Hey! I am a member of TEAM ROCKETS so my review would be biased and terrible for you. But we would like to hear your feedback; we check the steam forums many times a day!

But if you want to know what I really think about ROCKETSROCKETSROCKETS, let's get *serious* for a moment.

I've been a game developer for many years. A lot of times you work on an exciting idea that seems like it might work, and a lot of times you work on things just out of momentum, and sometimes you wake up and discover you're working on something you should have cancelled months ago. It's sorta the way life goes, as a developer; it's hard to objectively see what you are working on as anything but "good." A lot of the time it's hard to even find playtesters to help you out.

Sometimes, though - rarely - an idea comes along that hits you like falling in love does. You jump out of bed every day to work on it. You can't stop thinking about it. The whole world gets more vibrant, and you see your idea everywhere. Everyone you show the early prototypes to instantly get it and also fall in love. You start gaining fans and all you have is a title screen or a doodle on a napkin... And they aren't friends or family. This kind of experience is incredibly rare, and I am stupendously honoured to be feeling it for ROCKETS right now.

I know I'm in the thick of it right now, and I still have those rose-colored glasses on, but I think I will fondly look back on ROCKETS for the rest of my life. It may not be my best technical work, it may be unfinished right now, and it may not become a commercial success (I'm writing this before the Early Access launch!), but by golly does this game feel right in every way.

It feels incredible to build, it feels incredible to play, and it feels incredible to be a part of this talented team.

I hope you'll fall in love with the game like I did.

ROCKETSROCKETSROCKETS is exactly what the title implies. You fly around in a rocket and prove to others who is the studliest of all the rockets.

Here's a Quick Look video if you want to see how this game plays. There's also my review below if you simply want a more in-depth and concise look at the game.

http://youtu.be/daoI-IMkVk0

Let me start my review by saying this game is extremely bare at this point. It only has local dogfighting between 2 rockets, 2 v 1 underdog mode, or team deathmatch. But damn is the dogfighting good. You get three different ways to attack: by shooting lasers that go straight ahead, dropping bombs that fling out your side and are effected by gravity, and finally mines that shoot out your backside and blow up behind you. Simple right? But try throwing that in with high-speed rocket action. Suddenly you have to plan your shots to cut off the path your enemy is flying. Did the enemy drop a mine? Knock it right back at him with a laser and laugh in his face. Wanna rain death on a pursuer? Fling bombs into the sky and try to weave away from the hail of death. It's simply fun experimenting and trying to become the best pilot.

And trust me, you'll always know who is the better pilot. You simply can't win the game based solely on luck. You have to dominate your opponent with the tag system they implemented. Basically put, both sides start from scratch, and if you hit the enemy 3 times in a row, it's your win. But if he hits you once, he'll knock a tag off your streak that you'll have to make up for until you fill the gauge in the top of the screen. This means games can end quickly, or be an intense test of endurance between two evenly-matched pilots.

Another great point of this game is the visuals. I love painting the cosmos with my vapor trails. Not only does it enhance the sense of speed you're getting, but it also tells the tale of the dance of death the rockets have been through. And when I say dance, I mean it. The music in this game is super catchy, too.

But let's discuss some negatives now. Just keep in mind that his is Early Access, and most of this will probably get changed in future patches.

*The game is super short in its current state (you do everything there is to do once you play your first match). It's just dogfighting. And while it's good, it might not be enough to sell it at this point for some people.
*There is no progression or anything to unlock. Something that'll keep the player coming back for more is always knowing they'll get rewarded if they play more.
*All the rockets are the same, just colored differently. I'd like to have different looking rockets just for cosmetic purposes at least. Just something to make me feel unique.
*No upgrades to weapons. I'm not talking flat out upgrades that are better than another, but more of something that makes them act differently. Like a laser that fires faster but has limited range. Or a mine that explodes in a larger radius but you can't shoot out as many. Just something to make this game more strategic and diverse would be good.
*No online. This will be fixed later, but it'll remain a negative until it's implemented.
*No tutorial. Sure it's fun flying around and getting absolutely owned by the AI for the first few times, but some sort of menu to list the controls would be nice.
*No options menu. You can't change the sound effects, resolution, or anything else ingame currently.

