Rocket League rolled out on July 7, 2015, and quickly became a favorite of competitive and casual gamers for its almost absurdly simple premise. It’s soccer with cars, and the cars have rockets. Two years on, we’re still working toward the top of the game’s high skill cap, and frequent updates — both paid and free — have kept things fresh. Now, we’re ringing in the Rocket League Anniversary Update with a live-stream, and possibly a cold beverage.
There’s a lot of new content coming in what appears to be a fairly major update. There’s a new standard arena, the Champions Field, which features a humongous Rocket League trophy, three seating tiers, and spectacular lighting. There are two new cars as well, the Animus GP and Centio V17, both of which resemble low-slung race cars. The cars, along with a bevy of new customization items, including goal explosions, will be rolling out in the new Overdrive crate. Like most Rocket League updates, there are also six new achievements to unlock.
Fans of Rick and Morty can look forward to some free customization options included with the anniversary update as well. There are toppers, antennas, and even a rocket trail and set of tires based on the sci-fi cartoon, part of an effort by show’s creators to get the characters into a bunch of different video games.
Wubba Lubba Dub Dub!!! @RickandMorty are coming to Rocket League in our 2nd Anniversary Update! Learn more: https://t.co/tuLqUQXHS2 pic.twitter.com/bcPBqX5Fhn
— Rocket League (@RocketLeague) June 28, 2017
There are also some changes coming to the competitive seasons. The anniversary updates marks the end of competitive season 4, and the beginning of Season 5, which Psyonix says will also last three or four months. Those who ranked in the previous season will receive new trails based on their performance. This marks a new type of customization that allows players to change their trail at supersonic speed independently from the regular trails left while driving.
Finally, Psyonix reworked the audio engine, and added engine audio to some cars that didn’t have unique noises before. The team has introduced another customization option there, allowing players to change each car’s audio profile. Psyonix also teamed up with record label Monstercat to bring 18 new tracks to the in-game radio.
We don’t have full patch notes yet, so there may still be some fun surprises waiting for us once we actually dive into the Rocket League anniversary update later today. Make sure to join us at 4 p.m. PT for some live-streamed matches with our Digital Trends staff at the wheel. Also keep an eye out for Rocket League on the Nintendo Switch later this year.
For years, Call of Duty’s campaign mode has used big, scripted set pieces to tell the overarching story amid all the adrenaline-pumping action. The 2023 Modern Warfare 3 tried to shake up the established formula by introducing a handful of short open combat missions, and I genuinely liked the idea, but the game's overall negative reception seeped into how those missions were received.
I feared the next iteration might abandon the idea because of the backlash, but I am glad it didn't. MW4’s “Stranded” mission uses the same approach, but instead of fragmenting it across the campaign, it puts it all in a single large-scale open-world mission.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.