Five Reasons Rocket League is Better Than Soccer

By now, you probably discovered how cool a game Psyonix’s Rocket League is. It’s a unique hybrid of racing and soccer that takes goal-scoring to the next level, especially when you hop online and battle your friends (or other Rocket League pros) in a match filled with chaotic racing and last-second victories.

If you don’t believe us, here are five reasons this game is better than real soccer. Don’t worry, FIFA 16. We still love you.

Superior Pacing

With soccer, you sometimes wait roughly 10 minutes or so for players to work the ball down the field strategically, in the hopes it won’t get picked off by an opponent. Only during unexpected fast breaks – or when the action moves towards a goal does the game pick up.

Rocket League, however, has feverish pacing. If you somehow get knocked to the other side of the field, it only takes a few seconds to get back where the action is, and even less so when you activate turbo. What’s more, the game always remains exciting, especially when the ball ends up rolling towards a goal line. Talk about tension.

Zero Penalties

In soccer, you’ll often see red and yellow cards pulled due to negative player behavior, whether it’s a sliding tackle or a trip that results in a corner kick – and even then, there’s another penalty waiting in the wings.

Meanwhile, Rocket League has no penalties. If you demolish an opponent on the field with a turbo boost, the game keeps going like nothing happened. (The player re-emerges soon after, so they’re still in the game.) If you knock into other cars making a play for the ball, you’ll find no stoppage in this match. In fact, the only time there’s a stop is if a goal is scored – and the game resumes seconds later.

On top of that, no game stoppage for out-of-bounds balls. Let that sucker bounce off the wall and keep playing!

Customization

With soccer game customization, you only have so many options to choose from, like player faces, uniforms and maybe a couple of things in performance. That’s about it. Otherwise, they all look the same, and barely differ from one another – save for a unique hairstyle or something.

That said, Rocket League is the opposite. As you play through the game you’ll unlock a number of items, including customized vapor trails that add attitude to your ride, as well as custom flags and hats that you can decorate your car. Ever score a goal with a speedster wearing a sombrero? Here’s your chance.

Nowhere Near as Technical

Psyonix’s game throws strategy out the window for the most part. While it helps to have a car prepared on the other end of the field when an opponent tries to score a goal, the bottom line is that players want to stay on top of the ball as much as possible. Forget formations – stay on target, bounce it off a wall and set up a scoring chance for your buddy. There are some great tricks to learn here, but they don’t require remembering a formation to be effective.

It’s Perfect for Rookies

With soccer games like Pro Evolution Soccer and FIFA, sometimes players have to go through quite a few paces in order to adapt to gameplay. We’re talking several matches of learning formations, how to pass the ball effectively and so forth – and it can be real grating for those who just want to jump in and play.

However, that’s not the case with Rocket League. This game has a “jump in and play” mentality, and while some of the pros make it appear you really need to know what you’re doing, it’s quite fun to practice with. The game features a single player mode against AI bots that gives you plenty of time to freshen up before you hop into multiplayer. Even then, the learning process is hardly difficult – this is one of those times where you’ll have a blast as you pick up the pace.

Bonus Reason: No Player Drama

Don’t you hate it when you’re watching soccer and some player intentionally flops in the hopes of getting his team a penalty kick? It’s the kind of drama usually reserved for a really bad film. Well, fortunately, we don’t have to put up with it in Rocket League. You get bruised (or destroyed) and you just keep rolling in the hopes of getting a scoring chance. That’s how it’s meant to be played.

Rocket League is available now for PlayStation 4 and PC. Be sure to check out our goal-scoring tips as well as our general strategies!