Crazy people have been throwing me off skyscrapers for days – I can hardly turn off the new Battle Royale on PS5

Rumbleverse looks like a cartoon, has muscle-bound wrestlers as the main characters, and the moves are way over the top too. Yes, the approach is pretty silly. But if you like crazy games, you should definitely take a look at the new Battle Royale, says MeinMMO author Max Handwerk.

All hell broke loose on the street below me. A pumped-up hunk is slammed against a wall while an agile zigzagging lady picks up a street sign and slams it in the face of a scrawny guy.

The guy activates a spherical shield just in time to intercept the swinging traffic sign. But he is powerless against the brutal “chokeslam” that his opponent uses next.

She grabs the poor wretch by the neck, pulls him up with a mighty leap and dashes towards a car roof at breakneck speed. From there, they both bounce back up into the air, only to crash down onto the street. The impact is so hard that a small crater is formed. this is my moment

I take my measurements on the ledge of my house roof – and jump off! My wrestler catapults himself into the air, flips in midair, elbows up, and dives like a hawk in a dive.

A floor. Two floors. Eight floors.

With the weight of a hitting comet, my wrestler’s elbowdrop crushes the poor guy, who was already rammed unsharpened into the ground. The pressure wave also carries away the aunt who put it on me so nicely. The guy is history – but she is still a danger.

I turn to her for the next devastating move. But suddenly someone grabs my wrestler from behind, spins him around in circles and fires him Olympic hammer thrower into the eternal hunting grounds. Or, more precisely: in the water. It comes down to the same thing though, because whoever lands in the sea is eliminated.

So ends one of many chaotic rounds I’ve spent in “Rumbleverse” in the last few days. And even if I rarely emerge victorious from the whole thing: I have a lot of fun with this game.

You can see the gameplay trailer here:

Suplex From The Rooftop Straight To Hell: Rumbleverse is silly, but not stupid

What kind of game is this? Rumbleverse was released on August 11th, 2022 as a free-to-play game for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X | S. It’s a Battle Royale – but not ordinary.

Yes, there is an island with a big city, a circle that keeps getting smaller, and you want to be the last 40 players standing at the end. You can also collect loot and there is also the now obligatory Battle Pass. But this is where the similarities to established titles largely end.

Developer Iron Game Studios takes a different approach with publisher Epic than top dogs like Fortnite, Call of Duty or Apex Legends.

You are not soldiers who have to pick up firearms. No, you are goddamn wrestlers who want to wipe the floor with their enemies! And they’re obviously insane, because they don’t shy away from insane heights or completely exaggerated attacks from their opponents.

But one after anonther. Your primary weapon is your body: you can rain down combos of light attack hits on your enemies, or use a heavy attack to attempt to breach their guard. To do this, you have objects from the environment available that you can slam your opponents in the face. Examples are:

• Street signs and garbage cans (logical, because you fight on streets, they just stand there)
• Wooden planks (Yes, you can find those in cities from time to time)
• Steel Chairs (Well, it’s a wrestling game. What would a wrestling game be without repurposed steel chairs?)

There are also numerous special moves of various rarities. You can find them in the form of books, which in turn are in loot boxes. So they are the equivalent of the main weapons of other genre representatives.

Your wrestlers can learn up to two special moves at once, which you can swap out if you find better ones. These moves are just wonderfully over the top: every chokeslam, every spear tackle, every diamond crusher comes with colorful effects and hard impact animations.

Then there’s the ridiculous exaggeration: you don’t just grab your opponents and throw them on their backs. No, you first jump eight meters in the air, turn twice and then kick her towards infinity (or against the nearest house wall) with a violent kick.

The comic style makes it feel like a playable Saturday morning cartoon from childhood. But, and this is important: Even if the whole thing looks silly on the outside, the game is not stupid. It takes a lot of skill to survive.

A surprisingly complex combat system for a battle royale with wrestlers

How matches work in Rumbleverse: When I first launched the game, I expected some hilarious power moves, blunt brawls, and some short-lived fun that I would quickly erase from the PlayStation.

But I quickly realized that if you just run around dull and hit it, you’ll eat up a lot of dust and get thrown out quickly. The game requires a lot more skill than I thought.

On the one hand you have four places for items that you can carry around. These can be weapons, but also chicken parts for the regeneration of life points or stamina potions. There are also three different “powders” that can be collected. you improve

• persistence
• life point
• attack power.

You should also collect them over the course of a match, because in the end you need such advantages against your enemies.

The fight itself requires not only muscle, but also a bit of brain power.

Some examples:

• Every action costs stamina. This goes for attacks, sprints, jumps, special moves, everything. If you don’t have one, nothing works anymore. So you have to weigh it up carefully.
• There is a shield. This one blocks punches and jump attacks, but not grabs.
• You can only dodge handles. But if you have the wrong timing, you are briefly at the mercy of being defenseless.
• On the other hand, if you grab into nothing and the opponent dodges, it’s your turn.
• If you smack opponents on the ground, you cannot hit them for a short time – except with an elbow drop from above. It almost always works.
• If you smash an opponent against the wall, you can launch even more attacks – but again, timing is important.
• You can climb every wall in the game without exception – while looking like the Incredible Hulk, your hands just grab in the wall. All you need is perseverance.
• Also, the higher the better. A crushing “suplex” from a house onto the street pulls more than a suplex done just standing at the same elevation.
• Conversely, just be careful not to get thrown off the roof.

Yes, these aren’t difficult Elden Ring-level battles. But it is much more complex than initially expected.

Then there is also a “Superstar” meter. This is filled by collecting stars and fighting battles. When it’s full, you activate Superstar mode and you’re immediately faster, stronger and regenerate your life points. On the opposite side, however, a spotlight shines on you all the time – so everyone can see you very well, surprise attacks become more difficult.

In addition, you get access to a super attack that not only looks powerful, but also causes a lot of damage. It can happen that you pull the opponent’s entire life bar with a violent throw from a great height. But, as I said: the headlight. And when such a glowing wrestler comes storming towards you, you actually already know: Now you should get on with your feet.

Fortunately, the whole thing can be learned quite well on a tutorial island. I would actually recommend that. I started the game with no explanation at first, and it didn’t end well.

Oh yes: you also have to take the circle into account. If you stay too long outside of the ever-shrinking combat area, you will be counted and eliminated as well. As a result, if you survive long enough, the “finale” will create glorious chaos with many fighters in a small area.