Final Soccer is one of the best soccer games inside of virtual reality. Soccer also should never be inside of virtual reality. This soccer game is an average-sized fish in a miniature pond. There is not a lot of soccer games, but this is one of the better ones. Final Soccer had an ambitious idea, but the platform they chose to put it on and the control engines were something we just couldn’t get past inside of this game.
In this game review, we will be covering every aspect of the game you will need to know about. Anything that may impact your ability to play this game or your decision to buy this game will be explained below. From the quality of the picture to the locomotion systems, this know-all guide is going to give you all of the information you need to make a good decision. You can find this game on the Steam Store as well as Viveport, and as of the beginning of October, it is available as part of the Viveport Infinity subscription.
Getting Up and Running
Final Soccer is a relatively small game compared to its competitors. This game is only 2 GB and will download in less than a half of an hour, regardless of your internet speed. Although you will have this game in your library quickly, it likely won’t stay there for long. This game is far from a finished and polished product and will need a new version of itself or an over-hauling update to be a game you will want to spend your time in.
Installing the game onto your PC is just as easy as any other game. If you get this game through Steam, you will be downloading it to a local file and pulling everything from there. If you do this through Viveport, it will be stored inside of the app and you will be launching VR from there. Whichever you choose to do, you will get the same result. This game doesn’t register as one you should pay the full $19.99 for, so going through Viveport Infinity is what we recommend.
Type of Game
This is a sports game, and not much more. Unlike many VR sports games, it won’t be doubling as a fun way to shoot zombies or solve puzzles. In this game you will be playing as a goalie in soccer. Unless you have an extra Vive tracker laying around in your room, you will be stuck playing this game as the goalkeeper exclusively. If you do happen to have an extra tracker or you are willing to tap your controller to your foot, (don’t do it, bad idea) you will be able to play this game as a striker trying to score a goal.
This game is also on the App Store and the Google Play Store, which makes for a great party game. Inside of the headset you will receive a code to give your friends on the mobile device. Once they have that and are logged in, you can start fielding as many penalty kicks as possible.
Don’t be fooled though. You won’t be a goalie for an entire soccer game. You will be exclusively fielding penalties as they come at you in various ways, but the goal of the game remains the same throughout all of your gaming experiences.
Player Perspective
Final Soccer VR is played in the first-person perspective, and that was the right call by the developers. This game in any other perspective would’ve made it unbearable to play. You are placed inside of the goalie box and right in front of the goal. You see your hands right in front of you and you see nothing else of your body. Unless you have a controller tied to your foot, this view is going to remain the same. You will be able to move to the left and right by simply moving your head, and your hands would always come with you.
Theme and Story
There is a story mode inside of the game, but it is not exactly what is advertised. You supposedly travel all around the world playing goalie against different teams, but it isn’t that. If you go to the story mode, you will be playing in different named locations catching the same balls. In the few games in the middle east, it was raining. When you go to Russia, it is very sunny. There isn’t anything accurate about the story mode other than the name of the places you are playing. No story or cutscenes here to watch.
Score: 2/10
Controls
There are not any controls in this game, as all of the controlling of your goalie is done by the movement of your character and the hands. The only thing you need to know about the controls is the grip. If you are using any controller other than the Valve controller, you grab the controller by using the grip. On the Valve Index, you will use the trigger button, as that mirrors the other controllers that are compatible with this game. For the one control you have the movement of the controller that is registered by the game, Final Soccer didn’t do terrible. They didn’t do great either. Some obvious points could be better, but the controls simply got the job done.
Score: 7/10
Music and Sound
There is no music in this game, but there was a point where it could’ve been used. The sound effects are elite in this game. If you have ever been to a professional game, you will notice the realism that this game possesses. It doesn’t differ from other soccer games that much, but the sound is still fresh and realistic. The PA announcer in the stadium is the same for every location, and gets incredibly repetitive incredibly fast. He says the same four or five phrases throughout the game and they all sound the same. You learn to ignore them quickly, but you will want some background music playing before you load into this game.
Score: 4/10
Player Movement
The worst part of this game is the movement that your player does. You are going to be controlling it all on your own, but it certainly doesn’t feel that way. You need to have a room-scale setup to even start the game, and even then, you will be moving a lot. Each movement you make with your head is going to be a big one. Whether you slightly shift your weight to your left, or take a massive leap to the right, you will move a lot. Every moment is going to be exaggerated too much, causing your motion sickness to pick up incredibly quick. This game seemed to try to nail the player movement down with a smaller goal, but that wasn’t the solution many were looking for.
Score: 3/10
Kinetosis
This game doesn’t seem to care too much about your settled stomach or motion sickness. When your eyes don’t match what your body is doing, it causes you to feel like you just rolled down a hill blindfolded. This game isn’t the worst we have come across, but their locomotion system was poorly executed. They tried to compensate your movement by making everything emphasized, but it made for an experience in which your body was moving a lot less than your eyes. It is not nearly as bad as Rush VR, but it is pretty bad for a sports game.
Score: 3/10
Environment and Immersion
Final Soccer has beautiful stadiums, awesome weather, and even pretty good graphics. If you separate these qualities of the game away from the rest, they rank pretty well. They aren’t perfect, but no VR game is. Each player you face looks new and different. The fans in the stadium are prominent and the glaring sun keeps you in the game more than ever. Each stadium has its twist, making you immersed for hours on end.
Score: 8/10
Overall
The game Final Soccer won’t be considered a letdown, but it does need some more work before it can considered a top VR game. For $19.99, we expected much more out of it. Luckily we didn’t pay for it as we used the Viveport Infinity subscription, but we don’t recommend paying for this game in full. Either wait for it to go on sale or go get yourself a subscription, as you will be regretting about $15 of your $20 purchase. If you are a soccer lover and an amazing goalkeeper, go check this one out.
