Rocket League receives gameplay-altering update with new mutators

By Danny Cowan November 10, 2015

rocket league gameplay overhauled in latest update rl108 header — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Psyonix’s Rocket League has attracted a dedicated playerbase, but despite several updates in the months following its launch, its core vehicle-based soccer gameplay remains much the same. Psyonix promises to shake things up with this week’s launch of a comprehensive patch that adds new options to change in-game ball physics and driving mechanics, giving veteran players a new degree of challenge.

After applying Patch v1.08, Rocket League players can choose from an array of physics-altering presets and settings that “add depth, variety, and crazy rocket-powered fun to custom games.”

Rocket League now boasts a collection of “mutator settings” that cause the in-game ball to behave much differently than it does by default. Players can enable “Beach Ball” mode for a larger and slower ball during matches, for instance, while the “Pinball” option makes the ball smaller, faster, and less predictable.

Other mutator options change vehicle handling. Enabling “Moonball” reduces gravity and makes boosting more potent, “Demolition” increases gravity and makes enemy vehicles explode on contact, and “Time Warp” puts vehicles into slow-motion as they approach the ball. The new “Cubic” setting changes both ball and vehicle behavior, enabling automatically recharging boost meters and replacing the game’s regulation ball with a tumbling cube.

Players can enable any one of these mutator settings at the start of any custom match, or they can choose to cycle through mutators as part of the new “Mutator Mashup” 3v3 online playlist.

In addition to offering mutator presets, Rocket League‘s latest update introduces the ability to tweak settings like match length, ball size, and game speed. Matches can optionally end when either team reaches a specified point value, and other settings enable new features like friendly fire, rechargeable boosts, and shortened respawn times, among other additions.

Patch v1.08 also adds a collection of new vanity items, including antenna toppers inspired by games like Oddworld, Unreal Tournament, and Fallout 4. The update is available as a free download for the PC and PlayStation 4 versions of Rocket League.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Contributor

Danny’s passion for video games was ignited upon his first encounter with Nintendo’s Duck Hunt, and years later, he still…

Gaming

How to get credits in Rocket League

best nintendo switch ports rocket league

Rocket League's recent move to a free-to-play model has been fairly smooth, mainly because the in-game economy was established before Epic and Psyonix pulled the trigger. At the heart of the economy is Rocket League's in-game currency, simply called "credits." You can use credits to purchase cosmetic items like a player banner or a rocket trail, as well as blueprints for unlocking other items. Here, we're going to show you how to get credits in Rocket League, both from the in-game store and for free using external trading platforms.

Further reading

Gaming

The best Rocket League cars

rocket league

Ever since it launched as a free PlayStation Plus title, Rocket League has enjoyed a large and healthy population of players. With a concept as simple as "soccer ... but with rocket-powered cars," it has all the elements that make it fun for casual players to pick up and play for an hour, plus enough depth and potential for strategy to launch a booming e-sports scene. Now that it has gone completely free to play on the Epic Game store, there's no telling how high this game can soar.

Even before it became free to play, Rocket League was jam-packed with cosmetic items for players to earn as they played. You could deck out your car's wheels and equip different flags, paint jobs, wheels, exhaust trails, and more. The most substantial thing you can pick for yourself will obviously be the car itself. Plenty of new models have been added over the game's life, including many pulled from films like Ghostbuster's Ecto -- 1 and the Batmobile, but those might not be the smartest picks. Psyonix has made it a point to try and make all cars more or less equal, yet there are a few that do have a slight edge over the others. If you want to gain every advantage you can on the field, these are the best cars in Rocket League.

Gaming

Is Rocket League cross-platform? How to play Soccar across systems

is rocket league cross platform featured

There are few games that embody "pure fun" quite like Rocket League. It's not a hard game to understand: You drive a car, you hit a massive ball into the opposing goal, and the first team to score the most points wins. It's that simplicity that makes Rocket League such an excellent game, though. No matter if you're an indoctrinated RPG player with thousands of hours on record or someone who likes to take a load off with Animal Crossing, Rocket League has something for you.

It has something for you across platforms, too. Among the many reasons Rocket League is a great game, its recent success and continued interest are most likely attributed to cross-platform support. In this guide, we're going to answer the question, "Is Rocket League cross-platform?" Along the way, we'll also talk about the limitations of crossplay and how those work into cross-progression and cross-save.