EA SPORTS FC™ Mobile Soccer 20.1.03
Free Version
Parry like it's 1999
I remember playing FIFA '98 and then FIFA '99 in my early years. I did not enjoy football that much (and I still don't) but the smooth animations and crowd effects that I was seeing in those games made it look like a real live event was unfolding on my computer monitor. It was quite exhilarating to witness. To my surprise, FIFA mobile does hold somewhat true to the originals, despite being a stinky pay-to-win gimmicky freemium like all the other bunch in the Play Store.
FIFA mobile is full of all that you would expect from a free title. Energy/stamina, tokens, points, and moneys is all well known if you've ever played a freemium (and it's likely you have). However, this being an EA official licensed game, there are some really good aspects to enjoy.
First off, the gameplay. As you might expect, there are more ways to play FIFA mobile than just a straight up game of soccer (or football, sorry purists). But the main experience is rather similar to the desktop version with some exceptions: a match is only minutes short and players are bit more automated.
If you would be hands off while a game is in full swing, you might be surprised to see that the active player is dribbling, advancing and even passing to his team on his own. The trick here is to know when to intervene (that is always). You can have full control over what's going on if you really want to. Surprisingly this is fairly easy, considering the inherent limited control scheme. Tapping on a player would initiate a pass, while tapping in an empty spot would make the closest player to pickup the pass. This is quite useful for carrying out daring attack maneuvers. A player can also execute a goal attempt at any time, just by a sliding gesture.
You can even control the direction of a player's movement using a virtual stick. The game sometimes interprets this as a goal shot, and such long shots from the center of your home field are not that uncommon. The sprint/tackle button spices things up a bit by allowing an attacker to break off the defense, to steal or avoid the ball to be stolen.
Online play is interesting. Besides the standard match, the "VS Attack" mode pits two players (humans this time) against each other for a series of attack and defense phases, simulating the highlights of a regular match. This mode feels rather devoid of substance. I would rather play a full match online. However the only way to do that is to join a league. While being part of a league, you can challenge other members to a full match or start league vs league tournaments to raise your league's ranking.
Besides the fully controlled match, the second interesting aspect in FIFA mobile is the quasi managerial aspect. While playing the different challenges and games, you will gain packs of stuff. These contain either players, game formations or other goodies. Everything you collect can be put to auction, including players. This is an incentive to remain online in order to catch good offers, since not everybody is able to estimate correctly what they're putting up.
Final Thoughts
That's about all that I've liked in FIFA mobile. The rest of the features are okay, but it feels like they're just too much to pay attention to. A simple managerial game on top of the regular match gameplay would have sufficed for FIFA mobile to be a premium title. I would have bought it, really.
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