Knockout City: Team dodgeball battles with a very Nintendo feel.
EA/Velan Studios
The premise of Knockout City looks simple, and familiar. Teams of players running around a skatepunk-ish futuristic city, launching things at each other to get the win. Except here, the things are dodgeballs. Knockout City’s style is a lot like the old Sega game Jet Grind Radio, or Splatoon. ’90s-ish splatter, cartoon vibes.
It’s only the second game from Velan Studios, an upstate New York developer that also created the AR-enabled RC car Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit game with Nintendo last fall. There’s no AR or strange new tech here, but Velan’s team says it built a whole new engine to reduce game lag and enable balls to be thrown and caught in team matches.
Catching balls is challenging without being crazy hard. You can turn into a ball, too.
EA/Velan Studios
The basic twist here is that balls can be caught and launched back at other players. Or you can become a ball yourself and have others throw you. I got to try a few rounds via a PC beta that’s available in closed demo this upcoming weekend, ahead of a planned May 21 launch.
I just know it was fun. More interestingly, it seems to have captured that Nintendo feel… but in an EA game for PC, PS4 and PS5, Xbox One and Series X/S, and Switch, with cross-play between all so you can play with people on any platform.
The arena designs give me heavy Splatoon vibes.
EA/Velan Studios
There will be nine-week seasons, too, sort of like Fortnite. But the game will be $20 with no planned in-game micro-transactions, which also sounds refreshing. There might not be a new Splatoon anytime soon, but this feels like a very solid stand-in.
Online games with friends have taken on a new meaning now that my life has been largely virtual for a year. I appreciate games that don’t cost a lot, and that my kids can play online with friends. In that sense, Knockout City looks great so far. My kids loved it even more.