When you get up close, SFG Soccer features quite possibly the most disturbing human heads I’ve seen. With their strange shapes, soulless eyes, and exaggerated smiles, these re-imaginings of the human form make a mockery of all that is good and holy in humanity. My only guess for how this came to be is that Stir Fry Games initially wanted to make a horror game and switched genres midway through development.
Luckily, disturbing head designs aside, SFG Soccer is a fun and enjoyable game. The graphics are pleasing to the eye and the camera is zoomed out enough in most of the camera modes that the freak heads don’t cause any problems. The controls are responsive and easy to pick up. The audio sounds like I’d expect a soccer game to sound. The computer AI is respectable and did a good job at thrashing me at the higher difficulty levels.
There are two main modes in the game – exhibition & career mode. Exhibition mode lets you play a single game, alone or with up to 3 friends – perfect for some quick fun or parties. Career mode is a little more in-depth and gives you a persistent team as you try to work your way up through the rankings. There’s some RPG-style leveling-up in the career mode but it’s bare bones at best. Upgrades are limited to only stat increases with no unique traits or skills to be found and so was a bit of a disappointing to me, the RPG min-maxer.
If you want a serious and in-depth soccer game, you’d probably be better off with the latest EA FIFA game, but if you just want a quick soccer game that you can play for a few minutes at a time alone or with some friends, SFG Soccer is a good choice. Just try not to stare at the character heads too intently.
