Big Win Soccer

I grew up in a time where collecting football trading cards were all the rage and you were judged by the enormity of your collection. By the small chance your collection was complete you would reach god-like status amongst your friends, and having a grandmother who bought me about four packs a day I came pretty close to achieving that feat on multiple occasions. For me it was trends such as these that defined by childhood in some respects, and from football cards it became Pogs and then Pokémon, and even today I have an unnatural fascination in collecting Modern Warfare 3 multiplayer callsigns.

This moves us nicely to Big Win Soccer that takes that concept and brings it to the masses in the form of a mobile application, which is centered on collecting cards and then that directly affecting your performance on the field of play. FIFA did something similar with Ultimate Team and its undeniable how popular it has become in the past few years, showing that while technology is changing over time, our core desires remain the same with the only thing changing being the way in which they are distributed.

With Big Win Soccer players have four different decks they may purchase cards from with virtual money from within the game, these are: Bronze, Silver, Gold and Players. Bronze, Silver and Player cards can be obtained with coins you get for doing well and winning matches, but Gold requires you to spend real money via the AppStore or equivalent, which is the necessary evil of having a free-to-play game. It will come as no surprise that the Gold packs hold the best players, kits and abilities – where you’re granted a boost in areas such as shooting, corner taking and injury tolerance - meaning if you splash the cash you’re given an advantage over the rest of the field.

While I understand that Hothead Games need to make their money in some way it’s a shame that the majority of people downloading and playing it are fighting a losing battle in that respect and perhaps the paid content could have been implemented in a different way. The other purchasable upgrade comes in the form of ‘unlimited energy’ whereby you don’t have to wait a period of time between matches before you can play the next, because your players don’t suffer the same levels of fatigue. This also feels a little cheap to me in the sense that anything that hinders your experience in playing the game, or stops you playing the game for as long as you desire is defeating the object.

Apart from those gripes you’ll be pleased to know there isn’t a whole lot else wrong with the game and for a light-hearted football simulator on a mobile device they don’t come much better. The cartoon art styling is a real treat, the in-game visuals are aesthetically pleasing, the audio while repetitive in the menus isn’t so awful that it forces you to mute the thing, and all of the audio effects and cues do a nice job in rounding off the experience.

Perhaps more importantly it creates that perfect sense of desire in wanting to open your next pack of cards in the hopes of finding that key player that could make or break your team. For example, I had a strong line-up assembled that could score bags of goals and even a tidy looking midfield that knew how to pass the ball quite efficiently, but my problem lay in my defence where I was leaking cheap goals to the opposition. Then came that moment were I got hold of a world class central defender and my improvement on the pitch was noticeable and my team stepped up to a whole new level.

It’s those sorts of moments that make Big Win Soccer an appealing prospect without all the seriousness that Football Manager Handheld brings. You don’t have to worry about tweaking or training your players to the point of personal breakdown and can be enjoyed in a more carefree fashion. There aren’t any official licenses to be found here as these cost a tidy bundle in today’s market, so expect your team to be lining up with names such as Wooney, Terri and the like, but as nice as it would be to have those sorts of names and that level of realism it doesn’t deter your enjoyment in the game, which is the most important point.

The game has full Game Center integration for Apple devices and you can challenge anyone from across the globe to a match, whether you’re in the comfort of your own living room or need to waste a few minutes in work when things are slow. Opponents are judged based on certain ratings, which are reflective of your team and how many fans you’ve acquired. Gaining more fans is achieved by the more matches you win, and this helps you to level up and earn a higher reputation. It can become a tad frustrating when you’re bested by a lesser rated team than yourself, but I guess everyone loves a good underdog story and that’s all part and parcel of the game.

With Euro 2012 on the horizon I’m sure Big Win Soccer will be flying up the mobile application charts, and with just cause. It’s also no co-incidence they’ve not only just updated the game, but also made it multi-lingual to appeal to a wider fan-base. It has all you’d want from a title of this nature: fun, addictive and a strong pick-up-and-play hook. Whether you’re a fan of football or not, there’s something to take out of this game, especially so, if like me you have that niggling desire to collect em’ all.

Craig Bryan, NoobFeed
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