FIFA Rivals Review

Mythical Games released its blockchain-powered mobile soccer game FIFA Rivals two weeks ago, and we’ve been testing it out to see if this iOS and Android game is worth your time.

Due to the sheer size of the soccer fanbase, Mythical Games told Decrypt that it believes the title could be 20 times larger than NFL Rivals, its most popular crypto game that launched two years ago.

In a nutshell, FIFA Rivals feels like an even more simplified, crypto-infused, and online-playable riff on Score! Hero, a cult classic mobile soccer game. At first, this isn’t an issue, and its online capabilities are a strong suit. But after a couple of weeks on the virtual pitch, the gameplay is too repetitive to keep me coming back for more.

Pack Grind

FIFA Rivals has you build your own squad of players acquired through packs and then face off against other players online. In this sense, it is very similar to EA FC’s Ultimate Team mode, with each player having unique stats that improve as their rarity level increases. One thing that sets it apart from EA FC is that players can be leveled up for a nice stat boost if you have multiples of the same card and sufficient in-game currency.

By leveling up a card five times, it will reach its max five-star level. Once that has been done, the player can be minted as an NFT (on the Polkadot-powered Mythos Chain) by pressing the “Transform” button and spending the Voucher in-game currency. Then voila, your card is now tradable on the Mythical Market.

You can earn packs, in-game currency, and players by completing tasks, competing, and logging in every day. Over my two weeks of playing, this proved to be a fairly easy and enjoyable grind, as I felt like I was opening packs after every game.

On the Pitch

Once you’re on the pitch, FIFA Rivals feels almost like a turn-based soccer game, in which you swipe your finger across the screen to control where your players run, pass, or shoot the ball. The first team to two goals wins. This is where the game’s striking similarities to Score! Hero appear.

That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Score! Hero is a great game that I loved throughout my childhood, and the online element adds a fresh feel to FIFA Rivals. However, it is missing much of what keeps the original title’s gameplay feeling fresh and varied.

In Score! Hero, you’re thrown into a wide range of difficult scenarios that force you to be creative to complete the level. By contrast, every attack feels the same in FIFA Rivals, turning the gameplay stale quickly.

This issue isn’t helped by the “super ability” that pushes all players away from you and makes almost any shot a certain goal. It feels like a cheap win.

Players are only given a limited time to make their moves in FIFA Rivals, which adds a nice layer of pressure and speed. However, it also leads to frustration when inputs struggle to register, especially moving the camera.

It took me 20 games to get my first loss, which only came once I faced someone with a significantly better squad. My wins didn’t feel particularly challenging, while my loss felt unjustified due to the squad imbalance common in fantasy-style sports games.

To purchase an epic player like Luis Suarez, I’d have had to spend $34 on the Mythical Market for an NFT, not including boots for stat boosts. Getting Lionel Messi requires buying all five fragments to craft him, with each fragment priced high, making the good stuff pricey for a game that’s free to play.

Ultimately, FIFA Rivals is a solid game with a satisfying pack grind and core gameplay inspired by a mobile soccer classic. However, it needs improvements to keep players engaged long-term. If Mythical Games can enhance FIFA Rivals’ gameplay, it could become a new soccer legend. For now, it has hit the crossbar—we’ll see if it scores the rebound.

Edited by Andrew Hayward