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Knockout City (Dodgeball game from EA/Velan) coming to Switch/Xbox/PS May 21
- Thread starter Schlorgan
- Start date
The most interesting thing about that trailer was the princess' design and she's not even in the game.
The only notable thing about the segment was how much it reinforces how much I despise video game marketing bullshit that doesn't involve gameplay. The interview shit wasted so much time.
The trailer concept was 1000 times more interesting than the game itself. This thing is gonna bomb harder than lawbreakers.
Triangle looks cool though.
Triangle looks cool though.
I've wanted a "Rocket League but on feet throwing balls" game (an arcade American football game was technically what I wanted) so this looks pretty cool to me.
Also feels like what I imagined Wumpa League (supposed Crash Bandicoot PvP game) to be but with boxes and spinning.
Also feels like what I imagined Wumpa League (supposed Crash Bandicoot PvP game) to be but with boxes and spinning.
Eh. Ninjala is a Switch exclusive and it didn't bombed. This is a multiplat with corssplay, it'll be safe.
Played this a while ago, do not know if there is an audience for this but the game itself was fine.
This looks interesting enough, but I will say. Marketing it with the different video game characters and then the game itself doesn't actually have any of that was an odd move.
The idea of a dodgeball game with a bunch of different game characters would've been a lot cooler.
The idea of a dodgeball game with a bunch of different game characters would've been a lot cooler.
I really hope this means that most of their games will support cross-play in the near future (BF6 and FIFA 22 🙏)
Also needs good SBMM off the start, you can get stomped really quickly and games get very competitive.
Basically guaranteed but they have been careful with how it is implemented.
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Ditto for me, with emphasis on the really nice sprite animation she had. (It helped that everyone else were 3D/CG models.) She was unironically my favorite part of the whole direct (besides Splatoon 3).
I'm actually kinda bummed she isn't from an actual game of her own, to be honest.
No one can doge a MTX, they hit you faster than the speed of light.
Apparently not! Super weird they invented a group of "EA All-Stars" just to have them... talk about an unrelated game?
I said that exact thing to my wife who was watching the Direct with me. There are already a bunch of MP games on the Switch including the juggernaut that is Overwatch (with Apex announced). I just don't see Knockout City taking off.
I could be wrong though... How is Ninjala doing? That's another one of those tangential MP games that's both derivative and unique in its own way.
Apparently not. I really don't get what that was all about. Almost feels like it was a concept for a different game they reused for this or something.
Trailer made me think the game was gonna be called Super Cringeball. Good thing the gameplay looks more solid than the writing.
Seriously? Why would they do the exact same thing again.
They must believe if one of these games blows up it will do so regardless of being FTP or not and to get what money they can regardless.
I honestly thought it was a Rocket Arena reboot or sequel from the level designs.
This is awesome! The Bala bros are two of the most unsung devs in the industry today, and absolutely deserve a ton of respect from Nintendo fans for putting out stuff like Guitar Hero for Wii and DS with Vicarious Visions and Mario Kart Live for Nintendo. These guys are absolute geniuses and I'm super excited they get to do something that has potential to be a major franchise.
(Yes, I might be a little biased because they are based in the Capital Region of NY like me)
(Yes, I might be a little biased because they are based in the Capital Region of NY like me)
So...I can't possibly be the only person that's been playing in the beta here, am I?
I tooled around with it a bit yesterday, and revisited it today with some friends for what wound up during into a 5 hour-long session. All in all...I still feel pretty strongly that the trailer in the Direct really did not do the game itself justice. I saw a dev interview mentioning that Velan Studios has been working on this game for four years and the effort shows; while the mechanics are simple I'm finding the game to be good goofy fun. The throws and catches feel good, mobility controls well (though I do wish they'd alter the gliding controls a bit), and it really doesn't take long to drive the point home that team coordination is really important.
The overall presentation is better than I felt the trailer conveyed. It's a toony style, obviously, and the initial glimpse was enough to see a lot of folks busting out Fortnite comparisons, but the final product has a different kind of character to it. There's a slant in this toward a sort of 50's retropunk vibe overall, with characters arriving to a match in flying convertibles, your hideout containing a hollowed-out diner complete with classic jukebox, and a lot of character customization options that evoke the look of old Brooklyn greasers or a Las Vegas sleazeball, but tricked-out a bit with some neon lights and holograms. A lot of the faces are, uh....really ugly, but the animations are smooth and really communicative, and the sound of a high-velocity dodgeball smacking someone upside the head is appropriately satisfying.
The one thing that I feel like the style is missing--and who knows, this might be better addressed in the final game in some form, I sure hope so--is some sort of a reason to contextualize all the jazzy 50s styling. The sound and visual designs are consistent enough within each other, but there's not really any sense for why this setting is like this, or why greasers are playing high-octane dodgeball. We have a DJ Professor K-like radio hosts that provides a few blurbs about the map, and some brief mentions about some super-rich dude that I guess has a hand in whatever the story's supposed to be, but it feels like there's still a piece missing. Maybe I'm just spoiled by Splatoon's lore and gameplay concept.
All in all, after 8 hours and some change playing so far, I like it probably more than I expected to. The potential with new stages and special balls will be cool to keep an eye on. 20 bucks feels like a fair ask, so long as they don't try and get too greedy with further monetization attempts beyond the cosmetics shop. I guess I can't guarantee that with EA publishing things though.
