Previews

Hands on with Real Football 2011 for iPhone and iPad

The title race is on

Hands on with Real Football 2011 for iPhone and iPad

Much like the English Premier League, the race for the iOS footballing crown this season is shaping up to be a three horse affair.

Gameloft is the latest developer to throw its hat into the ring with Real Football 2011, after Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 was announced at GamesCom and EA invited Pocket Gamer along for a FIFA 11 demonstration in London.

New face, new look

Real Football 2011 is billed by developer Gameloft as "a whole new game, a brand new look". This new look kicks off with a fresh cover star for the series, FC Barcelona striker David Villa (see interview here).

From the first whistle of our hands on with Real Football 2011, Villa and the Gameloft team were at pains to stress the graphical boost to this year’s edition.

To take full advantage of iPhone 4’s splendid Retina display and Apple HD resolution on iPad, the prolific French publisher has utilised the extra processing grunt on hand to cram in up to five times more polygons for a sharper, smoother experience, and prettier stadia.

The player animations among the sleet and snow also benefit from Gameloft’s debuting motion-capture technology, provided by an unnamed pro footballer (hopefully not Titus Bramble).

During the demonstration I was permitted to play a half or five on an iPhone 4, and was suitably impressed by the wacky player celebrations, coach responses, off the ball tussles, and acrobatic bicycle kicks.

In a presentation trailer I even spotted the first choice Lyon goalkeeper pull off an incredible tip over the bar. Thanks to some clever pinching-and-zooming on his white boots in the fully immersive instant replay feature I could confirm it was Lloris #1 without having to pan round to his squad name.

Sprinting onto the throughball

On the subject of controls, Gameloft has introduced a welcome tap-to-switch-player mechanic and a third button into the fray for manoeuvring your virtual Messi: Sprint.

Sitting between the familiar A + B offerings for pass and shoot, the Sprint button performs the same trick as the occasionally imprecise D-pad-dragging technique of previous Real Football incarnations.

It could take a little getting used to for fans of last season’s game, but the product manager was keen to point out that controls are fully configurable and the option to revert to the ‘old’ style method for bolting down London Blues’s pitch is available.

Yes, whilst 350 real-life pros, say David Villa, are accurately listed and commentated on in Real Football 2011, the FIFPro license doesn’t extend to all 14 of the playable leagues.

The ability to edit London Blues to Chelsea FC is included, however, and Christmas transfer-window changes can be downloaded online into the game.

Recreate Liverpool v AC Milan 2005

What Real Football 2011 may lack in official licensing, it more than compensates for in modes and features.

Ten different kinds of gameplay are on offer, most intriguing of which are Club Master, Enter the Legend, and History.

In Club Master you effectively become the player-manager, having to deal with injuries, suspensions, and extra-marital affairs with call girls during the course of a season.

Addressing a common complaint from the App Store community, Enter the Legend (think Be A Pro on FIFA) has been improved, now allowing you to track either your player’s position or the ball itself.

My personal favourite is the RPG-like History mode, which invites you to not only relive classic matches, but also to rewrite them. Sterner challenges can be unlocked, too, if, for example, you manage to somehow overturn the 3-0 deficit Liverpool faced in the 2005 Champions League Final v AC Milan.

Multiplayer mayhem

Replays to YouTube return for all you showboaters out there, while interoperability between the iPhone and iPad versions of Real Football 2011 is to be commended.

One omission from previous Real Football iPhone releases is online multiplayer. Citing logistical difficulties and performance issues, Gameloft has dropped this feature, though Bluetooth and local wi-fi clashes endure.

Real Football 2011 for iPhone and iPad should be running out onto the App Store turf by the end of September, and both versions will retail for £3.99 / $6.99 / €5.49.

Check out the gameplay video for Real Football 2011 here:

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Richard Brown
Richard Brown
With a degree in German up his sleeve Richard squares up to the following three questions every morning: FIFA or Pro Evo? XBox 360 or PS3? McNulty or Bunk?