I honestly cannot believe it’s this time already, but it’s with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to Season 4 of Rocket League today. The Outlaw is gone, the Wild West theme is no more, and Deadeye Canyon as the menu map has been consigned to the annals of history.

Still, looking on the bright side, it would be unlike Psyonix and Epic Games to leave us waiting for too long, so as you’d expect, Season Five is here already. It looks pretty good.

Rocket League seasons always have a theme, and season five is no different. This time around everything is going to be based around space, with a newly re-imagined version of Starbase Arc, a host of new items, new music, and more.

The new map is known as Starbase Arc Aftermath, and loosely based on the surroundings from the original hexagonal Starbase Arc arena. This version of the map is a standard rectangular affair though, and curiously darker than the original, with less ambient lighting and a different floor colour. 

New maps are always welcome, and Starbase Arc Aftermath fits the theme of the season well, but it feels like maybe it’s time for a new map shape. Rectangles are so 2010’s.

As always, a new Rocket Pass means a new body too. This season we’re seeing a slight deviation from the usual Octane, Dominus, or Hybrid hitboxes with the introduction of the Nexus and Nexus SC battle cars, both of which use the Breakout hitbox. 

With the Nexus it looks like this time Psyonix are attempting to inject more lore into the Rocket League universe too, with their official Season Five announcement stating the following:

Prior to the invasion, Starbase Arc was guarded by the watchful protector known as Nexus. This cadet was captured and transformed into a master of Rocket League

That is some information.

There’s a whole heap of Nexus decals on offer. By default, the body will unlock with the usual Stripes, Lightning, Flames and Wings decals. On top of those, there looks to be additional nine that can be unlocked.

Four of those nine are paintable, while the remaining five are not. In the unpaintable bucket are Hyperspace, Martian Wind, Ombre, Sally, and Huntress. As for the paintable decals, you can choose from Deceptor, Lasertrap, MG-88, and Space Cadet, although those will need to be unlocked before use. It has to be said that the Huntress decal on the Nexus kind of looks phenomenal with the right colour choices.

The Nexus SC body is where the party really starts though. First unlocked at level 70 as part of the Premium Rocket Pass, the enhanced version of Nexus looks generally cooler and has a unique glow effect at the front of the car while travelling at supersonic speeds

Along with the Nexus, Rocket Pass Five comes along with the usual selection of new items and goodies. There are way too many to cover in detail for now, but some personal highlights include the Corbital trail and in particular the Hyperspace decal. In a similar way to the United in Rivalry decal for the BMW M240i, the Hyperspace decal reacts to your car’s speed, showing between particles at low speeds and trails whilst supersonic.

The most exciting item by far though is the Cosmosis goal explosion, which engulfs the entire arena and transforms it into a schematized version… in space. It truly needs to be seen to be believed and it’s likely that this will become a very popular choice of goal explosion as soon as people start to unlock it.

There are a few new Tournament rewards as well. Again, there are too many to go into in detail, but the highlights include the Planetary Goal Explosion, which sees stylised planets burst out of the goal, and the Block Party animated global decal. This one sees animated squares cover the body, and as a global decal can be used on any body of your choice.

Season Five and the Rocket Pass run from today, November 17th 2021, all the way through to March 9th next year. You’ve got a little while to get on it if you want to unlock those space themed items and whichever Competitive Rewards Psyonix chooses to offer up next season, but that time will pass before you know it.

The Premium Rocket Pass is available for 1000 credits and allows you to unlock all of the premium Rocket pass items. Alternatively, if you want a headstart on the pass, a bundle with both Rocket Pass Premium and 12 levels is available for 2000 credits. Levels tend to pass quite quickly while playing though, so I’d personally suggest playing the game to unlock those if you have the time.

If you’re buying the Rocket pass or anything from the ingame item shop, please consider using the creator code RLGARAGE. As an Epic Partner, RL Garage will receive a small cut of any purchases you make at absolutely no cost to you.

So what do you make of Season Five? Let me know down in the comments if you’re going to invest in Premium for this season, and also which items you’re looking forward to unlocking most. It has to be the Cosmosis goal explosion… right?

Note: Psyonix originally announced that the Nexus/Nexus SC featured the Plank hitbox, but have since corrected their content (including the official hitbox list) to the Breakout hitbox.