Another season of top-tier soccer is here and with it comes a fresh deluge of soccer-themed games for mobile. Quickly rising towards the top of the heap is Football Strike, a player-versus-player multiplayer game that focuses on shooting and goalkeeping. …
Another season of top-tier soccer is here and with it comes a fresh deluge of soccer-themed games for mobile. Quickly rising towards the top of the heap is Football Strike, a player-versus-player multiplayer game that focuses on shooting and goalkeeping.
There are two major game modes in Football Strike: shooting race and free kicks. In the first you’re pit against another player and tasked with scoring the most points by hitting the targets that appear in the goal. With free kicks, you take turns shooting and goalkeeping with your opponent, the winner being the person who has the most kicks after five rounds. The career mode is a fusion of the two game modes, though the shooting races in some of the career mode level leave you playing solo.
Because outside of career mode you’re forced to bet on yourself to play, there’s a strong incentive to win consistently. Regardless of the game mode you’re in you can’t do that without a great shot. That’s where we come in with five tips to shooting greatness in Football Strike.
Whether in a shooting race or taking free kicks the top corners are your best bets for consistent goals. Able to get the hang of bouncing the ball off the inside post and in? Even better.
In tiers two and three of shooting race you’ll find that your opponents often get wrapped up in going for the moving targets. Sure, a moving target can give you up to three points if you hit the bullseye, but a corner is a guaranteed two points and its static. Most importantly, while your opponent is firing away at the moving targets, taking on corners where possible gives you a better chance of getting your shot to target first.
In free kicks, particularly once special moves come into play, the corners remain hard to reach for keepers. You may as well take advantage of that fact because you know your opponent is!
The faster you swipe, the faster your shot. Makes sense right? Just don’t forget to put that knowledge into practice during gameplay. In shooting race you’re going to want to let your shots go as quickly as possible so that you can always beat your opponent to the target. In free kicks, mix up the speed to keep the keeper off-guard.
Although the game doesn’t explicitly show you how to do it, it is possible to bend your shots in Football Strike. Simply draw a curve with your finger and the ball will follow that path (more or less) towards the goal. Key things to keep in mind – dominant foot of the player, depth of curve (how tight the C is) and position in relation to the goal. The curve mechanic in Football Strike isn’t overly precise so initially you’re more likely to over-curve than under-curve, though if you make sure the c caps above the top of the net you’re more likely to be on target.
The ability to curve the ball becomes very important once you hit tier three and its walls of defenders, so start practicing when there’s less on the line.
Is the pressure getting a little much? That moving wall of defenders starting to feel like a brick wall? Hit the more tab and you’ll see the option to practice. Take it. With the pressure of an opponent and a stop clock gone, you can hone your ability to curve the ball just so to sneak past the wall or how to hit corners with your off-foot. It might not provide you with vast riches, but make no mistake – practice is massively rewarding.
Our final and most basic Football Strike tip is to aim high. Don’t swipe straight up the screen – you’ll only watch ball after ball fly over the top of the goal at that rate. Instead, once you’ve decided exactly where you want the ball to land push it just that extra half finger width because the ball will drop a little in air. The faster the shot, the less the drop so that’s something to keep in mind, but aiming a little high is a good rule of (literal and figurative) thumb if you want to hit the target or back of the net every single time.