I tooled around with it a bit yesterday, and revisited it today with some friends for what wound up during into a 5 hour-long session. All in all...I still feel pretty strongly that the trailer in the Direct really did not do the game itself justice. I saw a dev interview mentioning that Velan Studios has been working on this game for four years and the effort shows; while the mechanics are simple I'm finding the game to be good goofy fun. The throws and catches feel good, mobility controls well (though I do wish they'd alter the gliding controls a bit), and it really doesn't take long to drive the point home that team coordination is really important.
The overall presentation is better than I felt the trailer conveyed. It's a toony style, obviously, and the initial glimpse was enough to see a lot of folks busting out Fortnite comparisons, but the final product has a different kind of character to it. There's a slant in this toward a sort of 50's retropunk vibe overall, with characters arriving to a match in flying convertibles, your hideout containing a hollowed-out diner complete with classic jukebox, and a lot of character customization options that evoke the look of old Brooklyn greasers or a Las Vegas sleazeball, but tricked-out a bit with some neon lights and holograms. A lot of the faces are, uh....really ugly, but the animations are smooth and really communicative, and the sound of a high-velocity dodgeball smacking someone upside the head is appropriately satisfying.
The one thing that I feel like the style is missing--and who knows, this might be better addressed in the final game in some form, I sure hope so--is some sort of a reason to contextualize all the jazzy 50s styling. The sound and visual designs are consistent enough within each other, but there's not really any sense for why this setting is like this, or why greasers are playing high-octane dodgeball. We have a DJ Professor K-like radio hosts that provides a few blurbs about the map, and some brief mentions about some super-rich dude that I guess has a hand in whatever the story's supposed to be, but it feels like there's still a piece missing. Maybe I'm just spoiled by Splatoon's lore and gameplay concept.
All in all, after 8 hours and some change playing so far, I like it probably more than I expected to. The potential with new stages and special balls will be cool to keep an eye on. 20 bucks feels like a fair ask, so long as they don't try and get too greedy with further monetization attempts beyond the cosmetics shop. I guess I can't guarantee that with EA publishing things though.
Played the beta for about 2.5 hours today. I LOVE it.
The mechanics are phenomenal—controls are super tight and the game is simple to play but hard to master. I've been playing with a gamepad on PC at 1440p/95hz. Buttery smooth and super well optimized already. I can see this running well on a Switch, considering I'm running it on a GTX 970 at that res.
Devs confirmed that there's cross progression and cross play which is great too. On PC it supports ultrawide res.
$20 is fair, but I can't help but think that launching this as a paid game instead of F2P or in partnership with PS+ or Game Pass is a mistake. The initial reactions based on YouTube comments and even this forum makes it seem like people will write it off if there's an upfront cost to try it. Maybe a free weekend at launch?
TLDR: The game is fun, super slick and I want it to succeed. Don't let this flop Era.
The mechanics are phenomenal—controls are super tight and the game is simple to play but hard to master. I've been playing with a gamepad on PC at 1440p/95hz. Buttery smooth and super well optimized already. I can see this running well on a Switch, considering I'm running it on a GTX 970 at that res.
Devs confirmed that there's cross progression and cross play which is great too. On PC it supports ultrawide res.
$20 is fair, but I can't help but think that launching this as a paid game instead of F2P or in partnership with PS+ or Game Pass is a mistake. The initial reactions based on YouTube comments and even this forum makes it seem like people will write it off if there's an upfront cost to try it. Maybe a free weekend at launch?
TLDR: The game is fun, super slick and I want it to succeed. Don't let this flop Era.
I thought the trailer was dope, and the last two comments indicate this game is fun. Might be dismissing this one a bit prematurely folks.
For what it's worth, they said that the full game is $20 to buy, but they said that a free trial is going to be available as well so people can try it out for themselves to see the mechanics and style in action. Not sure how long the trial would last or what's available to you or not at that point, but it can at least get people in the door.
On one hand I can understand the talk about people feeling the game should be free-to-play, since it feels like nowadays any multiplayer-centered game that isn't part of a big known franchise is told it should be free-to-play, but I kinda wish that weren't the case (speaking for KO City and games in general really). You know that if this was a game that was full F2P that they'd be pushing even further to monetize their cosmetics, probably throw in an unnecessary battle pass to also pay for, maybe even sneak lootboxes in. Might the game be more successful that way, financially? Maybe, I'm not sure, but on some level I feel like it being free would also make it easier to dismiss in a certain way. There's already no shortage of free options out there. This seems to be more following the Fall Guys model, and that worked out fairly well for those guys.
People were down on the trailer for one reason or another, but after poking through a few streams of the beta over the weekend it seems like most folks who are experiencing the game itself and not just basing assumptions on the trailer are coming away pretty positively on it. I hope that good word of mouth helps it out. It's a goofy-fun (and well-built) multiplayer experience that doesn't rely on shooting, which is a nice break.
At least from the perspective of lighthearted third party multiplayer games featured in a Nintendo Direct, I can at least say that I'm already enjoying Knockout City far better than Ninjala ever was, despite still being fairly garbage at catching incoming throws.