Football has long been known as “The Beautiful Game”! It draws together friends, family, and strangers to show their adoration towards one team. Therefore, it brings out the best and worst in people and is ever popular in the gaming industry. When I was offered Football Cup 2022, I was intrigued. I wondered, could this be a contender to FIFA or PES’s thrones? Or would it be a waste of time?
Developed by Inlogic Software and published by Jandusoft, this is a classic footballing title. It allows you to pick from club or international teams but it lacks a full license. Unfortunately, this means that the authenticity is somewhat reduced. Instead of Harry Kane, you have Harry Kanu and Bernd Leno is Bernd Lena. These minor alterations are seen throughout and will make hardcore fans chuckle repeatedly.
Football Cup 2022 is full of content but considerably misses the mark.
Modern football games are a fantastic representation of the real thing. The graphics are stunning, the audio is immersive, and the gameplay addictive. Furthermore, each title is full of content and a deep and fulfilling career mode. Sadly, other than the content, Football Cup 2022 is horribly lacking in every department. Yes, at its roots it represents the action, but it is so badly optimised and designed that it’s laughable.
At best, this will remind you of a rudimentary early FIFA title. At worse, you’ll despise everything about it, so, let’s look at the positives. The developers have worked hard to create multiple game modes with enough variety to keep you interested. There are daily challenges, quick matches, a career mode, and multiple skill games with a global leaderboard. These will keep you playing as you attempt to complete tasks to unlock badges. The badges earn you coins and these, in turn, help you to unlock extra kits. It certainly lacks complexity, but it does add depth to an otherwise overly simplistic approach.
It lacks finesse, and the AI is awful.
There is no greater feeling than when you beat a challenging opponent. Sadly, however, you never get to experience that in Football Cup 2022. The AI is so terrible and predictable that you can simply walk past every player. Moreover, the keeper is about as useful as a chocolate teapot! With some basic trickery, the keeper will always fall to the floor and you can roll the ball into an empty net. This lack of difficulty is an immediate turnoff and undermines some already poor mechanics.
To add insult to injury, the game lacks finesse. Passing is woeful, shooting is appalling, and every player turns like a tanker. Throw-ins are bizarre, corners rarely occur, and someone forgot to implement the offside rule. The list of shortcomings is almost endless and this ruins this dated title. I know in some games these problems can be endearing, but Football Cup 2022 is just eye-wateringly terrible!
Football Cup 2022 is ugly as sin!
I’m not usually one to worry about graphics. Yet, I expect modern sports games to look incredible. Therefore, I was understandably disgusted by what I experienced. The players run around as if they are suffering from whiplash. The pitches all look the same, and the players are limited to a handful of models. Consequently, it lacks variety and is horrible to look at. This is then compounded by the jarring movement, awful animations, and garish colour palette. The redeeming features are few and far between and to say it’s enhanced for the Series X is a joke.
The appalling quality continues in the lacklustre audio. This hollow and soulless endeavour adds nothing to the gameplay. There is no commentary, only limited atmospheric noises, and basic sound effects. While flitting through the menus, you experience a high-energy soundtrack that fills you with hope. However, as you load into a match, the energy dissipates and everything falls flat. You get to hear the same repetitive noises of boot on leather and the occasional roar of the crowd. It’ll remind you of the faux crowd noises added to matches during lockdown, and is just as disappointing.
It handles like a bag of spanners.
The controls are some of the worst that I have come across in any game. In short, it handles like a bag of spanners. It’s slow to respond, the aiming is off, and the shooting is underpowered. Sadly, it also lacks fluidity, and this makes the gameplay poorer still. It’s shocking how terrible it handles and this makes it even less appealing.
Yet, for all its shortcomings, I couldn’t put it down. I laughed repeatedly while enjoying its terrible ways. Thanks to its daily challenges and its large achievement list, it has some replay value. However, there is a glaring omission that deeply impacts its longevity. For unknown reasons, there is no multiplayer mode. Therefore, this can only be played solo, and that’s just ridiculous! This was an enormous mistake and one that’ll instantly put off fans of the genre.
Football Cup 2022 is dreadful.
Football Cup 2022 has a few minor positives, yet these are heavily outweighed by the negatives. It’s probably the worst sports game I’ve tackled while being one of the least desirable titles I’ve ever played. The developers got this so wrong that it’s laughable. I do not recommend it, but more information can be found here! If you want a great football game, you’ll need to look elsewhere. This is woeful in every conceivable way and is an insult to the genre.
