Have you been missing those intense Dodgeball battles in your life? Want to re-live the glory days from your school gym class? Or maybe you’re just tired of only being able to watch Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, because that’s like the only dodgeball movie there is. Either way you slice it, this game has the potential to fill all those empty voids.
A new dodgeball inspired video game is coming out from Velan Studios. Those are the same guys who made Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit. And if Nintendo allowed them to make a Mario Kart game, then I have faith in this one. It looks like a refreshing twist of the gym class game we all know and love.
It’s still the Five D’s of Dodgeball (dodge, duct, dip, dive and dodge) but now we can add a “T” to the Five D’s. That’s right, Dodgeball just became so much more intense, because now you can tackle. Instead of dodgeballing we’ll be dodgebrawling. But if you think about it, tackling is the one missing element to an otherwise testosterone infused blood sport of domination. When you think of crazy meat-head athletes, football is usually the go to assumption. But Dodgeball really does key in more on the human psychological aspects (fear, domination, pack-like behavior, survival etc.). It’s a game played by many, but meant for few. This sport doesn’t build character. It reveals it.
My immediate reaction to this game is that it looks incredible. It’s a little different than the kind of dodgeball video game I have always imagined that could dominate the game market. For example, there’s no dodgeball court, arena, field, etc. It’s a city/town map with all sorts of moving pieces. It looks a lot like Overwatch, if anyone knows or likes that game. However, Overwatch is 6v6, whereas Knockout City is 3v3, 4v4 or free-for-all. But Overwatch can be extremely chaotic with a million things going on at once, or at least that’s how it feels. Knockout City seems to be going for the same thing, and it makes sense. Dodgeball is a chaotic sport. Balls are flying around at all times and bodies are diving and dodging everywhere. And I think with this format, 6v6 might be too much going on. I think the 4v4 setting sound like an ideal number for teammates, but we’ll see soon enough.
I’m all on board with Knockout City. It does look a little overwhelming, but once you get the hang of it, it looks insanely fun. Knockout City will be coming to the Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One and PC gaming. It will also have backwards compatible enhanced for PS5 and the Xbox Series XIS. So it’s basically available for all major consoles and it has backwards compatibility. Oh and the best part, it will be starting out at only $19.99 at launch. There will be a closed beta for Knockout City starting tomorrow February 20th that will last until February 21st. Hopefully the rest of the questions surrounding the game can be answered, and it can attract some more attention. For those unable to get access to the closed beta, you’ll have to wait a bit. The game isn’t scheduled to release until May 21st, which is plenty of time for them to spread the word. I think selling the game for $20 is a great strategy as well, because it’s not an unreasonable price to pay. Forget paying $60 for a Madden or 2K game that is the exact same as the one made the previous year. It also doesn’t seem like a dodgeball game will make break the video game market, which is another reason to keep that price lower. And if it turns out to be an amazing game, then it’s a win-win. Everyone will want to play it, but they won’t have a problem only spending $20 on it.
I’ve been waiting for a video game like this for decades now, so I may be a tad bias here. But I think this game has a lot of potential. It could also flop pretty badly, like a lot of games do. But we’ve never really seen a video game like this, so I think that’ll help in the long run. I’m just ready to play man. Can it just be May already?
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