These last two months have been chock-full of AAA multiplayer releases. From Call of Duty to Battlefield to Halo. the market right now seems nostalgically saturated, harkening back to the late 2000s and the seventh generation of consoles. But there's one multiplayer game that released this year that still stands out from the crowd, and definitely deserves players' attention: Knockout City.

Released in May 2021 as an "EA Original", Knockout City takes the simple schoolyard game of dodgeball and propels it into a modern third-person, competitive arena game. Knockout City, set against a backdrop of a Sci-fi metropolis, is equal parts style and substance. It features some incredibly intuitive yet intricate mechanics, a focus on unique co-op gameplay, and some very responsive controls. So, even with this year's stacked release schedule, Knockout City proves its worth in a variety of ways.

RELATED: Free PS Plus Games May Be Going Overboard With So Many Multiplayer Games

Gotta Catch 'Em All

Knockout City: Screenshot From Gameplay Trailer Of KO'ing An Enemy Close-Up

Dodgeball is a pretty simple game; it essentially boils down to throwing and catching. So, naturally, a dodgeball game can only be as good as its throwing and catching mechanics, and Knockout City's are absolutely perfect. Knockout City's focus during development seems to have been on making complex but accessible systems, something that runs through the entire game.

Throwing a ball is incredibly intuitive, as players just press the right trigger in and watch it fly. But then there's some complexity behind this simplicity; holding down the trigger will charge the shot, building the speed at which it is thrown at the opponent. Players can also press one of the face buttons on the controller to change the type of shot; pressing Circle/B will give the ball a curve shot, while Triangle/Y lobs the ball overhead.

Catching a ball is just as satisfying, simple, and illusively complex. With just a pull of the right trigger, players will catch an incoming ball. While the timing may not be as rough as a Dark Souls' parry, it's not too forgiving either, making a successful catch feel rewarding. But with each catch of a ball in quick succession, the ball is given a speed boost, making it increasingly harder to catch.

Combining these throwing and catching mechanics leads to some extremely satisfying gameplay, with players being allowed to approach each encounter in a number of ways, with a number of tactics. For instance, a particularly intense and exciting encounter could see the player throwing the ball at their opponent, it getting caught, and the ball being thrown back in a curve shot. The player then catches the ball again, which gives it a speed boost as they use a "fake out" to then lob it overhead. This building of momentum and intensity continues until one player finally gets hit, and that final release of building tension feels incredibly satisfying. These moments happen every few minutes or so with Knockout City, and that level of satisfaction never diminishes.

An Emphasis On Co-Op

knockout city playstation plus november 2021

On the surface, Knockout City may seem like any other team-based competitive game. However, when digging a little deeper, it soon becomes apparent that this game is something truly special. The main mode, "Team KO", pits two teams of three against each other. From the second the match starts, teams are encouraged to use the environment, use the tools, but most importantly, use each other to secure a win.

Knockout City has a genius mechanic in which a player can turn themselves into a ball. What seems like just a joke at first is actually deceptively powerful. During a standard match, being hit with a ball will take off one of a player's two hitpoints, but being hit by a player-ball will cause an instant knockout. Similarly, charging up a regular ball will make that shot faster and more difficult to dodge, but charging up a player-ball will launch the player into the sky, giving the player the ability to act as a neon-colored mortar shell.

By using Knockout City's specifically-tailored co-op mechanics and communicating with the team, players can turn the tide of a match very quickly. While some modern team-based multiplayer games will give players points for sticking with their squad, cooperative tactics are rarely emphasised in the actual mechanics of a game, and Knockout City's inclusion of them definitely sets it apart from recent releases.

RELATED: PS Plus Users In Hong Kong Get Different Free Game

A Surprising Level of Variety

knockout city dodgeball

Knockout City isn't content with just being a mechanically-rich game, however, and creates a great deal of variety out of very few elements. The game's range of ball types is one such offering of variety. The game has a total of six "Special" ball types, ranging from Bomb Balls that stick to surfaces and explode after a timer runs out, Sniper Balls which act as unstoppable long-range projectiles when charged, and Moon Balls which makes the player's jump higher and delivers significant knockback when thrown. Despite there being only six unique types present, the variety of gameplay given with each of these (how you handle an encounter with each one) keeps matches exciting, even when they take place on the same map players have seen a thousand times.

With Knockout City adopting a live-service model, new game modes are swapped out and added over time. These constantly updating game modes can give a nice variety of gameplay options for players who may be starting to find the base game modes a little stale. In the latest season of content, there have been modes that see players using KOed opponents as basketballs, battle royale survival modes, and the current mode which forces players into an "Ultimate Throw" when KOed. Ultimately, Knockout City delivers a lot of charm, a surprising amount of variety, and a good handful of unique and satisfying mechanics that make it one of the most rewarding multiplayer games of the year.

Knockout City is available now on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S

MORE: Some PS Plus Subscribers Are Having Trouble Claiming Knockout City