We previewed Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle Cars about a month ago, and we rather enjoyed our time with the game. Psyonix Studios' first independently published, PlayStation Network-exclusive, UE3 and PhysX-powered game has a title with far too many syllables and words, but it's also extremely descriptive. Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle Cars (henceforth "SARPBC") is a game about cars with rockets in them, which travel extremely fast, perform the occasional flip, and do battle with one another. At the time of our preview, we lauded the title's original and fast-paced gameplay, calling the multiplayer action "frantic" and "laughter-fueled." Those elements of the game are blessedly intact, but since then, the full game has been released, bringing with it Psyonix's promised extra features, including an array of single-player mini-games, online play, and replay sharing via YouTube. We've had a chance, now, to see all that SARPBC has to offer. The game still does quite a bit right, and though it misses a step or two, the overall package makes for a fine addition to PSN's library.
Though SARPBC's title paints a fairly vivid picture by itself, the best way to describe the game is "full-contact soccer on wheels." Mini-games aside, the point of SARPBC is to drive one of several different cars in such a way that they knock a large ball into a goal at the opposite end of one of three different stadiums, while preventing the opposing cars from doing the same. Teams can be anywhere from 1 to 4 cars (and can be as balanced or uneven as you choose), and matches last 3 minutes, going into last-point sudden death if necessary. The cars are quite maneuverable, and while none can turn on a dime, their abilities are augmented by attached rocket boosters, allowing them to boost their speed to supersonic levels, or perform jumps, mid-air flips and double-jumps. The learning curve is a little harsh when it comes to the finer moves, but with practice -- and a series of single-player exercises -- soon any player can point and declare "Did you see what I just did?!" as the instant replay shows off their epic maneuvers.
The mini-games themselves, numbering 20 in all, are a mixed bag, but are predominantly on the enjoyable side. Some of the games are designed to help you learn skills for the main game, and some are simply fun in their own right, but a select few manage to accomplish both. My personal favorite was "Time Warp," a standard 2-on-2 match with the added effect of slowing time down drastically when the player's car is near the ball, thus managing to make every shot or block attempt into a dramatic moment. Another favorite was "Cubic," a match played with a large crate instead of a ball, which altered the shot dynamics drastically, as well as prevented missed shots from rolling too far away. I would like to see options like Cubic made available in the main game, but for a mini-game, it's not bad. A player's performance at these mini-games will score them a rating of 1-5 stars -- unlocking the mini-games themselves will unlock more cars for use in the main game (though they are different only in shape, not in performance). Collecting the stars, on the other hand, will start earning the player some PSN trophies.
The mini-games go a long way towards imparting the little tips and skills necessary to excel at the main game. Having spent quite a few matches with the game, one comes to realize that the acrobatic flips are unquestionably the best tool at your disposal. The simple act of jumping is already a powerful move, allowing a player to dodge an incoming opponent, block an aerial shot, or hit the ball from a higher angle, keeping the ball on the ground so as to set up an assist, or to not overshoot the goal. The double-jump flip, however, allows you to actually change direction in mid-air, making all manner of moves possible. Simply flipping forwards will confer a speed boost onto your car, allowing you to race downfield even if you're out of rocket boost power. Another popular move will occur when both you and the ball are caught in the corner, making a direct shot on the goal impossible. It's nearly impossible to set up a shot without an ally present, from this position, but using the flip, one can hit the ball along the goal-side wall while driving alongside it -- and then, flip to one side as the ball passes in front of the goal, giving the ball a sudden perpendicular change in direction. With expert timing, one can even block a shot on one's own goal, when the ball is between the goal and oneself: It's possible to race underneath a bouncing ball, jump in front of it, and then flip backwards, knocking the ball away with an impressive "bicycle kick" move. These moves become vital in a one-on-one match, when there is no teammate to set up assists with; in a 4-on-4 match, a well-executed bit of acrobatics can change the flow from defensive to offensive in a heartbeat.
As impressive as it is to pull off these moves against bots, to really feel triumphant, you'll want to have other players watching. SARPBC's multiplayer is the main event, and Psyonix has included every match-up method they can think of. As mentioned, games can go anywhere from 1v1 to 4v4 and everywhere in between, including the ability to bring up to 4 local players into an (unranked) online match. Local play is a split-screen affair, and Psyonix provides the option to arrange the different screens in a variety of configurations -- a welcome option that we don't see as often as we'd like. It's obviously a little tougher to track the action on a smaller screen, but every car helpfully comes with a floating arrow which points to the ball at all times, and a distinct red/blue arrow over each vehicle will signal whether a car is friend or foe at a distance, so you won't have to squint too much. In addition, the game provides complete drop-in/drop-out functionality, allowing for a player to take control of a bot, relinquish that control back to the PS3, or re-join the game on the other team at any time. This same functionality extends to online play, though with more than a few flaws included.
