Foosball 2012 Review

Foosball as a recreational activity has a pretty dualistic nature. It’s actually not unlike how games such as Street Fighter and Marvel vs. Capcom are seen in the video game world. The overwhelming majority of people who play them have no idea what they’re doing, but still manage to have a great time spastically spinning rods or mashing buttons. On the other hand you have a small, but passionate minority of players who elevate the game to a near art form. Who do you make your game for, then? In the case of Foosball 2012, the game was made for both, but sadly it largely fails to satisfy either.

It certainly isn’t for a lack of trying though. I mean, if you really think about the mechanics of foosball, a series of 4 rods that get rapidly moved, angled and spun with to-the-millimeter precision, it becomes tough to imagine how a video game controller can do it justice. Foosball 2012 valiantly attempts to make these mechanics accessible with what are essentially a series of assist systems working in tandem, but ultimately they end up robbing you of any sense of control you might have had.