GameSided’s Top 10 Game of the Year 2015 List

Game of the Year 2015 – #2 Rocket League (180 points – one 2nd place vote, five total votes)

Developer: Psyonix

Publisher: Psyonix

Giving away your game at no extra cost for an entire platform’s subscribers, at launch no less, seems like a silly business decision on paper. Alas, Psyonix knew the struggles of getting your game recognized and opted to hand out copies of Rocket League to PS4 PS+ members throughout July 2015. That was the right decision, as you can never truly know the excellence of “car soccer” without getting your hands on it.

Running either 1v1 or on teams of up to 4 each, Rocket League is as simple as the game sounds. You operate a car and try to score a giant ball into your opponent’s net. But what makes the action different is the strategy involved. Each setting allows for driving up the wall, jumps and rocket boosts for extra speed. These three elements, combined, are key to being an effective offensive and defensive player.

The design of each stage allows for the fluidity of motion to take over. To block high shots, you need to jump or leap across the side of the net. To score over your opponents, you need to boost upwards and knock in goals from above. To set up scoring opportunities, you need to bounce shots reflectively off of the sides of walls. Rocket League has the addictive quality of being easy to learn, but difficult to master. For an Indie game to take off in both a casual and competitive sense is an amazing accomplishment.

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