Future Soccer (formerly Deathball 2D)

Future Soccer is one man’s vision on how Soccer or Football, could be played sometime in the future. In this version, players don’t kick the ball, they shoot it out with a high-tech Volley Gun. And also, the ball is not really a ball.

The gameplay to Future Soccer is quick to pick up and a bit hard to master because the AI, even in easy mode, will put up a good fight. You control the player using the standard shooter keys and aim using the mouse.

You have two means of shooting the ball, and you can also tackle and even kill your opponent. No; except for the goal part, none of the classic football rules apply. To make things a bit more interesting, you can choose between several types of fields, either in the standard shape or with the sides at different angles that complicate the game in a good way.

In Future Soccer, you can choose to play with goalkeepers in each team, or you can take on your adversary in a one on one showdown. In the latter, you better score from the first try because as mentioned, the AI is pretty good.

You can’t put your finger on what Future Soccer is. It’s a kind of Pong meets table foosball. Playing grants you experience which causes you to level up your profile and with it, you gain talent points that you can use like in World of Warcraft. However, probably the cutest thing in Future Soccer is that it uses the menu sounds from Starcraft.

The game can be played in a local co-op mode in which one person controls the player and the other the goalkeeper. It’s a nice feature to have when you want to spend some time with a buddy but, unfortunately, there’s no PvP.

To end, Future Soccer is a decent game if you’re looking for a relaxed but feisty arcade game. The co-op mode is a good touch and so is the field variety. It’s biggest disadvantage, despite the solid gameplay, is the need for a visual upgrade.