Extra modes, though not the main focus of many players, offer a great deal of ways to improve that can reflect in standard play. This article will teach you how to use extra modes to the best extent, improving your gameplay ubiquitously.
Nearly everyone knows Rocket League as “car soccer” (or football); after all, the premise of the game’s standard play is to score a ball into a soccer goal using a car. However, the game has quite a few more game modes beyond “Soccar”. Some examples include Heatseeker, Gridiron, Knockout, and Rumble. These modes completely change gameplay, altering movement, scoring, or even the ball itself. Many players shirk these game modes, especially those who are competitively-oriented. After all, why play a more casual mode if you can improve through strictly playing standard modes?
However, nonstandard modes provide ways to improve specific aspects of your gameplay, especially at the lower ranks, such as game sense and aerial mechanics. Today, we will discuss the four competitive extra modes—Rumble, Hoops, Dropshot, and Snow Day—and find out how you can use them to improve aspects of your overall gameplay. There is no better place to start than the most notable extra mode of them all…
Rumble, historically the most played extra mode, is pretty similar to standard Rocket League play. Your car moves normally, and the ball is the same as ever. However, ten seconds after kickoff, a new element comes in: power-ups. These items have varying utility, from the defensive freeze powerup to spikes, which allow the ball to stick to your car. Power-ups bring an incredible amount of variance to the game, with unique ways to score and defend; some players may attribute this game mode to solely luck, but it proves to be much more than that.
A graphic showcasing every Rumble power-up. Credit: Psyonix
The introduction of power-ups, though volatile, adds a new dimension to gameplay that builds up a great deal of game sense as opposed to mechanics; although dealing with a tornado may not help with standard play, the ability to anticipate and counter your opponents’ options transfers quite nicely. The biggest advantage of playing Rumble, in my experience, is the ability to learn how to deal with all the options your opponent has while also leveraging your tools.
In Rumble, you have an ace up your sleeve that your opponent does not know; they can anticipate, but only you know what you intend to do; this is similar to a standard position, where you are perhaps dribbling the ball and have many possibilities, but only one final action which your opponent must anticipate. Rumble exacerbates this even further and pushes defenders to their limits; does my opponent have Spikes or will they simply use a Boot to kick me? The options are manifold, and it takes a great deal of calculation to determine the optimal method of play; in comparison, defense in 2v2 or 3v3 is far simpler.
Although mechanics are not directly transferable, Rumble imparts skills which allow players to anticipate and deal with the possibilities of opposing attacks. This skill of anticipation is crucial at the highest levels of Rocket League, and Rumble is a good place to begin to foster that crucial skill. The next mode, however, takes a turn from game sense to different mechanics.
Hoops is another extremely popular extra mode, and it is obvious why; it is essentially Rocket League but in basketball, which appeals to a great deal of players. This mode introduces quite a few differences; the ball has different physics, the kickoff is in the air, the field is smaller, and, most notably, the goal is a horizontal hoop. It introduces far greater changes than Rumble, and is a 2v2 mode, as opposed to the 3v3 gameplay of every other extra mode.
The unique goals make this mode quite different from standard play; instead of shooting directly at the goal, you have to shoot downwards, making traditional powershots and similar mechanics far less effective; the target now tends to be the bottom of the backboard or the center of the hoop itself, which take a different approach to hit. As the aerial kickoff suggests, this mode encourages aerial play. The small field and lower player count make aerial attacks lethal, and the hoop makes it so that aerial attacks can be made from any height, as long as they eventually come down.
The unique Hoops net forces players to take new approaches to score. Credit: Psyonix
The specific nature of the Hoops net encourages players to make different types of attacks; powershots and fakes may not be incredibly strong, while flicks and air dribbles can lead to fast goals. This mode allows players to practice new mechanics that may not be optimal in other modes, allowing them to perfect their control in a different environment instead.
Personally, this is the way I became proficient with ground-to-air dribbles. They are lethal in Hoops when used correctly, and although I was not that great with them in my ranked lobby, Hoops gave me an opportunity to perfect the mechanic and finally implement it in my routine gameplay. Flicks, likewise, are also given an opportunity to be practiced. The net forces flicks to be at a certain strength; too weak and they bounce off the rim, and too strong and they bounce off of the backboard. This forces players to gain a level of control with their flicks, making them just right to get into the hoop; this is something crucial to standard play that players sometimes gloss over.
