First Touch Football - by X2 (Coming this month)

The last time Exient took to the pitch on iPhone, X2 Football 2010 did the studio much credit.

More so than anything else, it was one of the few football sims that mastered the inevitable difficulties that arise from touchscreen controls.

How? It simply slowed down the pace of play, serving up a playground fit for the masters of the game as a result. You could say it was the day that football on iPhone finally grew up.

A match or two on First Touch Soccer suggests Exient has taken another major step forward, albeit this time on a largely visual basis.

It's a looker

Such praise is not only reserved for the game's graphics, which genuinely make scores of its rivals look positively last generation, but also the general level of sheen Exient has brought to First Touch Soccer from kick-off to final whistle.

From the menus to the music, and from the replays to the Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube integration – it all smacks of a series that's been designed to lead the way and tread virgin ground for the genre as a whole.

It's an element that should never be underestimated, either. As any season ticket holder will attest to, one of the most crucial ingredients when cooking up a football fiesta is atmosphere, and First Touch Soccer delivers this in spades.

The pitch somehow feels bigger, grander, offering up the kind of splendour usually reserved for a UEFA Champions League Final. Indeed, when laid side by side with First Touch Soccer everything that's come before has all the presence of a five-a-side match down the park on a Sunday afternoon.

Controls are also handled nicely, with three pads that take charge of passing, lobbing, shooting, and tackling (naturally depending on whether you're in or out of possession) smartly mounting the bottom right corner of the screen – a set up that fits thumb play perfectly.

Team by team

Where First Touch Soccer might come unstuck is in regards to the teams it sports, and the way they play on the pitch.

Like all non-licensed releases, Exient's latest comes equipped with the likes of 'Manchester Blue' and 'London Red', though to its credit, it's less infested with wannabes than many of its rivals – Aston Villa and Tottenham make a rare appearance, for instance.

Said clubs can play out full league campaigns, as well as training matches, penalty shootouts, 'Star Player' encounters (when you take charge of just one member of the team) and, most notably, online bouts via Bluetooth or wi-fi.

First Touch Soccer also has a Dream Team mode where you're able to compile a squad populated by your favourite players and take them to league glory. An in-app purchase system is also included, where classic teams – such as England's World Cup winning squad from 1966 – can be purchased as part of packs for 59p each.

It's a set up that's as consummate as any that have come before.

The matches themselves, however, are the one area where First Touch Soccer seems to lack the same level of ambition.

Just like watching Barcelona

As in X2 Football 2010, Exient has wisely opted to tame the pace of play, but the opposition's A.I – and, more specifically, the way it reacts to your movements – upsets the Applecart a touch.

During our test, managing to gain possession of the ball was unnecessarily tricky.

The opposition seems to focus on keeping the ball as far away from you as possible – a clever tactic, no doubt, but First Touch Soccer's tackle system results in fouls aplenty.

That's because, as things stand, merely pressing your opponent seems to bear little fruit, making a full-on tackle the only way to go – challenges that are incredibly hard to time, given every team's habit of passing like Xavi, Messi, Iniesta, and co.

While this may result in a game that's simply hard to master, the risk is an endless stream of red and yellow cards, as was the case in several of our matches.

Finding the right balance in the final release will be crucial if First Touch Soccer is to see its big billing through when it hits iPhone and iPod touch later this month.

Source : Pocket Gamer

gameplay video:

 

The thing I want the most is the ability to edit and transfer players among teams.that is the sole reason I'm playing gamelofts real football at the moment.

 

We can rename teams in the game thankfully.