If ever I’m given a code to cover a game, I always cover it – even when the game is terrible. That’s not the point: you provide feedback regardless. However, Freestyle Football 2 is a unique case as it’s based on a playtest. Unfortunately, the window for playing the game was limited, so I was unable to play it, for as much as I’d have liked.
This won’t be filler for the sake of it, but I was disappointed. Football games are some of my favourites, though in recent years, the novelty ones are my preferred ones, as I grew tired of the FIFA franchise and wasn’t interested in the EA path. Think Outlaw Golf, and that’s what I was getting with Freestyle Football 2. However, by the time I got to play it (over four days between the times of 8pm – 12am – a nightmare at the weekend as some of us actually have lives and a family to be playing online!) Woore’s game wasn’t like Outlaw Golf – only in the characterisation.
I’d have loved to have dived into the customisation mode, sadly, it wasn’t on offer and instead, online play. Before connecting with some randoms, you get the chance to hone your skills in a tutorial. Kicking a ball about? That’s easy! Not entirely, and I was quite surprised at how ball control, and in particular, interception handled.
Maybe you can do this effectively in FIFA, but it’s just not something I’ve experienced, and that’s intercepting the ball as a player passes or shoots. Well, duh – of course that’s a feature and fundamental to the game. However, in Freestyle Football 2, there feels a lot more control in this, and it’s not a game of chance or button mashing as to who can get there faster, but instead positioning. For me, that’s way better than the former. Passing is on par with Barcelona when they were exceptional, and shooting takes a bit of getting used to without any power gauge, though quite natural. What about the core experience?
Getting into a game during the allocated slot was swift, though you have to wait for your turn to select a player. Each player is a caricature of some sort, either being a powerhouse that’s imposing on the pitch or someone dainty to run down the wing. This is the comparison with Outlaw Golf again, as they are quite comedic. Fortunately, actual gameplay is pretty decent from a behind-the-player viewpoint, so it’s a little clearer on how to position yourself. That doesn’t mean it’s easy to nail it.
A couple of games of playing in defence were a bit shameful. As mentioned, positioning is vital as your opponents will cross the ball to an unmarked player (this isn’t bot-controlled with a player being automatically selected – you just play the one player with real people and a bot-controlled keeper). This would lead to an ill-timed tackle and a subsequent goal for the other team. I would then be marked down for my performance, shamed into knowing it was my fault for bad defensive play. This can be countered with decent passes and interceptions, yet playing with unknowns online, something I’m not a fan of, there was no sense of camaraderie, just the typical goal hangers from school who then ragequit when it doesn’t go their way. Alphas, some would say, dicks, I would say.
Freestyle Football 2 is definitely on my radar, but I’m hopeful of a solo campaign, local play, and perhaps the option to play the whole team to their strengths. While it does look like a novelty game with the cartoon visuals and nobody wearing the same kit and doing their own thing, controls were tight and very much the real deal. I’d just prefer to play with others who have a similar play style or don’t throw their toys out of the pram when it doesn’t go their way. One to keep an eye on for a playable demo in the very near future, once those time zones are a bit more manageable for the devs.
