for the majority of its play time. Additionally, in the PvP online environment, the game runs poorly with the frame rate often lagging to what appears to be 15 FPS at best. While I’ve played worse, this is unacceptable when playing something this fast paced. The arenas are well rendered and the bright colored visuals are visually appealing, but the game’s six levels all look strangely similar, with the exterior of the playfield being the biggest difference between them.
The game offers more of the dreaded loot boxes, this time being replaced with balls. They offer nothing more than cosmetic upgrades and cannot be purchased with real money, requiring the player to level up simply by playing the game. You can outfit your ball with hats, change the trail that follows, and change the actual texture of the sphere. Despite not adding anything to the actual gameplay, there is a decent amount of variety and gives players that wish to stick it out for the long run something to work towards.
The game currently only offers a quick play option for PvP, with ranked matches being offered later in the month. Matchmaking is fairly quick, although the game allows you to join games in progress, which often puts you on the losing side. Since the matches are short (the standard being two minutes) this isn’t a huge deal, but it can be a bit disheartening, especially when the host up and leaves after they’ve taken their win. While the community I have interacted with hasn’t necessarily been toxic, I have yet to encounter many players I would want to continue playing with on a regular basis. With the right team working together or just casually playing with a group of friends, Kabounce could offer a great deal of fun. Sadly, players that opt for solo experiences like myself will probably view this as a bit of a letdown.
With a limited amount of content being offered at this time, Kabounce is a bit hard to recommend as a single player affair, as I was reaching an impressive level of boredom once the single player challenges were completed and I had sampled what the multiplayer had to offer. If you have a group of friends willing to take the plunge with you, you’ll likely at least get a few hours of enjoyment from this game.… Expand