Ranked games are a different affair, but when SARPBC performs matchmaking for an unranked, casual game, it also allows for drop-in/drop-out play. This is a double-edged sword at best: Though it means you'll never get stuck waiting for a match for very long, it also means you're just as likely to join a game with only 10 seconds left on the clock. From there, of course, it's a simple matter of waiting for the host to start another game, this time with you included -- but more often than not, I managed to join these just-ending matches only to watch the host quit after their conclusion, leaving me stranded. The online play also does not include bots, meaning that a drop-in/drop-out match is an exercise in massive and random shifts in the game dynamic. What starts as a simple 2v2 match, if the host has set it as up to 4v4, can suddenly become 4v2, then 3v1, then, bafflingly, 2v0, thanks to the absence of an auto-balancing function. SARPBC comes with a host of social options to prevent these sort of occurrences, including private matches, friends list integration, and the ability to form permanent in-game teams with other players, but for those looking for the occasional non-committal pick-up game, you're in for a crapshoot.
In addition, you'll be far better off playing online with local players who have reliable connections. I didn't experience lag too often, but when I did, it was crippling. The lag wasn't even a matter of watching the other cars or the ball jump around in jerky, unpredictable fashion -- it actually prevented me from even steering my own car. I would lean left on the stick, only to drive straight into a wall -- and then turn left, two seconds later, while I was backing up. It's one thing for lag to affect the other players, but SARPBC seems to resolve your own controls over the host's connection, and that's no good.
That said, once you get a good match going, SARPBC plays like a really excellent soccer game. A versatile player can use his car to tend goal, set up a long offensive drive (no pun intended), or, my personal favorite, play the role of an offensive defender. Unlike regular soccer, where assault is frowned upon, SARPBC provides plenty of opportunity to spoil an offensive push by removing a key player from his position. You can look for the player who's slowed down, waiting for that perfect shot moment when the ball is right between his car and the goal. Then, you can slam your car right into his, knocking him halfway across the stadium, setting up your teammates to retake control of the ball. If you're going at supersonic speed, in fact, you will completely obliterate his car, forcing him to respawn far away from the action. It's a tremendously satisfying moment, especially when caught on the instant replay in slow-motion.
This brings us to the final extra included with SARPBC: The replay editor. At the conclusion of a game, SARPBC will give you the option to save the entire 3-minute match to your hard drive. From there, a player can watch the moments in any manner he pleases, adjusting the play speed (from 10% to 200%), the camera position, a focal point for the camera to lock onto (any player, or the ball), and may rewind/fast-forward at will with a simple timeline navigator. What's especially cool is that, using these camera and speed tools, a player can edit together their own highlight video from a given replay. These videos can be subsequently saved to the XMB, or even uploaded directly to YouTube from an in-game interface (you will need an existing YouTube ID and password). The controls are very easy to grasp: With only ten minutes of effort, I was able to put this video together: Watch, as the car at the back of the pack sees his shot, and blazes past everyone in order to take it.
It came out pretty cool, I think, apart from the hiccup right around 0:20. This, unfortunately, is a flaw in the video editor: There is no way to review what you have recorded onto the final product thus far, and once something is recorded, there is no way to delete it without starting completely from scratch. The editing feature is fun, but this fairly annoying little omission keeps it from being fantastic.
Overall, SARPBC is a very fun game, and makes for a very unique experience. Mind you, it's also a game that favors the skilled, and its team-oriented nature may lead to some initial frustration, much like a tactical FPS, when playing with strangers (nobody enjoys having the perfect shot spoiled by their own teammate, after all). On the other hand, between the mini-games and included bots, SARPBC isn't a tough game to get good at, and the resulting gameplay is well worth the effort. Of course, if you happen to have four controllers and three real-life friends to play with, then you won't even have to wait that long for some frantic, party-game, holy-crap-did-you-see-that fun.
Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle Cars is available now, via PSN, for the PS3.
