Soccer REAL

Soccer REAL is a full-pitch 3D football game, but it starts small: you, a ball on the spot and a goalkeeper bouncing on his line in a packed stadium. A white hand shows you what to do - press, drag toward the goal and let go. The ball flies in the direction of the swipe, and how far you pull decides the power. Get the hang of it and the tutorial hands you the whole game.

Learning to Shoot

Everything in Soccer REAL is built on that aim-and-release shot. Hold the mouse button, drag to set the direction and curve, release to strike. Short, gentle drags place the ball; long ones blast it. The penalty tutorial is a good place to experiment because nothing is at stake - you can see how the keeper reacts to low shots, high shots and shots placed near the posts. If you already know the drill, the Skip tutorial button up in the corner takes you straight to the team menu.

Pick a Nation

The selection screen offers twenty countries laid out as flags: the USA, Mexico, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Argentina, Brazil, England, Portugal, France, Belgium, Morocco, Senegal, Japan, South Korea, Norway, Switzerland, Egypt and Cape Verde. Each team has its own home kit and, when colours would clash, a separate away kit, so a Japan versus Spain match really does look like blue against red on the pitch.

Quick Match or Tournament

• Quick Match - choose your team, choose an opponent, choose a difficulty and kick off.
• Tournament - take one nation through a series of matches; a small counter in the corner tracks which game of the run you are on.

Difficulty goes from Lv 1 to Lv 5. Level one is forgiving and good for learning; level five defenders close you down quickly and keepers read lazy shots.

Playing a Match

Matches are viewed from a high, tilted broadcast camera, so you can see most of the field and your team's shape. The scoreboard at the top shows both flags and the score, and a pause button sits on the right. You control the player nearest the ball, moving him around and choosing when to shoot or pass.

• Click, hold and release - aim and shoot
• Right click - pass to a teammate
• Right double-click - lob pass over defenders

The tip panel on the team menu repeats those passing controls, which are easy to miss if you skipped the tutorial.

Tactics That Win Games

Pass before you shoot

Long-range shots on higher difficulties are mostly saved. Work the ball wide with right-click passes, then cut back toward the box.

The lob is your friend

A right double-click lifts the ball over the back line. It is the quickest way to break a defence that is sitting deep.

Aim for the corners

The same lesson from the penalty tutorial applies in open play: keepers struggle most with low shots close to the posts.

Learn on Lv 1, earn on Lv 5

Climb the difficulty one step at a time. Each level makes the computer quicker to press and smarter about positioning.

Strong Nations to Start With

Every team handles the same, so the choice is really about colours and pride - but some kits are easier to read in the high camera view. Brazil's yellow, the Netherlands' orange and Morocco's red stand out clearly against the green grass, which helps when you are scanning for a free teammate to pass to. Pairing two teams with very different colours, like Japan in blue against Spain in red, makes busy penalty-box scrambles much easier to follow.

Presentation

For a game that loads in the browser, the stadium is impressive: three-tier stands full of fans, advertising boards running round the pitch, real-looking grass stripes and proper goal nets. Players have distinct kits with numbers, and the camera smoothly follows the action as play switches from one end to the other. Sound is muted by default on many school setups, but the crowd noise is worth hearing if you can.

Players Often Ask

Can I play as my own country?

If it is one of the twenty listed above, yes - and it comes with its correct colours.

Is it only penalties?

No. Penalties are just the tutorial; the main game is full matches on a complete pitch.

Why do my shots go wide?

The direction of the drag sets the angle. Shorter, straighter drags are more accurate than huge swipes.

More Football on the Site

Want something more arcade? Head Soccer 2022 and Soccer Bros are quick one-on-one matches, and Penalty Shooters 2 is all about the spot kick. If you like this developer's style, Basketball REAL brings the same swipe controls to the court.