Rumbleverse is a weaponless battle royale, and I suck at it

Rumbleverse is the latest entry in an apparently endless list of free to play battle royale games. However, this latest take on the aging format is more creative and interesting than I expected Rumbleverse eschews the usual SMGs, shotguns, and grenades for wrestling grapples, melee combos, and high-flying elbow drops. The real secret here is that it really is a fighting game, which might explain why I’m really bad at it. But as proof of how much fun I’m having, I want to get better.

Rumbleverse will be released on August 11 for consoles and PC after a few rounds of beta testing. Although published by Fourteen days Developer Epic Games, Rumbleverse is developed by Iron Galaxya studio with a long and respected history of making really good fighting games like dive kick and killer instinct. And with that in mind, it makes a lot of sense that Iron Galaxy’s version of a cartoon battle royale chooses fists and knocks down sniper rifles and RPGs.

It all sounded a bit strange on paper, like a weird experiment that might not work. But after playing Rumbleverse I’ve been enjoying the game over and over again for the past few weeks since release, even though I still haven’t won a single match.

The basic setup should be familiar to anyone who has played any other battle royale. A large number of players (40 in this case) fall onto an island covered with buildings, tunnels, open areas and loot. They then search for supplies while fighting other players to survive and ultimately be the last one standing.

The big difference regarding Rumbleverse is that you are not looking for weapons or armor or ammunition. Instead, you’ll find new moves to equip while also searching for melee objects like chairs and potions that can help you do more damage, take more damage, or run faster and longer.

When you eventually stumble (or jump) onto another player, the game’s combat shines, even if it has a bigger learning curve than most shooters. in the Rumbleverse You can block, hit, hit, grab, counter, attack and dive. All of these moves have priority, and higher priority maneuvers win over lower priority maneuvers. For example, if you grab someone and pull off a special and they hack your chest with a simple punch, then they will win that fight. But if they try to block and you go for that special hold again, you’ll break their block and throw them up in the air or against a wall.

You’ll need to master this unusual dance of hitting, dodging, and blocking to become good at it Rumbleverse, and while I can win flights, I haven’t been able to stay alive long enough to win. (My best match result so far was second place, which was nice, but not a win yet!)

Your instinct will be to try spamming attacks or specials right away, but don’t do that. The key is to treat fights like the kind of wrestling you might see on TV. There will be pauses while both enemies reassess the situation and decide what to do next. In these moments, the combat mechanics of Rumbleverse shine and feel both really good and really different than what you find inside Fourteen days or PUBG.

Where Rumbleverse Currently stumbling in the bits surrounding the action. Dropping on a match, grabbing a chair and slamming it at someone from the top of a skyscraper is awesome. The part works great. But outside of games, the menus are a bit confusing and annoying to navigate, and the challenge system feels pathetically lean compared to Fourteen days. And while it might seem unfair to compare a brand new game to one of the genre’s juggernauts, that’s clear Rumbleverse is heavily inspired by Fourteen days in many ways. Hopefully, as the game finds an audience and grows, its challenges and missions will also get better, giving players more to do during games than basic things like “climb a lot” or “heal a certain amount”.

Even if I’m kind of shit Rumbleverse and I’m finding his challenge system a bit anemic at the moment, I’m still looking forward to loading it up again and continuing to play. There are so many good (and bad) battle royale shooters out there in 2022. But a really good, colorful and exciting wrestling-themed battle royale – no less with a solid variety of body shapes – is a beautiful thing. I hope the game persists and has future seasons with more content, quests and challenges that can help make the game even more enjoyable for even a shitty fighter like me.