Rocket League Season 18 Review (Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Switch & PC)

It wasn’t all that long ago that I got talking to the old group that I used to turf it up with on Xbox Live. In a moment of reflection, I decided to bring up Rocket League, and how the game was arguably the kindling that fueled most, if not all of our arguments. I then mentioned that Season 18 was just around the corner, and that it would be a great way for us to rebuild some of those former bridges and/or rivalries. They declined, of course, but it wasn’t due to the lack of interest in returning to the sphere, but the fact that, even with seventeen seasons under its belt, they just couldn’t believe that it was still in rotation. But that was rectified, more so when I explained that it never left, but actually found innovative ways to keep the ball rolling, so to speak.

Rocket League is just about ready to celebrate its ten-year anniversary, and so, naturally, developer Psyonix has been hard at work ironing out the details for its pre-milestone event. This event, which follows in the footsteps as its previous seventeen seasons, includes a slew of fresh fixtures, including but not limited to a futuristic arena (Futura Garden), car bodies, fresh mutators, and several handfuls of general quality of life improvements to the infrastructure of the game’s core online and offline modes. And that’s not all; the eighteenth season also introduces a couple of new add-ons, which includes both the Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack and Azura Car Bodies, among a batch of audiovisual overhauls and other technical fixes, too. So, clearly a lot of bang for your buck.

We’re Not in the Little Leagues Anymore…

It’s the eighteenth season, which means that Rocket League has had nearly a decade to finesse its formula and implement the necessary alterations to both build and maintain a well-oiled online multiplayer action soccer hybrid game. To that end, there’s very little I can actually fault. Sure enough, Rocket League still provides the same explosive spheres, chaotic energy, and competitive mechanics as it did back in 2015. But that isn’t what we’re here to critique; it’s the materials that Season 18 brings to the table, of which, after plugging into its latest pocket to have a good old shuffle around, there are quite a few to choose from. From the generous improvements to the subregion matchmaking system to the advanced rewards and tournament items, stylized mutators to the freshly integrated Challenges, Season 18 has a staggeringly high amount of fresh content — and that’s barely scratching the surface.

The most notable feature for the eighteenth season is the Futura Garden Arena—a hyper-bombastic sci-fi spherical sandbox that waxes sky-high altitudes with a gorgeously detailed 360* stadium. Suffice it to say, it’s one of the cleanest and most impressive arenas that Rocket League has implemented into the rolling carousel of maps in recent years. And while this could boil down to a matter of opinion, it’s worth noting that there are several audiovisual overhauls that make it that much easier to fall head over heels in love with, like the highly infectious ping from the crossbar, for example. Granted, these are minuscule changes in comparison to other, slightly more established IPs, but they’re beneficial to the argument, nonetheless.

Strike Well and True

In addition to the latest arrival of Futura Gardens and the treasure trove of general QoL upgrades, Season 18 also brings about a clean slate for the competitive modes. Similar to the last update, it unapologetically nukes the previous series and openly opts to start from scratch, meaning, players must now begin their gradual ascents with the lead weight of a soft rank reset. This isn’t particularly surprising, mind you, given the history of competitive sports games and its natural infatuation with rebooting stats and ranking systems to create a more level playing field for players across all spectrums. And yet, it isn’t that big of deal here, given the fact that players are still able to use any leftover Tournament Credits from Season 17 to unlock rewards and other level-locked bonuses.

Aside from all of the aforementioned installations, Rocket League is still, well, Rocket League. By that, I mean that it still hasn’t lost its identity to a sea of questionable ideas or illogical modifiers, despite having seventeen other seasons beneath its belt and countless revisions to its cosmetic panels and other interface elements. And, to give credit where it’s due, the creators behind it have done a splendid job of managing to stay true to that near-decade old vision and still source fresh ways to elevate the axis that it so effortlessly spins on. The point is, not a whole lot has changed since the game’s inception. And yet, in the strangest of ways, it still feels like an eye-opening experience with each passing update, and Season 18 is no exception to that, truly.

Verdict

Despite all odds stacking firmly against it, Rocket League has continued to prove itself time and time again that, with the nifty but calculated inclusion of a few more arenas and a seasonal event or eighteen, time isn’t of a particular concern for its blueprint. Clearly, there’s still a lot of fuel left to burn in this tank, and if the latest season has shown us anything, it’s that, despite the rules of the game still playing the same role as depicted in the original gateway season, something as simple as a new futuristic dome and a swathe of revamped mutators can often be more than enough to steer the tide and keep certain ships from capsizing. And you know what? I’m not complaining about that, as it’s still a stupendous amount of fun even after just shy of a decade since its initial release.

If you’re returning to Rocket League after a long hiatus from its plethora of dome-like soccer feuds, then you’re likely to enjoy getting behind the wheel for the latest installment in the rolling saga. Sure enough, it’s still the same old Rocket League, but with a good amount of reworked features, technical improvements and modifiers to show for it, it’s also a competent IP that continues to impress even during its senior years. In other words, the basic infrastructure is still sporting the same components, but for argument’s sake, said infrastructure just so happens to boast a winning mechanism that doesn’t really need the added infusion of a second, third, or even a fourth gear. And if Season 18 is anything at all, it’s a tongue-in-cheek, albeit brutal reminder that not everything needs to change in order to survive the drought.