Knockout City is the Next Rocket League

Except Dodgeball, not Soccer

Back in February, Velan Studios and EA showcased the reveal trailer for Knockout City, a only-of-its-kind team based multiplayer dodgeball game set in a gorgeous world that visually reminds me of a cross between Overwatch and Sunset Overdrive. As a long-time player and fan of another unconventional sports game, Rocket League, Knockout City instantly caught my eye as it advertises that same bright upbeat style gameplay that Rocket League brings, but with dodgeball. When I first saw the Rocket League trailer way back when and when I first jumped into the game, I never thought six years later I’d still be playing it, but here I am. If Knockout City can deliver that same easy to learn but hard to master loop as well as make the game fun to group up together with friends, I can already see it being another one of my go-to games. And after a hands-on few matches during the recently ended cross-play beta, I’ve got good news, Knockout City is fun as hell and expresses lots of promise.

Essentially, Knockout City is a team-based dodgeball game, but you can queue up into matchmaking solo or with a group of three, across an assortment of game modes. The mode I played, Team KO, is a 3v3 matchup where the first team to get 10 KO’s wins the round, best out of 3 rounds win the overall match. There’s also ranked play, 4v4, free-for-all, as well as the mode Face Off, a 1v1 showdown that takes place on a shrinking battlefield. All of these modes are going to have their own multitude of strategies to them, solely based on the amount of mechanics in Knockout City alone. Just playing the Team KO mode each match felt unique as I attempted different movement options across the various maps, played aggressively throughout one and defensively in another, to see how other players would react to different ways I play. The amount of times I physically jumped out of my chair or moved my head as if I was actually dodging a ball in real life is staggering in the few matches I played. It can be such a fast paced game if you want it to be, or you can play slower and wait for the enemy to come to you, or take the high ground and snipe from above, or pick up your teammates as a ball and throw them which results in a massive explosion, yes you heard that right. The plethora of different dodgeball and movement mechanics at your disposal in this game blows my mind.

You have a glider that lets you glide in the air over large gaps impossible to jump over, you can jump and flip or jump and spin which let you reach slightly higher areas, you can roll around in ball form to hide or take shortcuts under structures, and you can evade which allows you to dodge incoming balls or tackle enemies. All these movement abilities can be chained together to confuse opponents, to get to hard-to-reach places where special balls can be found or where you can get a sneaky angle on an enemy. Same goes for actual dodgeball mechanics, there’s a ton. Every hit on an opponent deals one heart of damage and two hits is a KO, no matter how much you charge a throw or not. Some balls do different things or one hit KO, but two hits is always a knockout. So you can quickly pick up a ball and throw it instantly at an opponent next to you to get a fast hit without having to charge it up. Charging a ball upgrades it’s tier, which increases the speed at which you throw it, the higher the tier the faster it flies, making it increasingly difficult for the opponent to time a catch correctly. Passing a ball to your teammate instantly gives it a charge tier so they can throw a fast ball without taking the time to charge it themselves. Alternatively, passing a ball to a teammate that already has a ball, will reflect the ball back to you with a charge tier effectively allowing you the same quick powerful throw without the need to manually charge it. Doing a flip as you throw a ball will lob it into the air if your opponent is behind cover, and spinning while throwing will give your ball curve enabling you to hit people around corners. If your teammate doesn’t have a ball, you can roll into one and let your teammate throw you like a regular ball or they can do an ultimate throw which sends you high into the air giving you control of where you land for an explosion that has the potential to KO an entire team. All these throws, minus the ultimate throw, are simple to aim thanks to the tracking system built into Knockout City. All you have to do to lock on to a player is aim at them and if they move you still remain locked on until they’re impossible to hit. This is how you’re able to hit enemies around corners or over structures etc., to get those crazy unexpected KO’s. Being on the other end of these types of throws is tough, reaction time is key here, as the screen borders will light up red when someone is aiming at you and when a ball is thrown there’s an indication on the edge of the screen in the direction the ball is coming from. You’ll have to face in that direction and time your button press correctly to catch an incoming ball. An untimed catch will result in you getting hit, while a perfectly timed catch will give you a max tiered ball. Being face to face with an opponent is still rough because when you’re holding a ball you can fake a throw to screw up the timing of someone’s catch, then throw right after before they can attempt to catch again. This makes for interestingly comical 1-on-1’s where you’re both just faking each other out for a while. You can also dodge incoming balls if timed correctly or dodge into a ball to headbutt it which negates a hit. Headbutting into players knocks them into the air and forces them to drop their ball, and you can use this mechanic to knock players off the edge of a map too. So many mechanics and ways to play and we haven’t even talked about the different types of balls yet.

Every map has specific locations where balls spawn, and each match has a different special ball that spawns along with the regular balls. Special balls include things like the bomb ball, a ball that explodes when you throw it or if you hold it for too long, hitting any players including your teammates and you. The moon ball when picked up gives you low gravity effects letting you jump high and also knocks players up in the air when hit by them. Cage ball puts players in a caged ball when hit, allowing you to pick them up and use them as a weapon or casually chuck them off the edge of a map. The sniper, my favorite of the beta, is shaped like a football and allows for super long-distance throws that shoot across the map at blazing speeds, but are still catchable if you’re good enough.

Knockout Roundabout!

All of this culminates in an action-packed fun-filled game of dodgeball set across a wide variety of bright and alive maps that each feature their own gimmick that sets them apart from others or adds a layer of gameplay to them. The map Back Alley Brawl has different colored pipes that each lead to a different part of the map, giving you access to a quick getaway, or a stealth sneak up on an enemy. The Construction Yard is home to a huge wrecking ball swinging in the middle of the map and a bunch of moving machinery you can use to climb up to get the jump on enemies. Knockout Roundabout is my favorite map by far because of the absolute chaos and randomness that occurs when you’re brawling on the traffic crowded streets. Vehicles slowly move around the roundabout and they love to block outgoing or incoming balls which makes for hilarious altercations when you’re about to get hit from a ball only for it to bounce off a car window and roll slowly off screen. Five maps are planned for launch day which is May 21st, with more to come in the future as Velan Studios rolls out the seasonal model for Knockout City.

Knockout City will indeed have the seasonal model that most live service games have with each season containing new maps, ball types, rewards, events, and challenges. I’m happy to say that Knockout City does in fact have a progression model besides your personal skill progression, in the form of battle pass-like unlocks. Leveling up nets you these unlocks and you level up via win/loss XP, weekly and daily challenges, and events. These 100 unlocks will change every season and contain varying customization options for your character, whom you can customize from the get-go. There’s different gliders, hairstyles, outfits, crew vehicles, emotes, attitudes, XP boosts, glasses, body types, there’s a lot of customization here which is great to see. Right now there’s no indication as to whether Knockout City will be free to play or not, but either way I still see these customization unlocks requiring an in-game purchase. Mainly because you also get in-game currency called Holobucks from the unlocks which can only be used in the microtransaction shop, and we all know EA likes money, they’re not going to be handing out their in-game currency for free. Customization progression is good for games like this though, if Rocket League didn’t have car customization I probably would’ve dropped off of it years ago (back when I thought I could never get better at the game). This way whether it’s customization unlocks, or skill, you’re always progressing something, which makes people feel good.

I can’t wait for the full release of this game. The sheer amount of mechanics to learn and master is deep and the craziness that comes out of every match is child-like fun. The kind of fun I used to get from Rocket League back when I could just mess around and not try-hard every match. I hope Knockout City will give me that feeling again once it’s out on May 21st on every platform available including next-gen consoles.