We previewed Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle Cars about a month ago, and we rather enjoyed our time with the game. Psyonix Studios' first independently published, PlayStation Network-exclusive, UE3 and PhysX-powered game has a title with far too many syllables and words, but it's also extremely descriptive. Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle Cars (henceforth "SARPBC") is a game about cars with rockets in them, which travel extremely fast, perform the occasional flip, and do battle with one another. At the time of our preview, we lauded the title's original and fast-paced gameplay, calling the multiplayer action "frantic" and "laughter-fueled." Those elements of the game are blessedly intact, but since then, the full game has been released, bringing with it Psyonix's promised extra features, including an array of single-player mini-games, online play, and replay sharing via YouTube. We've had a chance, now, to see all that SARPBC has to offer. The game still does quite a bit right, and though it misses a step or two, the overall package makes for a fine addition to PSN's library.
Though SARPBC's title paints a fairly vivid picture by itself, the best way to describe the game is "full-contact soccer on wheels." Mini-games aside, the point of SARPBC is to drive one of several different cars in such a way that they knock a large ball into a goal at the opposite end of one of three different stadiums, while preventing the opposing cars from doing the same. Teams can be anywhere from 1 to 4 cars (and can be as balanced or uneven as you choose), and matches last 3 minutes, going into last-point sudden death if necessary. The cars are quite maneuverable, and while none can turn on a dime, their abilities are augmented by attached rocket boosters, allowing them to boost their speed to supersonic levels, or perform jumps, mid-air flips and double-jumps. The learning curve is a little harsh when it comes to the finer moves, but with practice -- and a series of single-player exercises -- soon any player can point and declare "Did you see what I just did?!" as the instant replay shows off their epic maneuvers.
The mini-games go a long way towards imparting the little tips and skills necessary to excel at the main game. Having spent quite a few matches with the game, one comes to realize that the acrobatic flips are unquestionably the best tool at your disposal. The simple act of jumping is already a powerful move, allowing a player to dodge an incoming opponent, block an aerial shot, or hit the ball from a higher angle, keeping the ball on the ground so as to set up an assist, or to not overshoot the goal. The double-jump flip, however, allows you to actually change direction in mid-air, making all manner of moves possible. Simply flipping forwards will confer a speed boost onto your car, allowing you to race downfield even if you're out of rocket boost power. Another popular move will occur when both you and the ball are caught in the corner, making a direct shot on the goal impossible. It's nearly impossible to set up a shot without an ally present, from this position, but using the flip, one can hit the ball along the goal-side wall while driving alongside it -- and then, flip to one side as the ball passes in front of the goal, giving the ball a sudden perpendicular change in direction. With expert timing, one can even block a shot on one's own goal, when the ball is between the goal and oneself: It's possible to race underneath a bouncing ball, jump in front of it, and then flip backwards, knocking the ball away with an impressive "bicycle kick" move. These moves become vital in a one-on-one match, when there is no teammate to set up assists with; in a 4-on-4 match, a well-executed bit of acrobatics can change the flow from defensive to offensive in a heartbeat.
Ranked games are a different affair, but when SARPBC performs matchmaking for an unranked, casual game, it also allows for drop-in/drop-out play. This is a double-edged sword at best: Though it means you'll never get stuck waiting for a match for very long, it also means you're just as likely to join a game with only 10 seconds left on the clock. From there, of course, it's a simple matter of waiting for the host to start another game, this time with you included -- but more often than not, I managed to join these just-ending matches only to watch the host quit after their conclusion, leaving me stranded. The online play also does not include bots, meaning that a drop-in/drop-out match is an exercise in massive and random shifts in the game dynamic. What starts as a simple 2v2 match, if the host has set it as up to 4v4, can suddenly become 4v2, then 3v1, then, bafflingly, 2v0, thanks to the absence of an auto-balancing function. SARPBC comes with a host of social options to prevent these sort of occurrences, including private matches, friends list integration, and the ability to form permanent in-game teams with other players, but for those looking for the occasional non-committal pick-up game, you're in for a crapshoot.
That said, once you get a good match going, SARPBC plays like a really excellent soccer game. A versatile player can use his car to tend goal, set up a long offensive drive (no pun intended), or, my personal favorite, play the role of an offensive defender. Unlike regular soccer, where assault is frowned upon, SARPBC provides plenty of opportunity to spoil an offensive push by removing a key player from his position. You can look for the player who's slowed down, waiting for that perfect shot moment when the ball is right between his car and the goal. Then, you can slam your car right into his, knocking him halfway across the stadium, setting up your teammates to retake control of the ball. If you're going at supersonic speed, in fact, you will completely obliterate his car, forcing him to respawn far away from the action. It's a tremendously satisfying moment, especially when caught on the instant replay in slow-motion.
October 17th, 2008 at 9:50 am
Nice review Jesse. Now I just have to get myself a PS3. :3