Now while that may be a lot of negatives, most--if not all--of those while be ironed out in the future. So wait until then if they bother you.

So to wrap this up, this game is going to bud into something very good. And for the low cost of $5 they're handing it out for currently, it certainly worth picking it up even now.

*As a side note, I will (hopefully) update this review as major patches are released or just do it again once it's finally released. Just yell at me and I'll come running to take another look if I forget.*

This game is very fun.. once you know the controls. At first I was very confused with how I controlled my rocket, thinking it was relative, but then I realized the up arrow goes up, down arrow goes down, left goes left, and right goes right. Okay, I had that figured out, but then I needed to figure out how to shoot. Space? No. Shift? No, that's a weird shield thing. Control? Nope. X? Nah. Z? Nope! D? Ah, that shoots rockets. I then started pressing WASD to see what it would do. A shoots smaller rockets, and S drops bombs.

Also, my resolution is stuck at 800x600, for some reason. This game needs an options menu, or even just a seperate executable to change the resolution.

For positive, well, the music is amazing!! This game is also very beautiful, and fast paced. It has a feel to it... It's great. And the light trails, wow. The AI is very smart, also. Still haven't won a battle.

Anyway, this is a great game, and has a lot of potential for future multiplayer, but I feel it needs a tutorial and some options.
Pick it up, though, it's worth it!

EDIT: It seems the developer added some settings! That's great, he even added a controls page. I'm loving the game and it fixed most of its problems!

I know that this game will be also very good for the keyboard in the future, because right now it seems the developer still seems uncertain about the current controls. Hoping for the best!

Again, it's a great game, worth the money, pick it up!

It's on sale! Do not hesitate, just buy!

Read the tl;dr section if you want at the bottom(too long; didn't read)Better View

Review will be updated periodically. [Last Update: 21:27 PM(EST) June 18th, 2014]
I discuss: What is R3, the gameplay, music, and even the developer for those of you who are worried about Early Access.

ROCKETSROCKETSROCKETS. I haven't had more fun with a game in awhile, and I have a lot of games. However, I will not make this review solely based on praising the game, but to get a better idea of what the gameplay is like I will explain all the core mechanics and aspects of the game. Pictures will not help you, you must try this out for yourself.

What is ROCKETSROCKETSROCKETS?

R3 is a rocket flying arcade shooter, where you shoot rockets at other rockets.
Currently there is one single gamemode with local only, but don't let this dissapoint you. All my hours are with its smart 1v1 AI that faces a huge challenge at first. Games can go either way everytime. R3 relies on quick twitch mechanics with its easier to learn gameplay and controls. The learning curve flows very nicely where you will be able to play decently after a couple of hours, but you will always get better.

You have three weapons.
Standard Rockets(You will use this most of the time.)

Drop Rockets(These are advanced and even I have trouble using them. Many people accidentally hit themselves with it. It takes practice.)
- They drop using physics, so based off your momentum and gravity,
the rockets will drop different ways. Usually you want to use this when the enemy is far below you.

Mine(Static mine that pops out behind you.)

The neat part about R3 is its controls. They aren't relative. Up goes upward, right goes right, etc. This means you have true freedom in how you move. You can pull of neat turns and dodge obstacles at fast speeds. Hitting someone can be sometimes very difficult.
You have a shield that you activate with a button, it only comes on for about a second and will promptly dissapear. Rockets can't get through your shield but mines can. This helps prevent your uninvitable doom when faced with a barrage of rockets that you realize you can not dodge. It also gives you a little boost, and has a cooldown, so you better be careful when using it.

The standard gamemode is an advantage system. Whoever has a +3 advantage in hits wins.
Your opponent has 2 points and you hit them. They now have 1 point and you still have 0. When they are back at 0 you can now score. This gamemode influences long high octane battles, however if this sounds off to you still consider getting it as the developer plans to add more gamemodes.

