X2 Soccer 2010

CNET Editors' review

by: Jason Parker on June 29, 2010

X2 Soccer 2010 is a 3D soccer game with some great elements that set it apart from other games in the iTunes App Store, but some key features are easy to miss if you don't look carefully. The graphics are fairly good, though not the best among popular soccer games in the App Store.

The control system for X2 Soccer consists of an unfixed joypad on the left (it appears wherever you press on the left side of the screen), and three buttons on the right for quick passes, shooting, and lobs/through passes. The buttons get a little confusing in X2 Soccer, because the separate pass buttons seem to be interchangeable in some situations, making it unclear which one you should use. In addition to the regular controls, X2 Soccer lets you pull off special dribbling moves by double tapping on the field while you have the ball. The trick moves end up being both cool-looking and useful in-game, making this unique feature a standout among other soccer games in the App Store.

X2 Soccer offers a few different game modes including Exhibition, Tournament, Penalty Shootout, and Dream Team. The first three modes can be found in almost all soccer video games, but with the unique Dream Team mode, you'll be able to start a team from scratch, then earn tokens that allow you to scout for star players around the world to assemble your own dream team. Multiplayer options include playing over a shared Wi-Fi connection, Bluetooth, or online against other players. Though you may have a better experience, we were unable to connect to online servers during our testing on a reliable Wi-Fi network.

X2 Soccer, like most games in the genre, lets you easily make substitutions and shows key stats for all your players. But changing formations is almost hidden among your menus, with the only way to switch your formation found using the Tactics button after entering the player role mode. We would have liked an easier way to choose a formation at the beginning of matches, but at least they included the option (it took us a while to find it).

Overall, X2 Soccer does a lot of things right, even though it's not the best graphically compared with other soccer games in the iTunes App Store. If you want a fairly fast-paced soccer game with special dribble moves and the ability to create your own dream team, this is the best choice of the genre.