Rockets and the weapons that launch them are a staple of any respectable shooter. From the olden days of Quake online to Destiny and Fortnite, no deathmatch arena is complete without at least one shoulder mounted explosives launcher. However, can this singular weapon carry an entire game? That's the question posed by Rocket Arena, a new third-person online shooter from Final Strike Games and Electronic Arts that has unique ideas about multiplayer warfare. Seemingly going after a younger crowd, Rocket Arena carves out a unique pocket of the shooter market with its colorful heroes and cartoonish violence.

The first thing players will notice upon loading up Rocket Arena is how straightlaced the whole experience feels. A booming announcer points players towards accessibility options as soon as they enter the game. The heroes are all painfully stereotypical, featuring everything from a hunter in a pith helmet to a pirate who might as well yell "Shiver me Timbers!" on the select screen. Characters never die during gameplay - instead, they're knocked off the map a-la Smash Bros. before hovering back over to the spawn. There's nothing inherently wrong with any of this, and it's certainly a unique aesthetic in 2020. It's just that it all feels basic in a way that likely won't get players excited.