Rocket Arena's first season fires off later this month

Cannae be having a hero shooter without heroes, can we? Ahead of its launch date next Tuesday, Rocket Arena has shown off more of its bouncy blasty gunfights with two new trailers - one for the expected, eccentric cast of rocket-toting characters, the other for the maps they'll be blasting each other out of - alongside plans to add even more maps and a new hero when the first season kicks off a few weeks after launch.

Rocket Arena is EA's upcoming rocket-jumping multiplayer shooter, a sort of Super Smash Bros with rocket launchers with roots all the way back in the Quake modding scene. I think, at least. Sin gave it a proper hands-on last month. While that early build had some frustrating balance problems, the ebb and flow of chasing folks down for knock-out final blow seemed a right blast (sorry).

So now it has a story, as multiplayer shooters are keen on doing these days. The first of the game's new trailers runs through the game's cast, each of them combatants in a fictional murder tournament on the world of Crater. That's fine - a bit safe, sure, and helps the game fit the fiction more than something like Overwatch. But it's been done by everyone from Apelegs to Unreal Tournament, and I haven't seen anyone top Monday Night Combat when it comes to selling the feeling of being trapped within a televised bloodsport.

Those arenas were shown off in another trailer posted earlier this week. Ranging from olde timey airships and jungle temples to Subnautica bases and a diamond on the moon. More interesting for me, at least, are the environmental traps. A spike pit is predictable, sure, but how's about a massive stone jaguar head that turns into an artillery cannon?

There'll be a new far-future gladiator added roughly every three months, as detailed in Rocket Arena's battle pass plans. On top of a new character, each season should also arrive with a new game mode, limited-time events, a new ranked season and a fresh "Blast Pass" - your bog-standard multiplayer battle pass.

Season 1 will kick off a few weeks after launch, adding a new hero named "Flux" along with a bunch of new playlists over the game's unranked, ranked and PVE modes on July 28th. Rocket Arena itself fires off this coming Tuesday, July 14th, on Steam and Origin for £25/€30/$30.