Five of the Best Ever Soccer Video Games

Figure 1 Soccer video games are hugely popular

It is a tough task to recreate the excitement of sports in a video game. For the lovers of the sport, there is the difficulty in creating a realistic game – and gamers will be more interested in playing something that keeps their interest without having to know too much about the sport.

Esports fans will look to the FIFA franchise as an example of a title that has won fans of “the beautiful game” as well as those who wouldn’t know their Messi from their Ronaldo. There have been some other very good games though. Some will have included names and teams that can be more regularly found on the sites featured on Online Sports Betting. But others just rely on their playability. Here are five that we have enjoyed playing over the years.

Sensible World of Soccer

If you are used to the ultra-realistic graphics and lifelike players of today’s FIFA game you might not think too much of this 1990s masterpiece. The simple pixel characters are hardly the most complex – and the soccer field is about as basic as it gets. But the sheer playability of Sensible Soccer and its World Soccer sequel are unrivalled.

At a time when soccer games routinely included made up teams and players, Sensible World of Soccer boasted a huge database of real names that made this game stand out. Even the basic graphics had a certain charm, as proved by the Xbox revival title in 2007.

Pro Evolution Soccer

We have decided against narrowing down Pro Evolution Soccer to individual years, as this top five may have just been different incarnations of the franchise. Before licensing deals heralded the end of Pro Evo, it went head-to-head with FIFA each year – and many gamers preferred this title.

PES captured the simplicity of the game perfectly but also allowed gamers to understand how passing and shooting actually worked. Once the controls were mastered, real soccer heads knew that their own knowledge of the game would be advantageous. Unfortunately it ended up losing out to FIFA and became a free to download game before disappointing altogether.

Football Manager

If you are a gamer rather than a soccer fan you may find this title to be a strange addition to this list. A computer simulation of the life of a soccer head coach, you don’t actually get to play any soccer at all. Instead, you concentrate on the off-field tasks that every coach faces.

If that sounds an interesting concept then you are the perfect customer for Football Manager. Devoted fans lost days and weeks to the game as they simulated season after season on their PCs. There may not have been too much action but this game really did expand your world soccer knowledge.

Figure 2 The demand for realism and actual teams and players have fueled innovation

Rocket League

Can we include this one in this list? It is certainly not one for the soccer purists, that’s for sure. It could be argued that it is not a soccer game at all. Instead of controlling the best soccer players in the world, gamers get to play the game with cars and attempt to push an oversized ball into a net in a futuristic arena.

The thing about Rocket League is that it is extremely addictive. Once you get started on this simple, yet effective game, you will just want to play more and more. Designed to attract non-soccer fans, Rocket League has also entered the esports market – so expect it to be around for a while yet.

FIFA

We couldn’t put together a list of the greatest ever soccer video games without including FIFA. Like PES, picking out an individual year would be too tough a task. But fans eagerly await the new version of the game each year and look forward to which player has been chosen to be the cover star.

After winning the battle, FIFA has become the go-to game for soccer. Graphics and user controls get sharper every single year and its introduction to the esports world took it to another level. Actual soccer clubs have their own esports teams now, so it is fair to say that FIFA is the king. Until the licensing deals expire that is.