Sociable Soccer 24 review

I’ve long been waiting for an alternative to FIFA and Pro Evo over the years, as it all started with Jon Hare’s Sensible Soccer when I was a kid. Every now and again we would get something like Actua Soccer to fight the competition, but for a long time now it always boiled down to a fight between the two, and when Konami went with eFootball, EA took the lead and regardless of its name change, it’s going to be tough to beat. Sociable Soccer 24 isn’t better, and it’s not going to convince millions of players to jump ship, but it’s a faithful recreation of a time when football games were a lot simpler.

It won’t take players long to get familiar with the gameplay. While there are camera angles that are more than serviceable, the top-down view of Sensible Soccer gives Tower Studios and Combo Breaker’s faithful interpretation a familiar feel. Pass, chip, and shoot up the pitch, and when the opponent gets the ball, you can turn into a human iron and mow them down. While the fundamentals are simple enough, if you lose momentum and stop with the ball, it will roll away and you’ll lose possession. Keep moving, keep passing, keep attacking.

While it can be frustrating at first, you just have to change the way you play. The superb aftertouch mechanic allows you to curl the ball, but doing so when shooting on goal can lead to some screamers from outside the box. Gameplay is tons of fun, and thanks to the simple controls, jumping in and playing is both quick and exciting. You can also get some power behind your shots which can leave the opposition helpless, and with the ability to sprint games go back and forth pretty quickly. However you play, there are plenty of opportunities score and enjoy the beautiful game.

It quite surprising that there are over 12,000 FIFPRO licensed players in Sociable Soccer 24, and 1400 world teams. It’s not a dealbreaker when games don’t have official players, but it’s cool to have the likes of Harry Kane up front rather than some randomly named player. A lot of the national clubs don’t have official names, but if you’re not bothered about playing with licensed teams, you’ll be fine. It is the gameplay that makes it worth diving into, and having so many trophies to compete for with leagues to try and top, it becomes more about having fun playing than anything else.

I was more engaged with taking a team and participating in leagues and cups rather than the Career Mode, but fans of Ultimate Team will get something from this. You start off with a squad filled with random cards/players, and as you work up the league and win, you’ll start to unlock new cards to build a stronger squad. It isn’t the deepest Career mode, but it offers something a little different to those who aren’t content with competing for the wealth of trophies Sociable Soccer 24 has to offer.

Sociable Soccer 24 brings back that simplistic gameplay that I loved as a kid, and manages to replicate it in a way that feels familiar and refreshing. While the Career mode isn’t exactly as deep as it could be, it offers a nice alternative to players who want more from a football game than just participating in actual matches. The overall presentation is impressive, and the action on the pitch and player animations are good enough to entice you to keep on playing.