Football Superstars is the world's first online virtual soccer game, and while there are plenty of online multiplayer sports games available, Football Superstars may be the only one that combines playing sports with a full virtual world experience. Essentially, the game is split into two portions: playing soccer, and living the life of a professional athlete. 

Thankfully, playing soccer is the more polished and enjoyable of the two elements. Players will create their soccer star and be entered into the game world. You can either play goal-based pick-up games with a few other players (such as 2-on-2 or 3-on-3, where the winner is the first to X goals), or partake in traditional League Matches. When you create your soccer star, you'll also pick a fictional club for them to play with. In the game, entering the match mode will put you on a team with other players from your club, and pit you against a different club. 

These are more traditional soccer matches, with two timed halves rather than "the first to X points" making up the game's duration. Controls in Football Superstars will take some getting used to, especially if you play "Pro Evolution" or "FIFA" on console. Movement is accomplished with WASD, with left shift making your player sprint, and space passing the ball to the nearest player or slide tackling. Shooting at the goal, moving the camera, performing longer manual passes, and performing soft tackles are all done with the mouse. For example, to shoot you just aim at the goal, hold the left mouse button, and the longer you hold dictates the strength of your shot. Likewise, aim away from the goal and the longer you hold dictates how far you kick it. 

If you want to get tricky, you can also manipulate the camera using the right mouse key, and pre-load passes and shots using spacebar and the left mouse button. Pre-loading makes it so that you can queue up a pass or shot, and the second you get the ball, you'll make a try at the goal or pass the ball to a teammate. This helps in situations like corner kicks, but it can take a long time to perfect as your timing has to be just right. The camera can be rotated freely of your character's movement, but if you let go of the right mouse button while looking in a direction, your character will change angles and begin to run that way. 

Playing matches earns you experience points, which increases your level and allows you to buy new skills and abilities. Obviously, then, it's better to play against people of similar levels, as higher levels are going to have way more abilities and talents than your guy. The virtual world celebrity portion of the game is a nice idea, too. You start out as a nobody in terms of fame, and the goal is to work your way up the celebrity ladder. Doing so will give you access to new reporters to talk to, new areas (like clubs) to visit, and more. 

While you can play completely for free, paying players get the option of forming their own Club (with friends and other players), and a few other minor features. Though, it’s certainly not the type of game that requires you to pay in order to keep up with the pack. Football Superstars is a free to play title, and in that sense alone is one of the most accomplished soccer-themed games on the market. 

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