Boom indeed! Nexon and Final Strike Games are revealing Rocket Arena, a first-person multiplayer shooter game where nobody dies.
The game, which enters its closed beta test on the PC on May 23, is an accessible title where you can get into it easily, and you don’t have to worry about getting killed. I played it at a preview event in Los Angeles this week, and it was a lot of family-friendly fun.
It is a bit of an odd title for Nexon, but it is a creative, original game, and that’s consistent with the philosophy of Owen Mahoney, CEO of Nexon, who spoke at our recent GamesBeat Summit 2019 event.
Rocket launchers are often known as “noob tubes,” or weapons used by new players because it doesn’t take a lot of accuracy to damage another player. In this game, you get a nice big reticle that shows up on other players as you target them. If you hit them, you see the reticle turn red. And if you hit them enough times, they fly up into the air and can’t join the action. Eventually, the player floats back down to the battle arena.
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The arenas are quite small and tight, but they have vertical areas where the more experienced players can gather and shoot down on the noobs. Different modes included occupying a piece of ground or knocking out the most players. The cartoon graphics were cute.
The beta will occur from May 23 to May 29 via the Nexon Launcher and Steam. Players can sign up for a chance to blast off this exclusive round of beta testing here.
Rocket Arena brings a unique 3-on-3 cross-platform experience to the first-person shooter genre and features a roster of vibrant characters competing in quick 5-minute matches in the Rocket Championship Tour.
Set in the curious World of Crater, Rocket Arena introduces special gameplay mechanics distinct from standard shooters. It revels in a host of colorful weapons and abilities that utilize fanciful rockets in imaginative forms.
In Rocket Arena, players are equipped with a blast meter that increases as they are blasted by rockets. As the meter reaches its critical point, players become susceptible to being knocked out of the map, sort of like in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
But you quickly return to the stage to stay in the action. With dedicated matchmaking functionality, servers account for skill level and latency when pairing players together. Rocket Arena will be available for cross-platform play on PC and Xbox One at launch, with PlayStation 4 currently in development.
“We developed Rocket Arena with high-quality gameplay mechanics, superb controls, and the network code required of an online FPS. Rocket Arena is an intricate shooter at its core, complete with a marvelous world, colorful characters, and ridiculous rockets,” said Kevin Franklin, CEO of Final Strike Games, in a statement. “Nexon shared our vision for Rocket Arena and provided the resources and expertise to realize our goal. The result is a game that our team is exceptionally proud of, and look forward to playing every day.”
The closed beta period features a selection of six maps, four game modes, and six characters. Players participating in the beta will also be able to earn cosmetic rewards to use in the release version of Rocket Arena.
Final Strike Games is a video game development studio focused on building competitive multiplayer games for PC and Console. Founded in 2016, Final Strike Games is a team of 45 industry veterans and headquartered in Bellevue, Washington.
