Dodgeball arena battler Knockout City is out now
Dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge
I hope you all remember the five D's of dodgeball, because Electronic Arts have released Knockout City, their team-based dodgeball battler. It's cool and colourful, and a couple of folks in the RPS treehouse reckon is pretty good. For the next 10 days, it's free to play too, and EA have a bunch of events planned between now and May 30th to draw players in.
Developed by Velan Studios, Knockout City offers a variety of ball-throwing matches to play, with 3v3, 4v4 and free-for-all game modes. It's got character creation as well, so you can make your own stylish sportsperson. I'd be lying if I said that wasn't the main selling point for me.
From today until May 30th, the game is holding a Block Party event, during which it'll be free to try out. Some of the events planned for the next week or so include community tournaments with developers battling against players and streamers, and a Season 1 kickoff on May 25th. Tomorrow, Captain Marvel actor Brie Larson will also be playing some Knockout City on her YouTube channel - kinda random, but kinda cool.
"Knockout City took me by surprise, as I hadn't expected to enjoy it quite as much as I did," Ed wrote in his Knockout City preview. "Conceptually, it sounds silly. But I think the fun I had mimics that of dodgeball in real life, in a way."
However, he added that it might be tough for a unique multiplayer game like this to break into a market full of online shooters that players are already heavily invested in. As Ed puts it: "Only time will tell if the gun-toting war boys are ready to embrace balls."
It is cool to see new colourful and interesting ideas like Knockout City, but they do seem to have a pretty short shelf life. EA published another quirky battler last year, Rocket Arena, which Sin had a good time with. But that game has already faded into obscurity, and it feels like Knockout City might be on the same track.
Knockout City is out now on Steam, the Epic Games Store, and Origin for £18/€20/$20. It's also on EA Play and Xbox Game Pass for PC (along with a bunch more good'uns this month).