EGX Rezzed 2019 - ShockRods Interview and Impressions

Published: April 24, 2019 12:00 PM /

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shockrods

Stainless Games' ShockRods is a wild Quake-meets-Rocket League arena shooter made that made a great first impression. Check out my impressions and chat with Stainless Games folks below!

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Rocket League meets Quake works way better than you might expect.

What ended up being one of my games of the show was actually something I’d never heard of until I saw it. ShockRods is the latest venture from Stainless Games, the long-running British studio best known for the controversial Carmageddon series. Pitched to me as Rocket League meets Quake, this wild arena shooter quite literally has you playing Quake in a car. It’s fast, frantic, and a hell of a lot of fun.

This fresh spin on the car combat genre uses omni-directional wheels to make the movement feel as smooth and natural as possible. Gliding around the arenas, speeding, boosting, and jumping above and around your opponents is extremely satisfying. It’s clear just how much love the team has for Quake and other arena twitch-shooters. The arsenal of weapons—including shotguns, rocket launchers, rail guns, and more—feel like they fell straight out of id’s legendary multiplayer series. Although I wasn’t able to play it in the demo, there’s also a mode heavily-inspired by Rocket League that has players fighting over a giant ball whilst also shooting each other. It sounds like chaotic fun. ShockRods wasn’t something I knew I needed until I got my hands on it.

ShockRods is set to launch in Early Access in Summer. The team is planning an upcoming beta, so stay tuned to GreenManGaming’s website (they publish games now, apparently) for that.

I chatted with Nobby and Sam from Stainless Games about ShockRods, their inspirations, the process of balancing a game like this, and more. Check it out below!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKTPjeHL2U4&feature=youtu.be

What do you think? Do this wild Quake-meets-Rocket League combo look exciting to you? Let us know in the comments!

Have a tip, or want to point out something we missed? Leave a Comment or e-mail us at tips@techraptor.net


tempstaff
| Staff Writer

Dan is a lover of games, music, and movies from the UK. He can usually be found buried in RPGs, shooters, roguelikes, and sometimes World of Warcraft, but… More about Dan