I gave Rumbleverse a serious try because the concept seemed like something I could get into. I just loved the idea of a wrestling-inspired battle royal game, where you use flashy wrestling moves instead of guns.
And the gameplay is legitimately fun! It scratches that itch for visceral “back stage” brawling you’d occasionally see on wrestling — where two or more wrestlers would stumble through hallways, locker rooms, grocery stores, sometimes even city streets and pummel each other with anything and everything in reach.
Not since the days of WWF No Mercy, or Smackdown! Here Comes the Pain have I felt like this. There’s inherent glee in catching an opponent off guard and super kicking them off a construction crane, or having them whiff an attack and making them pay with a choke slam off the top of a skyscraper, or scaling a tower and landing a massive elbow drop onto a group of unsuspecting grapplers. I even felt some comical joy in getting my comeuppance — a well placed chair shot breaking my shield, or accidentally spearing someone into the ocean, which effectively KO’s both grapplers instantly. There’s some real fun to be had here, on both sides of the can of whoop ass.
Unfortunately there was just too many detractors to keep me playing. For one, the game looks deeply unappealing. I almost wrote it off completely because you can just tell they were trying to cash in on the Fortnite look and tone in a way that feels cynical and shallow.
But, unlike Fortnite, which has interesting skins, a malleable art style, and a tone that can play up both goofy antics and get serious when it needs to, Rumbleverse cranks the goofball meter to the breaking point. It seems like virtually every cosmetic item is designed to be some gag, or parody, or something ridiculous. Sure, you can design your grappler with some traditional or interesting looking tights, boots, elbow pads, etc. but for every cool piece there’s double, triple that in cartoonish or bizarre choices. Want to be a pig wearing a sombrero with the word “nacho” on your spandex? Or level up 100 levels in the battle pass to be a costumed chicken mascot? Want to pay a premium in the cash shop to wear a horse or pigeon head? Do you desire to look like a wrestling version of Ichabod Crane? Rumbleverse has you covered.
I don’t want or need an incredibly serious experience to have fun. I love when games can do both and earnestly balance corny and cool. Wrestling itself can be both incredibly cool and incredibly silly. Rumbleverse does not do that. It feels like it’s only interested in being cartoony — right down to your character folding like an accordion when they land from a high height and having to blow into their thumb to inflate themselves like a looney tunes character. It’s deeply off putting unless you want to feel like you’re wrestling in toon town.
I had to fight the game itself to get a character I’m happy with, while it constantly spat out ugly or ridiculous gimmick costumes, only occasionally throwing me a bone with a nice pair of boots or something. I bought the battle pass, and stopped playing about a third of the way through because I honestly did not want to grind matches to unlock a “battle chef” costume, or an old-timey mustached circus outfit. Oddly, some levels you gain unlock one “variant” piece of that same outfit. Like, the hairnet comes with the battle chef costume but you also get the hairnet again with a different hair color at a different level. Why?
The game’s music and dialogue also wore thin. There’s like two music tracks in the entire game, the same looping music that plays when you start the game, and the same one that plays when you launch into the city. Over and over again. Then there’s the announcer. At first he’s great, sounding like a joke-y version of the announcers at any sporting or wrestling event. He’s smarmy and full of gags. Unfortunately, he runs out of unique lines pretty fast and will just repeat the same stuff constantly. It’s also not great to hear him make some joke at your expense when you get KO’d. It’s bad enough losing when you weren’t expecting to, no one needs someone saying “they should hang that elimination in a museum” in your ear to rub it in. After several rounds of this, I turned the music and dialogue off, leaving just the ambient noise and sound effects to listen to.
It’s a shame because I did generally enjoy the grappling and combat. I think the game could stand to have some more variety in its moves and basic attacks, but I had fun with it from a gameplay perspective and I think what’s there is a solid start. I just wish the rest of the game wasn’t so deeply unappealing.
