Rocket League’s developer, Psyonix, has shown that you don’t need the world’s biggest IP or marketing campaign to have a continuously successful game. You just need a strong central mechanic, decent matchmaking ability and a steady stream of new content to keep people interested. September’s big Rumble update seems likely to continue that trend, with the introduction of power ups, much akin to games like Mario Kart.
Although we don’t know exactly when Psyonix plans to release the big Rumble update, the planned September release will shake things up a lot when it does arrive. The new free game mode, called (as you might expect), “Rocket League Rumble,” will see players trying to score on traditional maps, but with a heap of power ups to augment their play.
There are 11 new power ups set to be added to the game, including a boot that kicks an opponent’s car out of the way, a disruptor which makes your enemies drive all over the place, a freezer which holds the ball in place, grappling hooks, power boosts, plungers to grab a ball and a few other fun power-ups in the announcement trailer.
It’s not exactly clear from the trailer how players will acquire these power ups, but we’re told they are random, so what you end up with and how you apply it during the match will be different every time. As is clear from the above video though, they can combo together quite well, so if you and your team are already quite synergistic, this should open up a whole new sphere of gameplay for you.
Never fear though Rocket League purists, Rumble isn’t taking over everything. Much like Hoops, Ice Hockey and Mutator modes, the new Rumble mode will simply sit alongside the already available options for gameplay. You can still take part in ranked single, dual, solo standard and team three game play, without any of the additions.
You will have to continue to contend with that split level map though, which we’re still having trouble getting the hang of.
