Depending on who you ask, video games’ lifespans have changed over the years. Some say physical media from the '90s didn’t depend on constant updates and quality of life tweaks. Others praise the insightfulness it takes to keep juggernauts alive for years like Fortnite and Minecraft. For Rocket League, it’s a mix of both worlds.
The once-in-a-lifetime soccer title has just completed its first decade on the circuit, and for better or worse, the playerbase has strong opinions on what to expect for the highly speculated, much-anticipated sequel.
The tricky part, however, is in its uniqueness. Without precedent, it becomes quite easy to miss the mark entirely. Tweak too much, and you lose the esports scene and your moderate yet loyal following. Tweak too little, and the release is DOA. If Epic Games and Psyonix are serious about rezzing the hype, they should listen to the egg-shaped crowd, as here are 5 features we all want to see in Rocket League 2.
1. Better Smurf Protection
Free-to-play has been a double-edged sword for developers Psyonix ever since they were acquired by Epic Games pre-pandemic, with some suggesting they go back to charging a symbolic fee to create a second account from the same launcher.
While the Epic business model has always been “get hooked first, spend money second” (and wowzers, do they do that second part well), smurfing in a 5-minute game with little to no discomfort all in the name of helping a friend, or clipping in ranked, is just not strict enough.
Phone number verification and/or limited log-ins per IP would definitely be a nicer start to Rocket League 2, especially after the hardest rank reset ever, and the race for the top ranks becomes lawless and ruthless.
2. Better Presentation
For such a fast-paced style of gameplay, you’d think Rocket League would take a little more time to make each match feel important, right? Maybe a drone shot of the stadium. Maybe beauty shots of both teams with engines revving up. Some special lightning for the kickoff countdown?
Nope. Nada. Zilch. Just spawn and start. Triple zeros, victory screen, loop of replays. The lack of human faces already makes it extremely difficult to evoke emotion, so everything and anything that can elevate the experience before, during, and after the game is of the utmost importance to keep your casual playerbase hooked. In Rocket League 2, you could even have the option to turn it off for sweats who just want in and out. It’s a win-win for everyone (except the developers who’d do twice the work, whoops).
3. Emote-Like Celebrations
Love them or hate them, Rocket League’s more successful cousin, Fortnite, is quite popular because of its dances. Trendy, quirky, viral; they can befriend, mock, and translate to and from reality. The same can’t be said for car soccer.
Rocket League Sideswipe, Rocket League’s little mobile bro, introduced stickers, similar to how emoticons work in Fortnite. Maybe Rocket League 2 can push the envelope further, allowing the player to honk their horns exclusively pre-game, post-score, and post-game to add a little spice into the banter. Sad to say, but “What a save!” isn’t enough anymore.
4. Revamped Season Mode
I remember being so afraid of queuing Competitive as a silver, I “grinded” against bots in Rocket League’s original Season Mode. A league play into an elimination bracket format versus subpar AI, but with a hint of the old times. Team names, logos, and color palettes provided by the developers. Automatic schedule. Color-coded scorebugs and fields. Charming if you ask me, but not competitive.
Now, imagine that exact feature, but sequel-worthy. A rotation of esports orgs. RLCS legends as bots with double, triple, quadruple the original difficulty. Heck, I would love to have commentary pre-recorded in FIFA and Madden fashion.
You talk about player titles as rewards, unlockables that matter, and now, with the Clubs feature starting to gain momentum, I see no better moment to re-introduce all of it than launch day, Rocket League 2.
.webp?width=700&quality=10&blur=40)
5. Create-Your-Map Suite
The RLCS scene wouldn’t be where it is without the modding community raising the bar in all important fields. From practicing shots, aerials, and mechs in Rings to introducing gaming genres to car soccer like shooters, battle royale, and party games, custom maps have been around forever and won’t go away anytime soon.
So, Psyonix, I personally beg of you to make our lives a little bit simpler and a whole lot cooler by having the custom map option available across all platforms. That way, not only can consoles finally keep up with the skill ceiling PC players keep crushing, but it also boosts the longevity of a sequel exponentially, taking off some pressure from whatever Rocket League 2 ends up bringing to the table, returning the power to the rocketeers.
Regardless of our wishlist, I continuously hope and pray that whenever (if ever) we see Rocket League 2 announced, it is not just a glorified graphics overhaul but a love letter to a community overdosing on copium.
For more like this, stick with us here at Gfinityesports.com, the best website for gaming features and opinions.