The World Cup hype is reaching its peak, and Konami is looking to cash in with the Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive eFootball Kick-Off!
Surprisingly, it offers some fantastic gameplay at a reasonable price; however, lackluster content keeps it from being truly great.
Take what you know about eFootball on other consoles and, luckily, toss it out the window. eFootball on Switch 2 is a completely different experience, entirely free of microtransactions. At its core, it is designed to appeal to a more casual audience while still offering a few things veterans of the beautiful game will enjoy. There is no squad building via cards of different rarities, no opening packs, and none of that pay-to-win nonsense, which I deeply appreciate.
It is a simpler, player-first experience that puts gameplay above all else. If you have never played eFootball and are looking to jump in from other football titles on Switch 2, you are in for a treat in the gameplay department. The first thing you will notice is how smooth the presentation feels, and that is because it hits and maintains a rock-solid 60FPS at all times—something not even FC 26 can boast.
The gameplay is much more arcade-like. The exasperating chase for realism and the desperate push to be a simulation from other companies has turned me away from football titles altogether (predatory business practices aside). Konami goes back to what made many fans like me sink dozens of hours into titles like Pro Evolution Soccer (PES): a more enjoyable, albeit less "realistic," depiction of the sport. Matches are played at a brisk pace with barely any room to breathe, and the controls feel intuitive despite a slight learning curve. If you prefer the more methodical approach found elsewhere, this might not be for you.
eFootball Kick-Off! also features simplified controls, perfect for a parent with a little kid looking to get into sports games, a significant other you want to share your hobby with, or just to bust it out during a casual get-together. In short, it combines all defensive and offensive actions into a couple of button presses.
Beyond easy controls, there is a second option that smooths out the game a tad if you're planning to play with regular controls: Kick-Off! controls. I highly recommend you toggle these off. These are designed to maximize the arcade eFootball freedom of movement. Luckily, you have a plethora of options to tinker with to make the game as easy or as hard as you want.
The matchday presentation is good enough. There are dozens of licenses, but don't expect to have a whole sea of leagues and players at your disposal. Major clubs like Manchester United and Arsenal in England, or Barcelona in Spain, are present, surrounded by a bunch of unlicensed "Temu" depictions of other clubs in their respective countries. A few of the major leagues are fully licensed, however, such as Serie A (with a couple of exceptions), Ligue 1 from France, and the Primeira Liga from Portugal.
An odd exclusion is the German league entirely, with only three clubs from said country making an appearance: Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen, and Eintracht Frankfurt. Sorry, Bayern fans.
Peter Drury does a fantastic job providing the in-game commentary. Other broadcasters really lack the passion or, rather, the voice-acting chops to sound as natural as they do when commentating on actual matches. Drury nails it, partially because I assume he is much more versed in the world of acting than his peers. Well, maybe not as versed as Arlo White (watch Ted Lasso, thank me later).
So, the gameplay is solid, perfect for beginners, and runs extremely well on Switch 2. What do you actually do in eFootball, then? Well, if you yearned for the nostalgic modes of Konami's iconic PES Master League, they are sadly absent and sorely needed. The biggest drawback of such a polished, smooth gameplay experience is that there is hardly anything to do.
For offline single-player, you get your standard Quick Match, as well as the International Cup—an unlicensed World Cup tournament mode that is serviceable. It features the current format with 48 teams, which is always appreciated for immersion's sake, although quite a few national teams are missing their actual kits and players. Of course, all your favorites are there: Brazil, Portugal, Argentina, England, and even a non-qualifying Italy is licensed, which you can choose to manually add if you want. However, having a generic Mexican national team kick off the faux World Cup felt dull. At least the Azteca Stadium (renamed Estadio Banorte) is available in the game, alongside a few other historic venues like Wembley, La Bombonera, Camp Nou, and San Siro (which can also be selected under the Giuseppe Meazza name for the purists out there).
The other major single-player mode is World Tour. In it, you start with iconic Master League legends like Castolo, Minanda, Ximelez, and the rest of the classic squad as you try to dominate regional leagues, recruiting players from teams you beat until you reach the A-rated, top-tier competitions.
It is fun for a couple of hours, and the main incentive is simply building a squad filled with world-class talent, but there is no real end goal. Each time you choose a 'league,' you only get to play five matches before moving on to the next. You can also acquire players via the Hall of Players, which fills with more talent as you play matches. However, the way you gain resources isn't even tied to a specific metric or performance: at the end of a match, a small bingo mini-game plays out with four types of color-coded rewards, providing points you can utilize to sign attackers, midfielders, defenders, or goalkeepers. That's it.
That's pretty much all there is to the mode. You can't even properly customize your badge or kit, which is a shame; it makes World Tour feel even more bare-bones than it already is.
As I said, eFootball Kick-Off! is expertly tailored for beginners, and the Training suite of options is fantastic. You have a very basic tutorial to kick things off, but can then transition to more specific situations, such as practicing free kicks, corners, and penalties. You even have an entire open pitch to get a feel for the controls and rhythm of the game.
On that note, it's great that the game offers a 6-a-side match type. It makes me miss when EA added the Volta mode to their franchise, or when FIFA Street was all I played back in the PS2 days. The matches are snappy, and I can already tell it's going to be a joy to play when having friends over during the World Cup.
Unfortunately, there are also a couple of underbaked mini-games that don't do much for the overall package, as they get quite tedious after just a couple of matches.
Finally, there's online play, which I couldn't test during the review process because the servers were down, so I can't really attest to its quality. Again, the options are limited to Quick, Ranked, and Friend matches. And... that's it. That's everything eFootball Kick-Off! has to offer players.
I don't usually like to bring price tags into the mix, but in this case, Konami gets a slight pass because they priced this version of eFootball accordingly: $20. For that price, I truly believe you'll get your money's worth, even if you are just caught up in the World Cup craze and only plan to play it for the next couple of months. It also supports Game Share, which will let you play locally with Switch 1 users, always a net positive in my books.
My hope is that this is the first step in bringing back the spirit of PES, not just to Switch 2, but to other platforms as well. In fact, if they do decide to add a Master League DLC—even as a paid expansion—I'd happily jump right back into eFootball Kick-Off!
As it stands, eFootball Kick-Off! is a solid game that lacks content, resulting in extremely poor staying power. Pick it up if you're really keen on having a solid football arcade experience on your Switch 2, as gameplay-wise, you'll find no better choice on Nintendo's system. If you want a robust, long-term content offering, you're better off looking elsewhere.
A code was provided by the publisher for this review