REVIEW - Knockout City Is A Sublime Multiplayer Brawler, With Industry Leading Cross Play
Yeah! Pow!
By Jonathan Garrett
02/07/21
Reviewed on Xbox Series X.
Knockout City is a delightful good time, combining accessible mechanics with a satisfying learning curve, and a cross play feature set that is the best implementation of the concept since Epic got it so very right with Fortnite. It’s quick to pick up, challenging to master, easy to sync with friends, and the free trial up to Level 25 / availability via subscription services like EA Play and Game Pass Ultimate ensures a healthy ongoing player base.
Velan Studios have made so many good design decisions here that it’s bonkers to consider how flat the initial unveiling felt during that Nintendo Direct back in February. Thankfully, the course was corrected during a PlayStation State of Play deep dive and a confidently presented Beta, leading up to a final release which has come out swinging.
Succeeding in a skirmish is reliant on several factors. Attempting to read an opponents tendencies, balancing close up tackles with longer range plays, and passing balls between team mates to catch people off guard, are all par for the course. The 1v1 ranked mode throws in several interesting wrinkles, like a battle royale style shrinking zone, and removes on screen warning indicators from an incoming strike.
In fact, one of the reasons Knockout City feels so cohesive and satisfying is the melding of audio and visual cues; the subtle pop when a player picks up a loose ball, the character call outs for specific actions, and the red glowing screen edge when a player is targeting you. If you get hit, it’s because you were out played or your timing was off, and not because the controls didn’t do what you want.
Throw in the special balls (the cage one is legendary), and the option to use teammates as weapons, and you’ve got a recipe for chaotic success. Much like VR experiences, you need to go hands on with this to truly understand it. It’s definitely a game best enjoyed by competent team mates; get ready to baby sit rando’s not falling in line with your strategy. Thankfully, maps are spacious enough that you can conceivably split off and do your thing and still be useful.
There’s so much that Knockout City does right that it’s important to acknowledge where it falls short. The character models are quite hideous, like a weird Frankenstein of Pixar characters crossed with an Instagram filter. They’re just a bit odd, with exaggerated proportions that don’t look right. Matchmaking times are generally pretty good, but a recent ranked mode tweak (designed to prioritise rounds with better ping) has created hefty queue times as the game tries it’s best to be [theoretically] helpful.
But one thing that Knockout City gets unequivocally right is its use of cross play. All platforms are supported (so that’s PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Switch), with invites, chat, and progression all synced. This includes the Crew feature (for clans), and every available playlist, both ranked and unranked. Velan Studios have set the bar here, and it’s pretty much flawless.
Even their version of microtransactions and in game currency manages to strike an appropriate balance; while you can spend real world doshins, you earn Holobux just by playing. You’ll gain customisation items just by ranking up, and everything in the store can be purchased with in game currency earned through gameplay. Throw in time limited special events, which again can be secured by brawling, and it’s another tick in the win column.
I cannot recommend Knockout City enough. It’s fast, satisfying, and polished, with a gameplay loop that excites and challenges in equal measure. For me, this is a sure fire candidate for one of the best games of the year.
Ball up! Throw me! Pass me!
WORTH IT?
At the bottom of every game review, we ask the question: Worth it? And the answer is either “Yeah!” or “Nah”, followed by a comment that sums up how we feel. In order to provide more information, we also have “And” or “But”, which follows up our rating with further clarification, additional context for a game we love, or perhaps a redeeming quality for a game we didn’t like.
YEAH!
Knockout City is a barnstorming good time that will keep you coming back for more.
AND
Its cross play implementation should definitely become an industry standard.
TARPS?
At the bottom of some of our articles, you’ll see a series of absurd looking images (with equally stupid, in joke laden names). These are the TARP badges, which represent our ‘Totally Accurate Rating Platform’. They allow us to identify specific things, recognise positive or negative aspects of a games design, and generally indulge our consistent silliness with some visual tomfoolery.
