GOALS Review

When it comes to football games, the competition is pretty slim. With EAFC still dominating the space, you rarely see any new experiences, as they tend to fall flat. GOALS is a new free-to-play title that has landed on Xbox Series X/S and also makes use of the Xbox Play Anywhere functionality. It’s exceptionally good timing with the World Cup now in motion, and with no hit to your wallet, you may be wondering whether it’s worth your time. I’ve managed to pile around twenty hours into this game so far, so you’ll get my honest opinion of what I do and don’t like.

Is It Pay To Win?

GOALS opts for a card-based system, very similar to the structure of Ultimate Team in the EAFC games. Cards have different rarities, and you can improve their statistics with consistent play. The card itself will indicate roughly how high you can level up the card. Cards can be earned by completing challenges, purchasing card packs through in-game currency or even purchasing coins with real money. I quite like that before you open a pack, it’ll tell you the odds of pulling a certain quality card.

You’ll need to pay close attention to the skills and weaknesses of cards to ensure they slot in with your playstyle. Whilst it can be tempting to go all out for pace, you may find that this will hinder you on the counterattack. It’s quite clever that there is much more to building your team than just picking the best players in a game like EAFC. The chances of pulling a rare high-ranked card at the moment are very slim, which makes it a fairly even playing field in these early stages of the game.

Fast, Fun & Fluid Gameplay

I’ll go on record to say that I was pleasantly surprised at how GOALS feels to play. There have been several football games that have tried to come in, both at the indie level and to try to compete with EAFC. They mainly fall flat for a few reasons: poor gameplay, lack of licensing, and not many engaging modes. This game doesn’t feel scripted whatsoever, has plenty of spontaneous moments of gameplay, and you often feel like you can come back from a goal or two behind.

Dribbling is snappy, passing is satisfying and sometimes difficult to master fully, and shooting prefers placement over power, and defending is pretty reactive. There are a few gripes I have, one being that it is far too easy to get players booked or sent off. Another minor bugbear is that there is a line that draws out through the pitch when you go into stoppage time. It becomes a bit of a distraction as you try to chase a last-minute goal.

A Good Flurry Of Modes

GOALS is a great game if you’re a competitive gamer. Ranked modes and tournaments are rife throughout the game, with plenty of rewards if you plough through them in their entirety. If you’re looking for something a little less intense, you can just dive into casual matches or even play against bots to flesh out and level up your players. There seems to be something for everyone this early in the game, and if they can keep the content fresh and engaging, then the longevity and replayability are there.

Visuals & Audio

The presentation in GOALS is pretty decent for a free-to-play experience. Player models are procedurally generated, so the game isn’t reliant on real-world realism in how they look or play. Handling on the pitch reminds me of the good old days and a particular game known as This Is Football. Fast, fluid and arcade-style gameplay that is fun to play. Some readers may be a little too young to remember this game, but it was a refreshing change from FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer.

The UI is clean and easy to understand. Player cards are simple to understand, with different colours indicating rarity and bars showing skills and weaknesses. Overall, visually, it looks pretty enough to pass as a game I’d play regularly. Sound effects are decent enough, bringing immersive crowd noise and everything you’d expect from a game of football.

Final Thoughts

GOALS gets the gameplay aspect spot on, it’s fast, fluid and handles quite well as football games go. As you may have guessed, though, there is a big question mark of a pay-to-win element hanging over its shoulders. Yes, the game is totally free to download and play, but if you’re someone who sinks some money in early on, you may have an advantage over opponents. Think of the squad building as Ultimate Team, but with randomised players; you can buy packs of cards and potentially pull higher-rated players.

If you don’t want to spend money, though, there appear to be enough players diving in and getting into the grind. Rewards are fruitful if you invest heavily in playing matches and hitting challenges. There does seem to be a potential to build a great squad without spending if you keep playing. Personally, I do feel that GOALS has some serious legs if they keep events, matches and cosmetics interesting enough to keep smashing the hours in. With more modes en route in the near future, they need to keep it fresh and not do what Rematch did and drop the ball.