Now what about the Developer!?
The lead Developer Andy Moore is probably one of the best Early Access indie devs I've seen that not only is commited to adding lots of content, but making sure everyone has an enjoyable experience. Don't be afraid that this game will not work for you, he always puts out experimental builds that you can opt into to try and listens to every complaint you have.
He's not the type of developer that goes, "I like feedback, but I'm not going to actually use said feedback". He updates in a regular and timely manner and is always in the discussions on the forum.

So don't be afraid to put your money into this project. Infact I encourage you because the price will get higher upon release. Yes, this does seem off putting to a lot of you. However, the game is fairly polished and always recieving updates. They have plans for after release also. No, this won't end up being $60(DayZ... really?). My guess is $10 - $15.

Hot Jams
The music in this game is absolutely wonderful. It's composed by Power Up Audio, who did the music for Towerfall: Ascension and many others. Check them out! It features upbeat electro space jams. You can listen to it all day. I swear. It currently only includes 4 tracks. Menu theme and two in-game themes and a 2 part win theme. All are good and mastered well. They are adding in more music, but you can tell by the quality that they put effort into it.

What's not good about R3
- Currently it has a limited options menu(which will be improved soon.)
- It needs a bit more polish on the UI, it's very clean and neat however it's missing a good amount of stuff.
- The game is in Early Access so AI is only complete for 1v1, but they are now testing multi AI currently so I wouldn't worry about it. Honestly, the game is best for 1v1. You will probably most likely play 1v1. Any higher is for more advanced players.

Alright, I can't think of anymore problems.

Will this game support my controller and keyboard!?
Most likely: Yes. Literally every recent update he has added support for a bunch of random controllers I've never even heard off. Keyboard controls are good at the moment, but are always getting better.

What should I be warned about before buying?
It's Alpha mate. Things change.

What I'm worried about in the Future

Multiplayer Netccode
This game features a lot of collision and player interaction which is why it must have a good netcode. Netcode is the reason I haven't purchased Brawlhalla. I do expect on Multiplayer release the netcode to be very shoddy, however I hope the developers will work very hard on it, and based on my comment on the dev, I'm sure he will.

I hope this doesn't require any of our own servers like many indie games have been doing lately. A Peer-to-peer lobby or universal servers will be better.

What I need you to do.
Buy this game. It won't be good without players. Don't hold off and get it. $5, and you're getting it at a cheaper price than release also. Hate the idea of paying developers for alpha testing? Remember when games didn't tell you they were incomplete till you bought them? You're supporting development and helping this game get out there and faster. By buying in you allow them to afford a multitude of things that will go back into the game. Servers, advertisement, features, music. Just do it.

In current development I give R3 a: 7/10 Unique!

Gameplay and Controls: 10 Best!
Settings and UI: 5/10 Average

And I don't do that BS where 7 is average. 5 is average on my scale.

Have fun Rocketeers!

tl;dr
+ Well polished.
+ Frequent Updates
+ Dedicated Devloper who releases Expiremental builds to ensure all users are having fun. Have a problem? Just post in the forum, a build will be out in seconds!
+ Hot Jams
+ Great Controls and pacing
+ Support for everything
+ Learning Curve
+ Button Mashing is actually fun?

- Limited Setting(at the moment!)
- Missing a couple of in-game UI elements
- Only two modes avaliable

-------12:30 AM(EST) May 18th, 2014-------
Andy is allowing the community to edit the level generation, controls, physics, and more with a new file. We're all testing different outcomes of how we believe R3 should play like.

-------21:27 PM(EST) June 18th, 2014-------
So R3 Module One update hit for all users not in the Experimental build a few days ago. After getting my testing in the amount of stuff added is great. NA new challenge mode has been added with leaderboards and a couple of new styles for everything. Also more hot jams!

This game was immediately a good time. I definitely recommend it to anyone who is viewing this review. ROCKETSROCKETSROCKETS does a great job at bringing the arena combat, action type game back in to play with a bit of a fancier look. It's fun to look at and the music is awesome. Take a look for yourself!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i68D67dmo0I&list=UUtDOPOGulrilq_jHndC7cVQ

Edit: I have added a newer video to go along with the most recent update! More enemies! YAY!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SC3E1W0e14I&list=UUtDOPOGulrilq_jHndC7cVQ