What's Good About Rumbleverse

I’m not exactly what you’d call…into Battle Royales. I find the appeal of them interesting though. You and a bunch of other people drop into an enclosed space, loot as much stuff as you can to survive and then murder each other until there’s one person left, the victor standing atop the mountain of corpses created to get there. It's a good concept, but it’s one which I’ve not found myself getting too attached to because of the trappings of the games associated with the genre. Fortnite makes me feel like a boomer every time I try to think about giving it a chance and PUBG…is PUBG. So imagine to my surprise, when Rumbleverse came along and decided to take the basic concept of the battle royale and mix it with the grandiose pomp and circumstance of professional wrestling. Turns out I get them now.

I’d be lying if I said that a good chunk of this wasn’t because of Rumbleverse being made by Iron Galaxy. Yes, the same Iron Galaxy behind "funny joke that got less funny as time went on" Divekick and seasons 2 and 3 of Killer Instinct aka “one of, if not THE best fighting game of the last decade”. A good chunk of my interest is purely because of that fact and their imprint is all over the game mechanically. But before I get into that, I gotta go over the basics first. You and roughly 39 other combatants get fired into an enclosed, constantly shrinking ring and duke it out for supremacy. You choose where you land, scavenge for supplies and then throw hands. The interesting part is in the throwing of said hands. The key differentiator is that Rumleverse is understandably all melee combat. Elbow drops, Irish Whips, Izuna drops, Superkicks, Chokeslams, a move that’s basically the Jecht Shot from Final Fantasy 10, HYPA BOMBS (to be said in the same style as Alex in Street Fighter 3) and more facilitate your move set and are all part of the rock-paper-scissors dynamic that makes up the game's combat system.

It consists of strikes, throws, and blocks. Strikes beat throws, throws beat blocks, and blocks naturally beat strikes. It’s simple and effective, which is why I like it. But it also gets augmented by equipable weapons that can be found littered across the map. Folding chairs, bats, 2x4s, traffic signs, lawn furniture, and even garbage cans and mailboxes if you’re feeling particularly spicy. There are also lootable books that grant you special moves that have the aforementioned chokeslams, superkicks, and Jecht Shots inside of them. Uses of these moves and your environment are necessary to secure the win and its great stuff.

There’s also one more thing I want to shout out in Rumbleverse, which is the art style. It’s vibrant, colourful and hyper-exaggerated in the best way imaginable. It also manages to be all of those things without sacrificing the readability of gameplay, which is a huge plus in my book. And I appreciate that while character models are set from 4 distinct body types, they’re all pretty good and can be customized in some pretty neat ways. All of these and the cosmetics in their shop at the moment make me wish that they get eventually get a sponsorship with either WWE or AEW because that feels way too gosh dang perfect to pass up, everyone involved would be leaving money on the table.

Overall, I liked my time with Runbleverse. It's a neat take on the Battle Royale Genre and its one that I can wrap my head around. Will it replace Power Wash Simulator or  Destiny 2 as my go-to "keep my hands busy" games? Probably not, but I'll jump into it every few months or so just to see what's changed, which is the highest compliment I can give to a Battle Royale.