Rocket League – Defend the Bloody Goal!

I’m not a majorly sporty person. A shocking revelation, I know. For exercise, I tend to avoid any form of running, which includes team sports. The only sport I really enjoy watching is rugby, which is most likely a biproduct of my upbringing and my university years in Cardiff. Badminton and football, however, are the two sports that I love playing. Badminton was a sport that I didn’t come across until my GCSE years, where it became my Sunday activity of choice. My friend Crystal and I became a formidable duo, combining the skilful shots that sent our opponents running from one side of the court to the other, with my brutal spikes that more often than not were too fast for opponents to catch in time.

Meanwhile I’ve played football on and off for about eight years of my life. It all started during primary school, when I used to watch my sister at football practise on a Saturday morning and was desperate to join in. So, when I was old enough, I joined the junior team and adored it. When we moved to a new house, I found another team to join and became their main goalkeeper. Although I hadn’t hit my growth spurt yet and a lot of the boys were uncertain about kicking a ball at a girl, I wouldn’t let anything stand between me and saving a goal, which in hindsight did lead to quite a few head injuries.

Sports games such as FIFA, Madden, and the NBA games, have never appealed to me. I can see the enjoyment in the multiplayer modes, as our more competitive instincts make themselves known. The closest that I got to sports games were the likes of Go Vacation or Wii Sports/Resort. However, there is one popular e-sport game that I thoroughly enjoy – Rocket League. Who knew combining football with cars would be a good idea (apart from 90% of the primary school kids that I teach). If you follow me on Xbox (TheCaitlinRC), then you’d see how frequently I’ve been playing over the last month or so.

For anyone that has been living under a rock for the last few years, let me give you a quick lowdown of what it’s all about. Though there isn’t that much to explain. You drive a car into a giant football and try to get it into the opposing team’s goal. Fairly simple. Though like many sports, there’s a great deal of strategy and trial and error that goes into being successful at the game. For example, I’m better at offensive play, such as scoring goals and putting the pressure on the opposing team’s defence. Meanwhile, my friend TheRupertLitterbin (who provided the screenshots for this article), is a great defensive player. He has saved many a goal with some dramatic moves that I’m sure will be made into a musical one day.

With each match having a five-minute time limit, a losing team can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat within the last minute of the game. Ten seconds can be the difference between victory and loss. Though if you’re playing against our lord and saviours the Steens, you should accept the loss with grace and humility. Nobody will understand that reference, but I still find it funny, nonetheless. Who knew that inside jokes were such a delight?

The matches are remarkably addictive. You keep saying, just one more but then it’s 3am and you’ve been playing for seven hours. Not that I’ve ever done that or anything. I think a large part of that addictiveness comes from the rush of emotions when you score a goal or perform an epic save. As most people know, when you complete a task or do something that you associate with “excitement” or “achievement”, your body releases neurotransmitters to act as rewards. The adrenaline coursing through you during the moment is buffed by the dopamine rush released when you achieve your goal.

Personally, a lot of the adrenaline rushes and dopamine spikes are closely tied to my childhood memories of being a goalkeeper. In fact, I’m sat writing this at my desk at home, where I have a few football trophies on my bookshelf nearby. The rush of being all that stands between a win and a loss, is exhilarating and I think Rocket League captures that essence quite well. Plus, there’s something very gratifying in charging into your opponents at high speeds and annihilating them. What can I say, I’m a simple soul.

Anyways, that’s all I really have to say about Rocket League. I’d like to apologise that my articles recently have been so short and sporadically released in comparison to 2019’s schedule, but motivation has been a real problem for me during the lockdown. However, I’m slowly getting back into it so leave your suggestions for future articles in the comments or message me on Twitter, @OurMindGames!

Have a great week,

CaitlinRC

Tags: competitive, cross platform, esports, football, pc, playstation, rocket league, steen, xbox