I was a little sceptical when it transpired that I would be the one reviewing EA’s FIFA Street 2. I’m not the biggest fan of football in general although I have enjoyed football games in the past such as ISS pro on the N64. So heading straight into a football game which rather than focus on big teams and turf pitches, focuses primarily on the dribbling skills of the players. In essence, FIFA Street 2 takes the basic formula of two teams facing off against each other with the intent of scoring more goals than the opposing team. Simple enough but with the added inclusion of neat dribbling tricks does FIFA Street 2 juggle the ball superbly or does it simply drop the ball and fall face first into the tarmac?

Gameplay

To clarify, what makes street football different from the regular game of football is the fact that for starters there is no referee to interfere with sliding tackle moves or intense shoulder barges. Secondly players are in teams of four verses four opponents, (which includes the goalie) and makes for a more personal game as tight teamwork is often required. The other major difference and as the name suggest, the turf pitches are replaced with small enclosed areas which contain four walls to bounce the ball off. Street football allows individual players to exhibit a certain flair and bravado when playing, resulting in numerous tricks used to out dribble your opponents which would not be permissible in the regular game.

There are a few game modes to mess around with in FIFA Street 2 which are the usual instant play or friendly match where players can choose international teams and then get stuck into the basic game of street football. Players can also choose from a wide roster of well know football players from across the globe such as Ronaldo, Beckham and even Gazza makes an appearance as an un-lockable. There is also an extensive career mode which allows the player to create a character and then work his way to the top of the street football game by beating other teams. This mode also has some minor team management aspects as you progress further and is actually quite rewarding as you unlock more players to add to your team and sort out any issues the players have. Either way it is here where gamers can construct their dream team of football stars from across the globe as well as their own custom home ground. The final mode is a trick mode which basically requires the player to perform trick combos that are displayed within a time limit; with the aim of attaining the highest score possible.

Playing FIFA Street 2 is very simple and quite intuitive; there are two basic modes of operation which are attack and defence. When attacking players can perform ground passes, lob passes and of course, sprinting and striking which are all handled using the A,B,X,Y buttons (sprinting uses the right trigger). When in defence the same buttons are used to switch players (remember you only control one player at a time), slide tackle and intercept the ball. The dribbling tricks are performed by using the right thumb-stick which when in possession of the ball and moved in any direction will perform a trick to outsmart your opponent. With combinations of using the thumb-stick and the L and R triggers allows for even more moves. The Y button actually performs a random trick and is useful for beginners. There are more complex moves and combos to learn and pull off such as juggling the ball; these moves require some nifty stick work such as performing quarter and half circles a la Streetfighter! When in defence the right stick allows players to counter tricks and also do some more aggressive shoulder barges and sliding tackles; which are perfectly allowed no matter how gruesome looking. I’m sure there are plenty of grazed knees and elbows but these guys are all men and can take it!

Rather than let the tricks be a means to simply show off, they actually have some bearing on the game play. When performing tricks and combos a game breaker meter will fill. Once at its maximum limit players can then enter game breaker mode by dribbling over a circle that appears on the pitch. During this point the game enters a sort of slow motion heart thumping moment which if a shot at goal is taken will most likely score a goal regardless of range and power. During the game breaker mode it is possible to lower the opposing teams score or win the match by performing a combo prior to shooting at goal. This is done by dribbling past a different player each time a trick is performed to build up a multiplier and then shooting and scoring. Then inclusion of the game breaker might not be welcomed by hardcore football purists but certainly makes matches more tight and entertaining as far as I’m concerned.

The game play in FIFA Street 2 gels together very smoothly and there’s a real satisfaction from dribbling past opponents, passing, shooting and then scoring. Players are treated to an instant replay of their efforts which is always nice to view, that’s if you aren’t running around your room in jubilation! FIFA Street 2 isn’t without its flaws though and whilst the game takes a little time to get used to, you begin to start seeing some cracks on the surface, namely where the AI is concerned. There were a number of times when the AI clearly cheated to win a match and forced a restart, such as when opposing players suddenly became godlike in their skill. These moments happened quite frequently and did cause some frustration, but as they say football is a very passionate game! The goal keeper AI was also very inconsistent whereby the opponent’s goal keeper would be able to stop even the most aggressive of shots where as your goal keeper would let in the most silly of shots. Luckily as my playing skills and I guess to a certain degree the stats of my players increased in the career mode, I was able to become far more successful against the computer. In this respect FIFA Street 2 is a very challenging game and perhaps not for the feint hearted.

Graphics

The graphics are reasonable looking although slightly lacking in overall detail. The player likenesses are pretty good, where you are able to recognise the players instantly if you are familiar with the top players in today’s game. The player animations are smooth and quite varied especially when you have unlocked more moves, although you will see the same repeated trick animations over and over. The career mode character creation is quite extensive given a lot of scope for creating your own likeness. There are plenty of different outfits players can choose to customise their career character and the customisable home ground is quite a neat inclusion. In general I would say the game’s graphics convey all the thrills and spills of street football minus the bruises and spilt blood.

Sound

FIFA Street 2 features a pumping soundtrack which is presented in a radio station format and caters for rock, hip-hop, drum and bass and Latin tastes. I thoroughly enjoyed the tunes available and felt they complimented the style of play perfectly especially the Latin tunes when playing with Brazil for example. Other sound effects were actually pretty dull especially some kind of what I can only describe as an unseen bystander who shouts out the odd comments here and there from what sounds like a cave! The other sound effects are as you would expect and naturally are quite minimalist. That said, the thumping tunes had me grooving away, so the lack of sound in general isn’t such a bad thing.

Longevity

The career mode is quite extensive and involves plenty of matches with varying win conditions to wade through; especially if you plan on unlocking more players for your dream team. Players are also able to challenge a friend using a second controller but sadly no Xbox Live support is included which is a shame as this game would have been a welcome inclusion to the Live roster. The career mode does get a little repetitive when playing for long periods; however in short doses is good fun indeed. The difficulty during later matches’ cranks up as well so gamers should expect to take some time reaching 100% completion.

Overall

After several hours playing and once I had gotten used to the style of FIFA Street 2 I found that I thoroughly enjoyed playing whilst gaining a lot of satisfaction in beating a computer which likes to cheat from time to time. I guess this fact made my victories even sweeter although on some occasions the humiliation in defeat was too much to bear! (I wont go into details). I think fans of football games in general will do well to pick up FIFA Street 2 as it offers a different spin on the game that not only animates well but plays very smoothly. If like me you enjoy the feeling of scoring points then FIFA Street 2 can really bring out the competitive edge in you and is a fun yet sometimes frustrating game to play.

Pros:

• Solid game play.
  
• Some pumping tunes.
  
• Cool tricks.
  
• Extensive character creation.
  

  Cons:
  

  • Can get repetitve.
    
  • Inconsistant AI.