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Knockout City

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Knockout City
Developer(s)Velan Studios
Publisher(s)Electronic Arts
Director(s)Jeremy Russo
Producer(s)Rich Nolan Jr
Kevin Teich
Programmer(s)Greg Oberg
Artist(s)Ben Greene
Platform(s)
ReleaseMay 21, 2021
Genre(s)Action
Mode(s)Multiplayer

Knockout City is an action video game developed by Velan Studios and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Originals label. It was released for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in May 2021.

Gameplay

Knockout City is a team-based competitive multiplayer video game whose gameplay rules resemble dodgeball. The player's goal is to attack enemies from the opposing team by knocking them out with a ball. There are several types of balls in the game, including the Moon Ball, which allows the player holding the ball to jump higher, and the Bomb Ball, which is a time bomb that explodes on impact. A player can also throw another player as a ball.[1] When ready to throw a ball, the player targets and locks on to an enemy; holding down the throw button charges up the ball for a faster shot that can be more difficult to catch.[2] A successful throw depends not on the accuracy or the precision of the throw, but on the player's positioning and strategy. Players can dodge or catch a ball that is thrown at them, and they will respawn after getting hit by a ball twice. The player can also fake throw a ball, and tackle an opponent holding a ball.[3] As the player progresses in the game, they will receive HoloBucks, which can be spent at the Brawl Shop to unlock various customization items.[4]

At launch, the game features five maps and six modes. All of the maps are set in a futuristic metropolis named Knockout City, and each map also features various environmental hazards which can knock a player out.[5] The modes announced include Team KO, which is a variant of team deathmatch, Diamond Dash, in which players must collect diamonds dropped by defeated enemies, and Ball-Up, a four-versus-four mode in which the player must throw their teammates to eliminate enemies.[4] The player can also form a Crew of maximum 32 players.

Development and release

Knockout City was developed by Velan Studios, which had previously released Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit in 2020. The team, which has about 85 employees, spent four years developing the game.[6] Velan Studios described the game as a "dodgebrawl" title, and its CEO, Karthik Bala, added that the team chose dodgeball to be the game's core gameplay loop because it was considered to be an "intuitive" sport.[1] The game was designed to be accessible for both newcomers, while complex enough for competitive players.[5] Velan Studios built an engine named Viper to power the game and created a programming script named V-script, which aimed at countering network latency.[7]

Publisher Electronic Arts announced in March 2019 that it had signed a publishing deal with Velan Studios.[8] It was published under the publisher's EA Originals initiative, which aims at supporting independent games.[9] The game was officially announced via a Nintendo Direct on February 17, 2021.[5] A beta for the game was held from April 2, 2021 to April 4, 2021 for PC and consoles.[10] Knockout City was released for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One (with enhanced backwards compatibility for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S) on May 21, 2021 with cross platform play and shared progression between platforms.[11] Velan envisioned the game as a live service, and will introducing new content regularly via seasons. Each season will last for nine weeks.[7]

In April 2021, it was announced that the game would be available to play at no cost to EA Play and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers.[12] It was later announced that the game would be free-to-play for the first ten days of release.[13] The game attracted 2 million players within its first week of release.[14] After the launch trial, EA announced that the game would be free-to-play until the player had reached level 25.[15]

Reception

Knockout City received generally positive reviews upon release according to Metacritic. Some reviewers have compared Knockout City with Rocket Arena, a 2020 game also published by Electronic Arts.[27][28]

References

  1. ^ a b Thorn, Ed (February 18, 2021). "Knockout City is a dodgeball arena battler where you can really be the ball". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  2. ^ S. Good, Owen (February 17, 2021). "Mario Kart Live maker gets into 'dodgebrawl' with Knockout City". Polygon. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  3. ^ Northup, Travis (February 23, 2021). "Knockout City: Mario Kart Dev's New Dodgeball Game Is Kid-Like Fun". IGN. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  4. ^ a b Stewart, Marcus (February 17, 2021). "Knockout City Breakdown And Hands-On Impressions". Game Informer. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c Takahshi, Dean (February 17, 2021). "Velan Studios will launch Knockout City dodgeball game on May 21". VentureBeat. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  6. ^ Harrison, Josh (February 25, 2021). "Welcome to Knockout City, the dodgebrawl capital of the world". PlayStation Blog. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  7. ^ a b Conditt, Jessica (February 17, 2021). "'Knockout City' is a cross-platform dodgeball brawler from Velan and EA". Engadget. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  8. ^ Shanley, Patrick (March 25, 2019). "EA Partners will publish the first game from Karthik and Guha Bala's newly formed Velan Studios". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 4, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  9. ^ Fillani, Alessandro (February 18, 2021). "Knockout City Is EA's Dodgeball By Way Of Splatoon". GameSpot. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  10. ^ Jarrard, Chris (February 25, 2021). "Knockout City gets cross-play beta this April". Shacknews. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  11. ^ Peters, Jay (February 17, 2021). "Knockout City is a new dodgeball game from the makers of Mario Kart Live". The Verge. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  12. ^ "Knockout City Will Release on EA Play & Game Pass Ultimate at Launch". 26 April 2021.
  13. ^ "EA's Knockout City is Free for the First 10 Days".
  14. ^ Clayton, Natelie (May 25, 2021). "Knockout City already has over 2 million players". PC Gamer. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  15. ^ Saed, Sherif (May 31, 2021). "Knockout City is now free to play until level 25". VG 247. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  16. ^ "Knockout City for Playstation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
  17. ^ "Knockout City for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
  18. ^ "Knockout City for Nintendo Switch Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
  19. ^ "Knockout City for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
  20. ^ "Knockout City for Xbox Series X Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
  21. ^ Andriessen, CJ (27 May 2021). "Review: Knockout City". Destructoid. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  22. ^ Sheridan, Connor (21 May 2021). "KNOCKOUT CITY REVIEW: "YOU SHOULD START DOWNLOADING RIGHT NOW"". GamesRadar+. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  23. ^ Barbosa, Alessandro (28 May 2021). "Knockout City Review - Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive, And Dodge". GameSpot. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  24. ^ L'avis de Aubin_Gregoire (22 May 2021). "Test Knockout City : C'est vraiment de la balle ?". Jeuxvideo.com. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  25. ^ O'Reilly, PJ (24 May 2021). "Knockout City Review (Switch eShop)". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  26. ^ Shea, Brian (21 May 2021). "Knockout City Review – Dodgeball Delight". Game Informer. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  27. ^ How Knockout City Could Succeed Where Rocket Arena Failed - Alex Santa Maria, Screen Rant, 17 February 2021
  28. ^ Knockout City is a dodgeball arena battler where you can really be the ball - Ed Thorn, Rock Paper Shotgun, 18 February 2021
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