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Soccer Slam Preview
Chris Leyton
00/12/0000
Visual concepts try their hand at soccer, but not in the way we`d expected...
Usually noted for their realistic sporting titles, it was a strange decision for Visual Concepts first foray into the world of football, to be an arcade styled game rather then a simulation true to real-life and like their previous titles.
Soccer Slam ditches realism for pure fun; teams of 11 players are reduced to three-on-three, special moves replace trademark skills, balanced team based build-up is substituted with OTT action, this is football for the US audience.
Essentially Soccer Slam is a football game in the vein of the NFL Blitz arcade series. The idea has been booting around at VC for the last year and a half, after the decision was made to take it to the GameCube the developers got underway and spent the last six months producing what we now see in front of us. This relatively quick development time is testimony to the skill of everybody at VC, and the ease of development that the GameCube allows. Turning a game around in less then a year is virtually unheard of in todayâs industry, however in that short time VC have got a game that already runs at a smooth 60FPS, and promises to be a lot of fun.
Youâll have a choice of six different teams, each featuring itâs own skills, attributes and funny personalities, much like the real thing in that aspect.
Each of the teams will have their own ratings for speed, hitting, passing, shooting, and stealing effectiveness. Theyâll also have access to an individual elemental power, which youâll be able to charge up and use for a short period increasing the playerâs abilities.
Elemental power charges up as you pull of moves, tackling, stringing together a good set of passes and scoring all charge up your meter, once you activate this youâll have a stronger kick and faster speed making it easier to score. However if you wait for the meter to fully charge up, it will flash letting you know you can perform a âkiller kickâ, simply turbo-pass to another team-mate, which will trigger off a target that looks like a spotlight on the pitch, move a player into this space and press shoot. If you manage to get the timing correct, youâll be greeted with a slow-motion kick which is much more likely to end up in the goal.
Another type of kick occurs when youâve kept possession of the ball for five or more seconds, spotlights will move around the pitch, if you manage to get in to one and press shoot, youâll be treated to some Matrix-style slow-down and camera panning, very coolâ¦
In keeping with the arcade gameplay, Soccer Slam will feature a simple control system. The Y button lets you protect the ball, the L trigger letâs you power-up, whilst the R trigger lets you run. The other buttons change depending on whether youâre defending or attacking; X will serve as your deke and steal, A will pass or switch, and B will shoot the ball or hit your opponent.
As youâd expect the game is fast and frantic, whilst the rulebook isnât exactly followed down to the line. Youâll have plenty of opportunity to knock players down, and bend the rules in anyway possible.
Humour plays a large part in the game, none more so then when a keeper stops a killer shot only to see his armour disintegrate into nothing, leaving the once big and bulky bloke nothing more then a long-john whimpering shadow of his former self.
Soccer Slam will offer four different game modes; exhibition, quest, tourney and practise.
- Exhibition is, as youâd expect a one-off game where you can play against a CPU team or human opponents.
- Quest is styled in the same way to Virtua Tennis career mode, pick a team and travel across the world, entering competitions and earning prize money. Along the way youâll take place in 10 qualifying games, a semi-final and finally the play-offs, yeah I know thereâs nothing like that in the world of football but they are Americans⦠To help you along your way you can visit the Soccer Shop, where you can purchase items that your team can wear, changing their looks and enhancing their attributes, youâll also be able to buy concept art which you can view and various other special items.
- Tourney is a multiplayer round-robin style tournament, for up to six players.
- Practise allows to try out the games moves and become a pro.
Visually the game has a distinct look and flair. The cartoony visuals pack plenty of personality, adding some fantastic humour to the whole affair. Whilst the stadiums are crammed full of detail, fans will interact with the ongoing action accordingly, cheering and waving flags when the home team scores, boo and whistle when the away team are doing well.
