The gritty realism of Pro Evo and FIFA is one thing, but sometimes you just want to see some freestyle skill out on the pitch. So it’s no surprise that EA’s 5-a-side spin off FIFA Street has been so popular over the last few years.
While the majority of us make do with watching untalented cloggers week in week out, Street has focused solely on the biggest stars of the game. If FIFA ’08 is steady Owen Hargreaves, Street is Ronaldinho on Lucozade.
Is your idea of football is watching a host of Nike ads back to back, this’ll be right up your, err, Street.
They say:
IGN: “It’s hard to see anyone sticking with it for more than a couple of plays before moving on to more substantial fare – and as such we wouldn’t recommend anyone paying out for the full fat asking price.”
VideoGamer: “FIFA Street 3 is going to sell tonnes of copies no matter what anyone says about it, but that doesn't stop it being a real disappointment as a game.”
1UP: “Lacks the creative and dramatic spark needed to keep it in your system after a few kicks.”
We say:
Don’t go expecting your typical rainy 5-a-side outing here. There’s no chubby keeper blocking half the goal or a defender that can barely reach a jog without breaking into a sweat.
The first half hour of FIFA Street 3 promises a heck of a lot. Flicks of the right analogue stick unleash a barrage of tricks and side steps and goals start to flow quicker than a home game against Derby County.
Your line up is key with players defined into four different types. Tricksters possess some silky skills and ushering them forward to rattle off some moves will see your Gamebreaker meter fill up at a rapid speed. Finishers are pretty self explanatory, as are Playmakers. The Enforcers are the big brutish type, who’ll only be too happy to hack you down and sending you crashing onto the Astroturf cutting your knees to shreds.
Skilfully slotting away goal after goal soon becomes second nature. Your opponents can be tricky to break down however, especially on the higher skill levels, making unleashing your Gamebreaker at the right moment an absolute must.
With silky moves, completed passes and goals upping your Gamebreaker meter, you’ll never be left lacking an opportunity to unleash your team’s true potential. Set it off and the screens drains of colour and your players become faster, stronger and much more able to score than before. If only we had that kind of thing in real life. Might brighten those dull nil all draws a touch.
To look at, FIFA Street 3 is a bit of a corker. The players are all heavily stylised, so Wayne Rooney looks even more of a powerful brute and Peter Crouch somehow manages to look even freakier than before. Yes really.
The Challenge mode offers the real single player meat, delivering a series of progressively more difficult tests of your footballing ability. Instead of just scoring the highest number of goals, you need to slam them into the back of the net in a specified manner. So you might have to force a few home by only volleys or maybe a series of headers. A bit like we used to play back at school.
After a few hours of play though the cracks start to show. Your team mates can be a daft bunch, refusing to run into space and forcing you to play the game the way the AI wants rather than how you love the game.
Scoring too is a little irregular. One blast may bring about a flying save from the keeper, while another simpler effort somehow sneaks in. It just feels rather random instead of down to your abilities. And that’s never a good thing for a sporting title.
FIFA Street 3 is fun in short blasts – and it’ll sell by the truck load – but don’t go expecting long term thrills. It may try to replicate the abilities of Ronaldinho and Ronaldo, but EA’s latest is a long way short of a multi-million dollar transfer to Real.
Like this? Try these:
FIFA 08 – PS3, Xbox 360, PS2, PC, PSP, DS, Wii
Football Manager 2008 – PC
Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 – PS3, Xbox 360, PS2, PC, Wii, DS, PSP
FORMAT REVIEWED
PS3
OTHER FORMATS
Xbox 360
POSTED...
Tue 11 Mar at 11:53am