There is a catch to this mechanical training, however; the ball has slightly altered physics, and it may be much easier to control it in the air than normal. Using the Hoops ball, however, can work akin to training wheels for these aerial mechanics, allowing you to unleash your full potential when transitioning back to standard aerial play. If you thought Hoops had an aerial focus, however, the next mode blows that out of the water.
Dropshot is, without a doubt, the most unique ranked extra mode. The ball is a bit different, taking on a transparent look with lightning inside it, but the most significant change is the goal. When looking at a Dropshot map, one may be confused; there is no goal! However, the gimmick is that the floor itself is the target; if you hit the same spot enough times, it will break and allow for a goal to be scored. This shifts gameplay immensely, forcing players to adapt to this new gameplay; it even throws standard notions of boost out the window, providing players with recharging boost. Akin to Hoops, it has an aerial kickoff; however, the aerial game is essential to winning in Dropshot, and it provides the perfect proving ground for mastering aerial contact and accuracy.
Dropshot requires both aerial movement and high accuracy to effectively score. Credit: Psyonix
Although it is possible to play Dropshot without much aerial play, especially at the lower levels, dominance in the aerial sphere makes it incredibly easy to succeed. The kickoff is the most obvious example of this; whoever gets to the ball faster can get a quick shot off immediately, and the neutral position allows for a crucial opportunity to get better at the fast aerial, a mechanic that is critical for advancement into the upper echelon of Rocket League players. After the kickoff, play continues until a tile is hit twice and the ball is then hit into it, resulting in a goal. Grounded play does not do much at this point; a powershot may launch the ball far, similarly for flicks, but your opponent can simply deflect the ball back to your side. The best way to score is to look for opportunities to hit the ball directly downwards, in order to ensure contact; what better way to do that than with an aerial?
Aerial play is greatly exercised in Dropshot; not as much air dribbles and flip resets, as in Hoops (though those are still advantageous) but simple aerial challenges, where the winner can get some damage off. These interactions are incredibly important to master in standard play yet do not occur so often in modes such as 1v1 and 2v2, especially at lower ranks. However, Dropshot allows players to master the skill of aerial contention, which is essential for both offensive and defensive maneuvers in the air. With a heavy aerial focus, Dropshot is a great place for rookies to solidify themselves in the air; on the other hand, the next mode stays almost entirely grounded.
Finally, we have come to Snow Day, the least popular extra mode, and perhaps least popular mode overall, in Rocket League. Snow Day is essentially ice hockey played in Rocket League; the arenas are given a winter theme, and the only notable gameplay change is that the ball is… a puck, a flat disk that in no way resembles a ball. This massive change aggravates many players when playing the mode, as the kickoff behaves much more differently, and the gameplay tends to be much more grounded. Many players are put off by this mode the first time they play it, as shown by its low player count, but it offers some utility, for those who dare to use it. This unique mode can offer a new way to look at standard play, as unlikely as it would seem.
Snow Day puts a holiday-themed, yet controversial, twist on Rocket League. Credit: Psyonix
Snow Day strips Rocket League of quite a few things integral to gameplay, such as dribbles, aerial play, and even bounces. However, the game mode leaves one mechanic behind that is crucial to standard play: the fifty-fifty, or challenge. Challenges are so integral to the game because they happen essentially every time you or the opponent attempts to take possession from another player; if they have the ball in front of their car, you must collide in such a way that the outcome is more beneficial for your team than the opposition.
Snow Day, essentially, is a series of glorified fifty-fifties, and it forces you to understand how to collide with the puck to make it go where you want. The horizontal aspect is the only part that stays, and Snow Day provides great practice for sharpening these skills. Although the fifty-fifty is a somewhat basic mechanic, many lower-ranked players do not have full control with their touches, and Snow Day is a great avenue for constant practice, though not much else can be taken from it.
Although the extra modes are nowhere near as popular as standard play, there is a lot to be gained through playing them; modes like Hoops focus on precision, Dropshot on aerial play, Rumble on smart play, and Snow Day on challenges. These modes tend to be underestimated but can prove to be a great boon to your gameplay; my aerial skills developed greatly in Dropshot, and many of you can experience similar improvements in extra modes. Other than their utility for improvement, however, many of these modes are an opportunity to just have fun with some friends; taking a break from the turmoil of ranked can feel great every once in a while. Other than that, thanks for taking the time to read this article, and good luck in your Rocket League journey!