Here’s hoping they course correct the style and tone in the future, because I’d love to revisit when there’s more to offer. Despite it all I’d like this game to succeed.
And the gameplay is legitimately fun! It scratches that itch for visceral “back stage” brawling you’d occasionally see on wrestling — where two or more wrestlers would stumble through hallways, locker rooms, grocery stores, sometimes even city streets and pummel each other with anything and everything in reach.
Not since the days of WWF No Mercy, or Smackdown! Here Comes the Pain have I felt like this. There’s inherent glee in catching an opponent off guard and super kicking them off a construction crane, or having them whiff an attack and making them pay with a choke slam off the top of a skyscraper, or scaling a tower and landing a massive elbow drop onto a group of unsuspecting grapplers. I even felt some comical joy in getting my comeuppance — a well placed chair shot breaking my shield, or accidentally spearing someone into the ocean, which effectively KO’s both grapplers instantly. There’s some real fun to be had here, on both sides of the can of whoop ass.
Unfortunately there was just too many detractors to keep me playing. For one, the game looks deeply unappealing. I almost wrote it off completely because you can just tell they were trying to cash in on the Fortnite look and tone in a way that feels cynical and shallow.
But, unlike Fortnite, which has interesting skins, a malleable art style, and a tone that can play up both goofy antics and get serious when it needs to, Rumbleverse cranks the goofball meter to the breaking point. It seems like virtually every cosmetic item is designed to be some gag, or parody, or something ridiculous. Sure, you can design your grappler with some traditional or interesting looking tights, boots, elbow pads, etc. but for every cool piece there’s double, triple that in cartoonish or bizarre choices. Want to be a pig wearing a sombrero with the word “nacho” on your spandex? Or level up 100 levels in the battle pass to be a costumed chicken mascot? Want to pay a premium in the cash shop to wear a horse or pigeon head? Do you desire to look like a wrestling version of Ichabod Crane? Rumbleverse has you covered.
I don’t want or need an incredibly serious experience to have fun. I love when games can do both and earnestly balance corny and cool. Wrestling itself can be both incredibly cool and incredibly silly. Rumbleverse does not do that. It feels like it’s only interested in being cartoony — right down to your character folding like an accordion when they land from a high height and having to blow into their thumb to inflate themselves like a looney tunes character. It’s deeply off putting unless you want to feel like you’re wrestling in toon town.
I had to fight the game itself to get a character I’m happy with, while it constantly spat out ugly or ridiculous gimmick costumes, only occasionally throwing me a bone with a nice pair of boots or something. I bought the battle pass, and stopped playing about a third of the way through because I honestly did not want to grind matches to unlock a “battle chef” costume, or an old-timey mustached circus outfit. Oddly, some levels you gain unlock one “variant” piece of that same outfit. Like, the hairnet comes with the battle chef costume but you also get the hairnet again with a different hair color at a different level. Why?
The game’s music and dialogue also wore thin. There’s like two music tracks in the entire game, the same looping music that plays when you start the game, and the same one that plays when you launch into the city. Over and over again. Then there’s the announcer. At first he’s great, sounding like a joke-y version of the announcers at any sporting or wrestling event. He’s smarmy and full of gags. Unfortunately, he runs out of unique lines pretty fast and will just repeat the same stuff constantly. It’s also not great to hear him make some joke at your expense when you get KO’d. It’s bad enough losing when you weren’t expecting to, no one needs someone saying “they should hang that elimination in a museum” in your ear to rub it in. After several rounds of this, I turned the music and dialogue off, leaving just the ambient noise and sound effects to listen to.
It’s a shame because I did generally enjoy the grappling and combat. I think the game could stand to have some more variety in its moves and basic attacks, but I had fun with it from a gameplay perspective and I think what’s there is a solid start. I just wish the rest of the game wasn’t so deeply unappealing.
Here’s hoping they course correct the style and tone in the future, because I’d love to revisit when there’s more to offer. Despite it all I’d like this game to succeed.