Title: Legendary Eleven: Epic Football
Developer: Eclipse Games
Publisher: Eclipse Games
Genre: Sports
Platform(s): PC
Release Date: Mar 1, 2019
Price: $14.99
I have a love for soccer games that aren’t from EA Sports. As a fan of the beautiful game I love seeing what developers can pull off without the FIFA license. More often than not these games fall into the arcade genre because trying to create a deep sim is paddling upstream during a flash-flood. Legendary Eleven: Epic Football takes the safer arcade route, but is it World Cup ready, or will it screw the pooch like team USA is want to do.
Being an arcade game, Legendary Eleven: Epic Football has a lot of room to play with the basic soccer formula. The two most notable things here are the look of the game and the card system it employs. Graphically, the game looks downright weird and a bit washed out. It goes for the cartoon look while also drawing from the 1970s; a time when no one in America gave two turds about soccer. Everyone has an afro, short shorts and look like a bunch of Slenderman monsters running around the screen.
Look, soccer in the 1970s was incredible with tons of moments that are etched in the halls of history, but that does not take away from the weird feeling seeing a cartoon version of this era on screen. This is more a personal choice as I’m sure a basketball game in this exact style would resonate much stronger with me since there is clear historical reference to that era here in the States. But for an arcade experience I actually enjoy the graphical choices, although strangely the teams here also feature from the 80s and 90s, but the style doesn’t seem to shift much.
Everyone here is lean and lanky, which makes it sometimes a little hard to tell people apart because of the limited number of player options as there is no serious edit mode to tweak players looks. So don’t expect to edit in Beckham and Pele to go at it. With no player license I would expect a deeper edit mode to import in your own favorite player. You get the same base model and can tweak height and hair options, but everyone looks the same under those funky hair styles and height slider. But what Legendary Eleven: Epic Football throws into the mix is the card game element that happens before a match.
Once you pick your favorite team you can select a number of cards during the match-up screen. Each of these cards provides some sort of buff or ability that your team can implement during that given match. It’s a nice idea that adds a little bit of strategy and a bit of that arcade randomness that works well to keep players on their toes. And knowing you have these might make the difference when you are matched up against a team well out of your league.
You get access to 36 teams from all around the world to choose from and can ever pit the same team against itself like some bad Doctor Who episode. That seems like a lot of squads, and it is when you look at it from an arcade perspective, but the ratings on said teams feel, well, off. Now, I’m no expert on the matter but some of the squads feel OP when they weren’t at the time, while others feel super low-level when they had high World Cup appearances during said era.
At any given point the more traditional soccer match that Legendary Eleven: Epic Football presents can be turned on its head with some crazy powered up kick or ability. This clearly isn’t a simulation and these moments do make for an overall fun experience, while still allowing players to put together a strategy that works for them. It’s not a deep experience by any means, but one that I appreciate the developers tossing in.
One really fun option is the legendary mode that the game presents you. You can play a bunch of matches from throughout soccer history, each with a unique win conditions as they happened in the real game. This is probably the mode you’ll spend the most time with as you not only have to play well, but play a certain way. If you are a huge soccer buff this mode is going to be your bread and butter. Even though this is an arcade-like game, it does offer up a fair bit of content for the $15 price tag.
You’ve got all the buttons you need, with one for kick and another for pass. You also can unload that turbo button for a quick burst of speed and pull off a few neat tricks as you move down the field too. But so much of the gameplay just feels random in nature. You can slide tackle half a dozen times without a single call, but then all of a sudden the referee will call everything. Because this isn’t a simulation you never know when you’ll draw a foul and the game never makes it clear either. And then there’s the passes which feel limp and direction-less at times.
The settings and layout are all arcade-inspired right alongside with the graphics. The cartoon style allows for less animations and a more silly feel to the whole experience. Stadiums are huge with country flags flying like crazy, but they all feel a bit cramped and filled with blow-up dolls. One weird thing is that substitutions are listed up swapping players. Not a big things, but it’s weird like so much of this game But you’ve probably noticed that I haven’t talked about the gameplay yet. Well, that’s because even if you like the look and modes of Legendary Eleven: Epic Football you probably won’t enjoy the gameplay experience for too long, or even enough to complete everything.
