Meanwhile, the groovy DJ narrating your exploits recalls DJ Atomika from SSX and other EA Sports Big releases. The item shop also provides plenty of contemporary ways to customize your character’s body, outfit, and emotes. There’s an almost “futuristic 1950s” theme as teams arrive on flying muscle cars, and dudes with pompadours rock leather jackets. Still, it’s an excellent execution of said vibe.Ĭharacters zip around rooftops and construction yards with flair as rainbows shine around them. If you’ve played Overwatch, Ninjala, or Sunset Overdrive you’ll recognize the game’s whole vibe. Knockout City sports a radical, stylized, summertime aesthetic that’s pretty well-worn territory these days. In a paid game (albeit a budget one) I expect more content upfront. I tend to dislike these features no matter what, but would probably tolerate them more in a truly free game. Despite costing $20, Knockout City is structured and monetized like a free-to-play live service game with rotating seasons, an ever-changing storefront, and contract missions to complete straight out of Fortnite. Plus, I didn’t appreciate the artificial ways the game attempted to keep me playing. You can also set up private matches, create and join crews with other players, and compete in League Play (which hasn’t started yet as of this writing).Īs much as I enjoyed playing Knockout City, I quickly felt like I had exhausted everything to do. For some wacky entertainment, Party Team KO mode turns all the balls into special balls. ![]() In Diamond Dash, knocked-out players leave behind diamonds for the enemy team to collect until they hit the winning number, which just seems like a more complicated way to get to the same goal. You have your standard Team KO mode, where the first to 10 knockouts wins. Still, the handful of maps and multiplayer modes aren’t that different from each other. Thanks to crossplay, PC and console players can take each other on with ease, so I never had an issue finding a multiplayer match. Besides training missions, there’s no single-player mode. It’s a good thing Knockout City has such an appealing core, because the game built around it doesn’t quite do it justice-at least not yet. Even in individual 1v1 skirmishes you have a variety of options to consider in just a few seconds, giving the game a satisfying, fighting game-like rhythm. Knockout City is fairly easy to pick up if you’re okay with losing your first few matches, but its sheer tactical potential is what has inspired me to genuinely stick with it. Capture your opponent in a cage ball and throw them off the stage to their doom. Blow up opponents with a bomb ball before it explodes in your hands. Balls with special powers give you even more choices. ![]() ![]() You don’t need to worry about precise aiming, but you never want to start chucking without a plan as the balls are surprisingly sparse. You also have multiple jumps, evades, and glide maneuvers to creatively stay mobile. Better yet, curl yourself into a ball for your teammate to pick up and throw into an enemy for an instant KO. You can time your button press correctly and catch an incoming ball instead of getting knocked out, trip up your opponent’s timing by charging the ball, execute a fake throw, or pass the ball to a teammate if they’re in a better position. However, dodgeball’s unique properties provide a fascinating foundation onto which Knockout City introduces an impressive array of original gameplay mechanics.
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