While it was initially announced last year, Electronic Arts drummed up significantly more attention for the multiplayer shooter game Rocket Arena at its EA Play event back in June. Set to launch on July 14, Rocket Arena is an interesting mash-up of other popular multiplayer games, and while there may be some growing pains at first, it's easy to see that this game has a ton of potential to become something truly great down the line.

We have been playing Rocket Arena for the past five days or so, trying out the characters and battling it out in different game modes. But since this was prior to launch, the Rocket Arena servers weren't nearly as populated as they hopefullyu will be once the game is actually available to the general public, and so we are holding off on our review until we can play it a bit more against a larger pool of players.

Here is what we think of Rocket Arena so far.

Is It Fun?

Former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime once famously asked, "If it's not fun, why bother?" Luckily, Rocket Arena is definitely fun, especially with a group of friends. The game's slower-paced shooting takes a little bit of time to get used to, but once players find the Rocket Arena character they like to play as and master their abilities, matches become significantly more exciting.

Rocket Arena has four different modes available to players at launch. This includes Knockout, Mega Rocket, Rocketball, and Treasure Hunt for PvP, as well as Rocketbot Attack for those looking to scratch their PvE itch. The most entertaining modes are easily Knockout, Mega Rocket, and Treasure Hunt, but Rocketball has its moments. Rocketbot Attack is not nearly as entertaining as the other game modes, but it's a good way to practice character abilities while still getting progression.

As far as what exactly Rocket Arena is, perhaps the best way to describe it is a mix of Overwatch and Super Smash Bros., but with rocket launchers. Instead of players losing health when they're hit, they get their damage meter filled, and they can also simply be knocked off the side of a stage as well. Players hit by a rocket when their damage meters are full will pinball off the walls and skyrocket off the stage. It's hilarious to see and adds a lot to the chaotic feel of the game, as characters will be flying around while all sorts of over-the-top abilities are being activated.

And despite all the craziness happening on screen, Rocket Arena has run perfectly fine during our time with it, never skipping a beat in terms of frame rate. That's more than can be said for many other multiplayer shooters on the market.

Balancing

Something that will likely be an issue with Rocket Arena early on is character balancing, but that's par for the course for hero-shooters. No doubt the developers will be looking at fan feedback from the early weeks and adjusting as needed with patches that nerf and buff certain Rocket Arena characters, but it remains to be seen exactly when those updates will be made available.

One example of a potentially overpowered character is Amphora in the Treasure Hunt game mode. Treasure Hunt is split into different phases, with one phase tasking players with collecting coins that have spawned throughout the map. Map awareness will give players a big advantage in this mode as they will know exactly where to go to get the most coins at once, but using Amphora gives players an even bigger edge over the competition. Amphora can transform into a water blob creature, which gives her a significant speed boost and can be used to zip around and collect coins at a much faster rate than her opponents.

Free-to-Play

Another concern with Rocket Arena is the decision for it to be a paid, premium experience instead of free-to-play, despite the game embracing the live service model. Since the game is pretty much multiplayer only, it seems like a bad call to put it behind a paywall, as that will greatly diminish its potential to generate a huge player base right at launch. Over time, this could cause some matchmaking issues, especially for players that don't want to have cross-play enabled. The bright side is that Rocket Arena is available at a budget price of $29.99, but still, it seems like the game would be better off if it were free-to-play. It's a great deal of fun, but it may be difficult to convince people to give it a shot if they have to pay to play.

Season 1

One big concern about Rocket Arena at launch is that a lot of the unlockable content doesn't seem worthwhile. However, that will change significantly with the game's first battle pass, due for release on July 28. The Rocket Arena battle pass, or Blast Pass as the developers call it, will add a ton of new cosmetic content for players to unlock, and throughout season 1, fans can expect to see new game modes, playable characters, maps, and more added to the mix to keep things interesting.

If Final Strike Games is able to hook Rocket Arena players long enough for the season 1 content to start rolling it, it's easy to see how this game could become a new favorite.

Our initial impressions of Rocket Arena have been largely positive, but we still want to see how the game does at launch and play in the world of Crater against a larger pool of players before providing a final score. Check back later this week for our full Rocket Arena review.

Rocket Arena launches on July 14 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.