And let’s say you do draw a foul for being a tackling jerk, the referee will pull out his green card on the play in protest, usually after the game stutters for a sec to figure out what it wants to do. Look, I know a lot of people don’t like or care about soccer, but I think everyone knows that you get a yellow card for a foul and a red card for something serious. You still get both in Legendary Eleven: Epic Football, but whenever the referee pulls it on the field it’s green, as if the developers forgot to key in the correct color.
And that’s the real problem with Legendary Eleven: Epic Football. On the whole the game looks fine and plays like an arcade soccer game, but the devil is in the details, and like team USA it just keeps coming up short in some really annoying ways. Referees making odds calls aside, the mechanics of the game feel wonky at best. I once grabbed the ball as the goalie who then tossed it forward, but the ball decided to fling backwards instead. Another time my goalie just kept diving over and over again as players kept seemingly tripping over the ball in the box and once he even walked back into the goal to catch an easy lob for an own goal. I’ve never seen that happen in any soccer game ever.
It’s the little glitches and inconsistencies that keep Legendary Eleven: Epic Football from being a fantastic arcade soccer title. Nailing a special move and driving the ball into the back of the net feels great, but seeing the replay reveals all sorts of odd behavior that you didn’t notice from players just running like crazy, with broken animations and popping in and out of reality. And then trying to figure out how to do anything is overly complicated for a simple arcade title like this on. Jumping into a friendly just lets you figure things out on the fly without any help or tutorial.
Before you jump into the game make sure to have the tips enabled or you are going to be pulling your hair out trying to figure out what does what. Even after a few games I was still learning what does what without the tips being on. I play a game as it’s presented to me, so why tips aren’t on automatically might be a hindrance to new players. Apparently there was a trick shot button that I sort of stumbled upon during a match as well as a lob pass that I only found out about after reading the Steam forums.
None of these things are huge knocks on the game, but they all sort of add up to make the game feel a bit unpolished. Camera options are limited and it sometime jitters around a bit. When a bunch of players are near each other the ball sometimes feels like it has a mind of its own. When you pull off a special it feels amazing, but when the opponent pulls one off I don’t even know if there is a way to defend against it. Your teammates also sometimes just don’t move up the field like you feel they should. All small things that just keep adding up.
And the audio is areal low-point to the whole affair. Music is peppy and electronic, but does not at all draw from the look of the game. Loading up the game you’d expect some 70s funk, but are instead treated to some generic techno leased from some audio website. Audio effects fare little better. Kicking the ball sounds like you are striking an backpack filled with wet towels. It’s this gross thud/slap sound that does not fee like a ball. And then there’s the grass. You hear all the crunching as players run around the pitch which is really odd.
The most technical bits of the game comes from penalty and corner kicks. You get a simple circle that pulses in color and size. It’s a timing thing, much like a kickoff works in any Madden game. You line it up and time your button presses for a shot. If you don’t get it wrong you’ll whiff it on way or another, or not have enough juice to get it over the line.
But that said, Legendary Eleven: Epic Football is a lot of fun. Sure, it’s a little basic and the game could do more to help the player understand even thought they are really basic, but it’s still a silly good time. It’s not a deep experience but you can take part in five different cups or just have a friendly match between your favorite teams. Add in the online that you can play with friends and it’s a fun package.
I really like Legendary Eleven: Epic Football but I don’t know if I can recommend it just yet. From the looks of things the game has come a long way on PC from its time in Early Access which is nice to see. So many of the issues I noted here could be fixed or tweaked with a patch or two as the core of the game is solid enough. If you want arcade action soccer then go for it, but if you are on the fence I’d say hold off for a few updates before pulling the trigger.
Pros:
Cool style
Fun arcade mechanics
Legendary mode is a treat
Cons:
One base model limits player variety
Glitches upon glitches
Weird audio choices
Dumb team AI
Balance issues
“Legendary Eleven: Epic Football is a fun arcade soccer game held back by a bunch of annoying bugs”Final Score:
3/5
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