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This Is Football 2002 Review
Chris Leyton
00/12/0000
Does it play like a game of football or a videogame impersonating football???
Whenever a new football title appears at the office it is universally met with the cries of "It's no ISS". Konami's effort has held the crown since it's first appearance on the N64, many have tried but none have bested that effort. Step up challenger #24, SCEE with This Is Football 2002 on the Playstation2.
The problem with most football games is that they feel like videogames
impersonating football. ISS was different, there was a game that truly felt like you were playing down the park on a Sunday afternoon, you could almost smell the freshly cut grass, everything in that game encapsulated the true essence of football and was a joy to play. Sure FIFA had the real names and faultless presentation, however it's shallow gameplay ensured that games always felt the same. Whereas like the beautiful game itself, you could never guarantee what type of game you would get in ISS, an end-to-end thriller resulting in a final 4-3 win, a boring stalemate played out in the midfield, no matter what, ISS appealed to football purists.
So where does that leave TIF2002, happily I can say close, knocking out EA's efforts in the semi-final, yet losing the final in extra time to Konami and ISS.
TIF2002 presentation is superb, at times eclipsing EA's major asset. You'll have access to a huge amount of clubs across the world, including schoolboy leagues and Best of... teams, each faithfully recreated with real player names and likenesses, no game comes close to the sheer amount on offer. Matching this is the amount of competitions, there are the standard league and cup modes, however if nostalgia is your thing you can go back in the TimeWarp mode and recreate some of the best matches ever to have been played. If you'd rather look to the future then the past, the Jumpers for Posts mode allows you to pick any of the current schoolboy teams featuring some of the upcoming stars. In total there are 34 cups to collect for each difficulty level, although I've yet to do it, I'm sure collecting them all will result in some extra goodies.
The first thing that will strike you about TIF2002 are the visuals, never has the term 'player likeness' been so apt. Player models benefit from some subliminal textures, each players face has been faithfully recreating with spooky effectiveness. The actual models have also been garnished with the same kind of attention, ensuring a wide variety of different players, with varying height; build and attributes.
Stadiums are magnificent affairs, daunting even, by their sheer scale. Crowds are often poorly recognised in sports titles, witness ISS on the PS2, thankfully I can honestly say that TIF2002 features the best crowd effect I've seen in a football title. Flares go off, stewards patrol the grounds, managers and coaches pace the touchline, truly, this is football. Depth filtering is used to good effect on the stadiums, with the far distance blurred to enhance the realistic nature of the visuals.
Matching the visual quality is the standard of animation; except for a dire run animation you'd believe you're watching the real thing. Players move so realistically that you can feel every crunching tackle, be amazed at the quick shimmy and nutmeg that leads to a quick run down the wing, and exhuberation as that 30 yard screamer bursts the back netting.
The animation is best displayed during the replays, and the developers knew this, little touches as Matrix style slow-down and pans often frequent the goal replays and make each one a joy to watch. Players helping each other with foot cramp, warm-up's, etc⦠I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's these little touches that mark out a next-gen offering.
However all of the visual gloss would have counted for nothing had the game not been up to scratch. Although no ISS, it does play a good game and more importantly an intelligent one. SCEE have refined the passing system to near perfection, after a couple of games you'll be stringing defence-splitting passes together with ease. Coupled with this is a nice one-two manoeuvre, that is both intuitive and powerful when properly mastered. Unfortunately the same refinement hasn't been applied to
the lob move, seemingly more a case of hit it and hope. This seems top be a problem with all football titles, ISS included, the day when you can put an inch perfect 40 yard pass â“ aka a Beckham â“ then we may well see an ISS beater in the works.
The biggest problem with TIF2002 is with the camera and the lack of scope to position it. Each of the settings face down too much, resulting in times when you can't see the sideline and meaning long shots are a case of luck rather then skill.
A nice addition is the inclusion of dives and handballs, in this day and age of European football it wasn't going to be long before a dive button featured and the idea is great. However I've yet to see one given, each time I've tried to employ the tactic a yellow card has been issued for deliberately diving. So this might be to discourage cheating, but when the game prides itself on realism you would have thought the developers would have applied this to the standard of the referees today.
The handball feature works a lot better, and I must give credit to the developers for including it. Crosses often wack into player hands, scrambles on the ground can result in handballs, it works brilliantly and must surely set a new standard for the others to follow.
Player AI is at times brilliant, at other times frustrating. You'll often see your attackers make runs into space, wing backs diving up the wings, keepers come out to narrow the space. However the illusion is shattered by the amount of times they get caught off-side, what are they up to, perhaps negotiating their next mega-bucks contract or somethingâ¦
