I was cynical as all hell about Rocket Arena's existence - another in the long line of also-ran attempts at the Overwatch live service money machine wrapped in a layer of Fortnite fondant so inedibly saccharine your teeth hurt just looking at the trailer. "Pay $30-40? For this?", you ask? You wouldn't be the only one, and someone at either EA or developer Final Strike seems to have caughtI was cynical as all hell about Rocket Arena's existence - another in the long line of also-ran attempts at the Overwatch live service money machine wrapped in a layer of Fortnite fondant so inedibly saccharine your teeth hurt just looking at the trailer. "Pay $30-40? For this?", you ask? You wouldn't be the only one, and someone at either EA or developer Final Strike seems to have caught on, as nearly every storefront in the physical realm now prices this beauty at no more than 10 of your harder to earn dollars at the writing of this review. Worth an impulse buy if I ever saw it!
At first glance, the third-person hero shooter looks no different than the other multiplayer misfits that have been chewed up and spat out in the age of Overwatch. Lawbreakers, Battleborne, Bleeding Edge, even OnRush have all taken their shot, with some forgotten and others meeting embarrassing public executions. Nothing Rocket Arena does outwardly suggests its fate would be any different.
The reality is Rocket Arena is a very good and simple 3v3 multiplayer game with a lot of depth and mobility at your disposal. Even the tutorial they thrust you in upon booting up makes this clear, demonstrating your triple jump, rocket jump, a "wavedash"-like dodge and a death-defying wall jump mechanic.
For the unaware, Rocket Arena is not a traditional shooter, but rather more in the vein of Smash Bros. The goal is to fling your opponents out of bounds, with increased damage resulting in longer hangtime and distance per attack. Players can employ a dodge (on a cooldown, as are all of the characters' abilities) that negates incoming hits when timed properly. You'll need it, too, as there's a damage threshold that once reached will ensure a KO the next time you're hit hard enough (called a Megablast in the game).
Damage resets to 0 when out of combat long enough, but good luck finding a hiding spot. Enemies can come from absolutely anywhere, even across the arena. Keep your head on a swivel to not only avoid damage, but seek out those on the edge of being eliminated. There's very little you can do to directly benefit your teammates other than gang up on single enemies for classic ganking. The most original mechanic is the Mystery Gift, obtained from Mario Kart-style item boxes around the stage that will give a random item to teammates in range when used, like explosive tripmines, magnets that trap all enemy fire, and upgrades to speed or dodging that could either get you out of a fight, or a safer path into one.
Online play is stable, but it has a nasty habit of inexplicably freezing any time your team is announced as halfway to the goal. Crossplay is in from the start, but I haven't seemed to run into anyone not on the same platform, probably with the playerbase getting a bump due to the clearance sale mentioned earlier. Games can be one sided, which is not helped by the alarming number of players obviously ragequitting. There are quirks with the physics as well, as one Megablast had me bouncing around the lower parts of a level for over 10 seconds, with absolutely no recourse but to watch my helpless avatar bounce until finally getting the right angle to reach the blast zone.
Modes are broken up into Arena and Knockout. Arena features objective modes like the capture-point based Megarocket, and Treasure Hunt, which features alternating rounds of Oddball-esque keepaway and a unique coin-collecting challenge that asks you to know the maps well to be effective. There's also a promising sounding Rocketball mode that never popped up during my time playing. Knockout is a brute force first-to-20 mode where your entire focus is on eliminating the other team, and the more fun pool of the two. Rocket Arena also features a Ranked playlist that wont activate fully until July 28th.
Where Rocket Arena fails hardest is the overall art design, particularly the characters. Simply put, they're abysmal. A menagerie of focus-tested, play-it-safe, boring, Dreamworks faced doofuses unworthy of POP Vinyls that wouldn't inspire the need for a second page on Rule 34. I can't name a single one of them without looking them up. You could tell me the menus were bought on a stock asset website and I'd believe you. Stages are least bad, each with a decent albeit overdone decor and distinct landmarks.
Rocket Arena has more minor faults, like the addition of microtransactions in a premium product, the need for specialized currency, and the horrific modern trend of the rotating item store. There's also a Battlepass, which also hasn't yet activated, and should hopefully add at least some options to the utterly worthless line of alternate skins and cosmetic items present at launch.
If you can find Rocket Arena cheap, and you can force yourself past the acrid stench of the cousins that Paladins doesn't talk to anymore, you might find yourself with a decent time waster that's just different enough to excuse all the ways it's painfully the same.… Expand
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