It will be a coincidence or not, but the arrival of Disc Jam takes place just 3 months after the announcement of the return of a classic like Windjammers, wanting on the
one hand to fulfill the role of spiritual successor of this, at the same time as taking advantage of the pull of forming part of the catalog of monthly PlayStation Plus games . In short, follow the path of
Rocket League, that thanks to its appearance as part of this service it managed to become a viral phenomenon, habitual of Twitch and with
presence even in the esports. The formula of High Horse Entertainment, a small studio formed by two veterans of Activision, brings together many of the virtues of the peculiar proposal of Psyonix, but only time will tell if it manages to approach its popularity, since reaching it seems mission impossible.
Despite the unknown of this study, the credentials of any of its components, only two, are to be taken into account. Jay Mattis was part of the Treyarch team that handled Call of Duty: World at War and Call of Duty: Black Ops , while Tim Rapp participated in both Call of Duty 3 and Black Ops 2, with several installments ofGuitar Hero through. However, it is clear that the competitive multiplayer environment is the specialty of both, and in that they have wanted to emphasize with this Disc Jam. Maybe too much
A direct and well-known proposal
The rules of Disc Jam are very familiar to anyone who throws the glove in his moment to the mentioned classic of SNK, Windjammers, and of which we will soon see a revision in PS4. Mainly, two characters must return a disc with the objective that this reaches a
kind of end zone or falls in the rival field, in a sort of combination between tennis, air hockey and frisbee. Obviously, this description does not do justice to all the variants and possible movements once we are at the controls, although the depth is not the greatest of the virtues of this title.
Unlike the aforementioned Windjammers, Disc Jam uses a third person perspective with the camera after the character, in the style of the long-awaited tennis games that we have not enjoyed for too many years, but unfortunately that does not
provide the necessary spectacle. However, that is another issue that we will discuss later … The important thing for now is to know that each of the
four characters has a good variety of throws to achieve their goal of scoring: parallel, threaded, left, etc. In fact, the influence of the sport of the racket is constant, and as in the same, the timing at the time of returning the disk is basic, being able to make more and more complicated pitches to counteract for our rival or rivals.
Three movements are enough, especially defensive, like the dash , to be a worthy opponent during the first games, but as we move forward in the
ranking it will be necessary to pull the repertoire and remember the tutorial parco, which by the way, is practically the only modality for a player that
we will find. A loaded launch after reaching a drop or a return against the walls of the track are almost impossible, or at least, very difficult to counteract, advanced in the first levels, but more frequent in the long term , if we can find that point in which we are hooked on Disc Jam.
What is peculiar is the criterion to count the score, since it will be the result of the number of returns that have occurred during the dispute of a point.
Although it may seem unfair in some way, it gives emotion to each match, since one or two well played points can turn around a game that could paint really bad. By the way, Disc Jam also covers the tennis scores, giving as a winner the first player to win two sets at 50 points .
Little inspiration and initial content
The games of Disc Jam are short and intense, as well as, and most importantly, fun, but when we search further it is when they let themselves see their shortcomings and their independent character. Understandably, Mattis and Rapp have decided to cut in other
aspects beyond the playable, and the presentation is one of them, with only one track available and devoid of any sense of the spectacular, something that
could be expected from what is supposed to be the sport of the future. Of course, it is consistent with the design of the menus and its four available characters, which offer no greater distinction beyond animations and aesthetic elements that do not add much.
In this sense, if someone fails to get the taste of this title based on its gameplay, it will not do so thanks to its progress system, bland and practically unrewarded.
These, to make matters worse, are random, since in exchange for 1,000 coins of the game it is possible to invest in a machine with prizes known here as
Prize Machine, from which we can obtain skins for the characters – or rather, simply colors for his outfits – even victory poses and provocations. Indeed, they are rewards reminiscent of those of a heavyweight like Overwatch, that is, they do not affect the gameplay
but they do not contribute anything interesting either. But the most painful is the total absence of games with rank, without any sort of classification, and gives the bad feeling that we win or lose, we play absolutely nothing.
The efforts are also not seen-if there have been any-in the current game modes, and that is that the solitary player will not find hardly options beyond the
tutorial and a training mode that consists basically of returning our own launches as if we played against a wall. Of course, few stick to the performance
of its online mode, for two or four players, with a matchmaking that does not cause problems and quickly puts us in the limelight, but in the long run, this single mode seems clearly insufficient.
