FIFA Street 2 Review

Despite iffy AI, quirky physics and a general lack of refinement, EA Canada by and large succeeded in applying the BIG treatment to the game of football with last year's release of FIFA Street. Achieving reasonable success and striking a chord amongst certain circles of the gaming community, it's little surprise to find the title return; providing the chance to develop the concept, improve upon the many flaws and thankfully remove the atrocious proclamations of Dizzee Rascal in the process.

Once again FIFA Street 2 challenges players to not only win by scoring goals, but doing so stylishly; it's the videogame adaptation of the NIKE commercials, with handstand passes, catching the ball between your shoulders, drag and flips the order of the day.

EA Chicago have taken the game back to the drawing board in many ways, changing things around and introducing several new features, all of which pushes the series forward in the right direction. This time around it's all about the Beats, more so then the actual practise of scoring goals. Beats are tricks used to get past an opponent, often humiliating them in the process by being left in a confused huddle on the floor. The sequel takes the right thumbstick control from its predecessor and refines this with a further layer of skill, adding Juggle Beats to the repertoire along with a Trick Shift providing an additional layer of tricks. The control system is extremely easy to get used to, but at the same time requiring a certain degree of skill to master; it's a game that can be played by novices and experts alike, quickly putting a huge repertoire of tricks and techniques at your dispersal.

Possibly the biggest change occurs with the customary EA BIG Gamebreaker, ranking up the risk/reward dynamic that runs throughout the game and providing opportunities to change the outcome of a game completely. The concept is clear, perform enough tricks and combos and the Gamebreaker gauge will eventually fill up; however instead of unleashing an unstoppable shot wherever you are on the pitch, FIFA Street 2 requires you to travel to the centre spot, where the fun really begins. Given the short amount of time that a Gamebreaker takes place, players are presented with the choice, unleash an unstoppable shot for an almost certain goal or risk pulling off a few tricks beforehand to alter the modifier; doing so successfully opens up the possibility of scoring up to three goals from one shot and better still reducing your opponents scoreline. The Gamebreaker now brings a much needed sense of strategy to the game, it's entirely possible to come back from a 3-0 hiding and humiliate your opponent in the process - ideal when you've got a Welshman to play against.

One of the biggest issues surrounding FIFA Street was the complete lack of intelligence on the AI's behalf, which thankfully appears to have been largely addressed in the sequel. Admittedly keepers still fumble around and make stupid mistakes, whilst players can occasionally get "stuck" against an opponent performing multiple beats, frustratingly leaving you on the ground constantly and unable to do anything about it; however generally FIFA Street 2 is a much tighter experience then before, and more enjoyable as a result. Beyond this, ball physics has been significantly improved compared to the "floaty" nature in FIFA Street, whilst players no longer feel as though they're skating around on an ice-rink.

Continuing the trend EA Chicago has also refined and developed the primary "Rule the Streets" mode, into a thoroughly engrossing and largely entertaining experience for single players. Starting off with the customary Create a Character, you'll stumble across Christiano Ronaldo and Franz Beckenbauer playing a game of 4 v 4 beneath London's Westway dual-carriageway - and funnily enough they need another player. Rule the Streets consists of four different levels, each containing approximately 30-40 different challenges presenting objectives such as winning by a certain number of goals or accumulating a certain number of points. Initially beginning in the "Kick Abouts" level, players have to play pick-up matches to learn new tricks and earn Skill Bills to improve attributes. Having accomplished a certain attribute level, the second tier becomes available, "Team Captain", which challenges players to guide a squad of players and design your very own pitch to play on. Along the way you'll have to deal with difficulties such as players demanding higher salaries and choosing a player to keep and let go when two of them fall out; you'll also have the option to add new players to your squad from defeated teams. Continue building the overall rank of your team through the challenges and you'll eventually open up the "Underground" tier, which brings the ultimate Rule the Street battles, along with the opportunity to represent your country in the ultimate "International" stage.

Of course all of these improvements seem trivial to the fact that Dizzee Rascal is no longer MC/commentating over the whole thing. Instead Radio 1's Zane Lowe presents a more eclectic mix of sounds to please everybody, from rock to garage, hip-hop to dance.

Although there's plenty of game to be found in the "Rule the Streets" mode and it's generally been well designed to continually provide a sense of challenge and progress, FIFA Street 2 is invariably a game you'll want to play with your mates - simply to rub their noses in it. So it comes as a huge disappointment to find, once again, that FIFA Street 2 lacks online multiplayer. Given the arcadey nature of the game and it's quick pick up and play style, FIFA Street seems ideally suited to online, leaving this feeling as a massive opportunity missed.

The multiple console versions all offer the same gaming experience and there's not much to call between them visually. Unfortunately the PSP adaptation suffers in comparison, reducing the depth of "Rule the Streets", lacking the new Juggle Beat tricks and returning to the old Gamebreaker system. FIFA Street places so much emphasis on dual thumbsticks that it's always going to be a struggle porting the game to formats that lack these; sadly TVG has yet to see FIFA Street 2 on the Nintendo DS, but doesn't expect this to change our opinion.

Forget the strive for realism, FIFA Street 2 is a pure unadulterated videogame take on footie. It's fun, fun, fun throughout the game and there's a surprisingly deep single-player experience to sustain your interest.

Despite the many improvements to the actual gameplay there are still one or two slight niggles that could be improved to continue tightening the game, and surely online multiplayer has to be a certainty for the next instalment.