UFL – Everything You Need to Know About It

As a seasoned gamer with a penchant for football simulators and a soft spot for unique gaming experiences, I find myself intrigued by Strikerz’ upcoming game, UFL. The game seems to blend the excitement of managing my own team with the customization options that have become synonymous with popular games like Ultimate Team.

For decades, EA Sports has dominated the football simulation genre, leaving little competition for their popular franchise. However, Konami’s unsuccessful attempts to re-enter the market have left a void. Soon, Strikerz’s upcoming game, UFL, will be released for PC and consoles, promising to challenge the established giants after eight years of development. With high expectations riding on it, here are some crucial details to help you prepare for UFL.

FREE-TO-PLAY

One attractive aspect of UFL is undeniably its status as a free-to-play game, emulating Konami’s eFootball (let’s hope it performs better). Powered by Unreal Engine, UFL boasts high-quality graphics and production value, and promises an authentic football simulation experience. Fingers crossed that this is a promise they can deliver on, especially the authentic simulation part.

NOT PAY-TO-WIN

In contrast to the abundance of free-to-play games available today, it’s challenging for many of them to strike the right balance with their monetization strategies. However, Strikerz is introducing what they term as a “fair-to-play” monetization approach with UFL, ensuring that players can purchase cosmetic items without any influence on gameplay or being labeled as pay-to-win. The studio emphasizes that the game’s success will depend solely on player skill and ability, not on financial investments. In an interview with IGN in 2021, CEO Eugene Nashilov stated, “In UFL, players will have full control over all aspects of the game, from team composition to strategies used in upcoming matches. Your path to victory is determined by your skill and talent. Essentially, our game is designed to provide a fair-to-play experience that prioritizes skill-based gameplay and completely eliminates pay-to-win options.

LICENSES

Obtaining licenses is crucial to creating a genuine football simulation that a wide audience can embrace. In terms of players, UFL seems to be delivering on its commitments by obtaining the FIFPro license and featuring more than 5,000 real-world, licensed footballers. However, when it comes to clubs, the range of officially licensed teams will be somewhat restricted. Some of the clubs that the game has secured official licenses for include West Ham United, PSV Eindhoven, FC Shakhtar Donetsk, AS Monaco, Sporting CP, Celtic, and Rangers, with others joining them as well.

THE BASICS

Let’s focus on the nitty-gritty, real-time soccer action on the field, which UFL promises to deliver with all the exciting features you’d find in a football simulation game. Players can execute various types of passes, such as regular passes, lobbed passes, through balls, and even overlap passes. Shooting options include standard shots, lobbed shots, skilled shots, a variety of trick shots, and more. Players can also command teammates to specific locations, while in defense, the game offers different tackle options including passive tackles, active tackles, and basic slide tackles.

CREATING AND MANAGING CLUBS

A significant aspect of UFL revolves around its global online league, serving as the primary gameplay mode. To initiate this experience, players will establish their own clubs, subsequently assembling a diverse team of international players. As seasons progress, players engage in competition with one another, striving to advance through the ranks and seasons, ultimately aiming to be declared the UFL Champion. In essence, it’s a unique adaptation of the popular Ultimate Team concept.

MATCHMAKING

In this game called UFL, they’ve always planned to use a matchmaking system that relies solely on player skills. This was announced right from when the game was first revealed to the public. What this means is that players will be paired against others of similar skill level. As you progress through different divisions, there’s an opportunity to reach the Premier Division. Once there, unique rewards become accessible, such as invitations to professional tournaments.

OTHER MODES

UFL’s gameplay options may not be as expansive as those offered by other competitors. The main attraction will be the global online league, as we’ve discussed earlier. Additionally, the game will offer 2v2, 3v3 matches, offline mode, custom tournaments, events and challenges, and missions. Unfortunately, a career mode is not available at this time, but perhaps it could be introduced in future updates by Strikerz.

ENERGY MANAGEMENT

In the UFL football simulation, just as you would with your real-life team, taking care of and strategically utilizing your squad’s reserves will be essential. This means considering substitutions wisely and ensuring proper rotation to keep your players fresh. Additionally, the game offers an in-game currency option for instant player recovery, which might seem like it could upset players if not balanced correctly, so let’s hope it’s implemented thoughtfully.

PERKS

In addition to UFL, the game also incorporates a progression system where players advance and gradually enhance their abilities. This development is facilitated through new rewards called perks. Upon reaching a new level, you receive a point that can be allocated towards a chosen perk. Each perk has four distinct levels, offering various types of benefits ranging from subtle bonuses to noticeable upgrades. The diversity of these perks enables you to personalize your team in numerous ways.

PLAYER CARD SKINS

Speaking of customizing players, player card skins will be the game’s primary way of customizing players (and its primary way of getting you to spend money on it). As their name suggests, these are skins that you can apply to your player cards. Coming in four different rarities, player card skins will primarily function as cosmetic items, but according to Strikerz, players will also be able to combine them in different ways for tactical boosts. How that affects the studio’s promise of zero pay-to-win mechanics remains to be seen, but it might be worth keeping an eye on.

SKIN PACKS

Building your team in Ultimate Team is greatly enhanced by the thrill of opening packs, and UFLwill recreate this excitement with skin packs. These packs can be acquired through gameplay or by using in-game currency, and they will contain various card skins. The likelihood of a specific card being found within a pack is decided by its rarity, much like the roll of a dice.

IN-GAME CURRENCY

As a gamer, I’ll be navigating through UFL using two unique virtual coins: League Points (LP) and Credit Points (CP). LP will help me acquire customization items, boosters, skin packs, battle passes, and player slots for my squad. On the other hand, CP is for purchasing customization items, skin packs, and even players in the transfer market. Plus, it can be used to instantly rejuvenate a player’s energy, something I mentioned earlier. I can rack up LP by progressing through the battle pass (a paid feature) or completing challenges, while CP is mine for the winning in ranked matches and, yes, you guessed it, challenges again. And if I run out, both currencies can be restocked by spending real money in the in-game store.

EARLY ACCESS

On December 5th, UFL will be accessible to all at no cost. However, if you’re eager to start playing earlier, there’s an option for that – but it requires some financial investment. By pre-ordering the game through its Founders Pack (priced at $15), you’ll receive early access, starting from November 28th, which is seven days ahead of the general release date.

2024-11-29 19:42

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