GBAtemp Recommends: Knockout City
With the mass amount of shooters, open-world games, and battle royales coming out these days, Knockout City is a breath of fresh air. Published by EA and developed by Velan Studios, Knockout City creates an addicting and satisfying gameplay loop from a familiar childhood game, dodgeball.
Knockout City did not have much appreciation when it was first revealed during a Nintendo Direct with a very misleading trailer. That initial trailer seemed to promise a game with characters from various genres that would mash into one game but it surprised most when it ended on showing a game of dodgeball. Those who were intrigued by that initial premise were very disappointed by what the actual game was. However, Velan Studios surprised many with a very fun and addictive game on release.
The game is an extreme version of dodgeball on its surface and it doesn’t stray too far from that. Players can throw, catch, and pass various types of balls around the map. This game is very easy to pick up and play as the controls are very intuitive with auto-targeting taking away any need to have any precise aiming. Even initiating a catch can be forgiving as you can press it pretty early with a wide catch window. In most game modes, players also don’t even need to stress about players off-screen as there are indicators showing if you are targeted and a direction a ball is coming from.
While the controls are very simple, the gameplay can become very deep and full of mind games against your opponents. While you might want to just charge up a ball and throw it as soon as you find a target, it isn’t that hard to catch a ball from a moderate distance. The real fun comes from outsmarting your opponent by either faking them out, stunning them, or working with your teammates. In a 1v1, Knockout City becomes a game of chess. After a catch animation, there is a small window where your character is vulnerable to getting hit. This is where the mind games come in and you try to fake your opponent enough for them to panic and open themselves up for a ball. What makes this game so addictive is the clear distinction of skill and the real tense moments that the skill game creates.
There is a lot of fun to be had in Knockout City and the various ways of knocking out opponents are all very satisfying. You can cage up an opponent into a ball and throw them off the map with a Cage Ball or even purposely turn your character into a ball so that a teammate can throw you and eliminate an opponent in one hit. Team play is one of the best parts of this game and it rewards you for doing so. While you might want to keep the limited balls on the map for yourself, passing a ball between teammates will charge it up and cause it to travel faster, becoming harder to react to. As mentioned earlier, players can ball up at any time to be picked up by a teammate and be thrown without the need for a ball. The most satisfying part of this game is when you can eliminate tough opponents by passing balls between teammates on the fly and communicating through comms and voice lines.
If you’re one for cosmetics, there are various options for you to unlock and spice up your characters. While there is no complex character creator, you can give your avatars different hair, clothes, and animations. Many cosmetics are unlocked for free just by playing the game but there is a store where you can spend money. I especially enjoyed the fact that we could use cosmetics for a clan that you can create and add more identity to it.
If you‘re looking for a multiplayer game that isn’t just a copy and paste shooter like most are these days, Knockout City still feels fresh one year after launch. Unlike a lot of niche multiplayer games these days, there is no need to worry about the game closing anytime soon as it has gotten plenty of support and updates since launch with no signs of stopping. While the player base is not the biggest, Velan Studios has announced that they will be separating from its publisher EA and will make Knockout City free to play in their upcoming season. For free, I cannot recommend this game enough for newcomers to try. In the meantime, Knockout City is available on game pass and on all consoles (Xbox One/S/X, Playstation 4/5, Switch, and PC).
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