Xbox

FIFA Street 2

EA Big a mis tout son savoir-faire dans ce FIFA Street 2 qui vient confirmer les bonnes dispositions du premier volet. Ajoutant judicieusement le gamebreaker, les développeurs ont su accentuer le côté spectaculaire de l'Urban Freestyle Soccer sans que le réalisme n'en souffre trop. Le jeu n'est cependant pas parfait et mériterait quelques améliorations mais il est clair qu'à ce rythme, EA semble bien parti pour faire de cette franchise une série à succès. On attend la suite impatiemment.

When FIFA Street was released in February of 2005, the game boasted far more style than it did substance, offering a gameplay experience that was as flawed as it was flashy. Nevertheless, when we reviewed FIFA Street we alluded to the fact that we'd very much like to see its problems addressed in a sequel at some point. Now, one year later, EA Sports Big has done just that. FIFA Street 2 is far from perfect, but it improves upon its predecessor quite significantly and can be enjoyed solo or with up to three friends.

It’s the best street soccer game out there, that’s for sure, but it’s also pretty much the only one, so you can’t really call this a decent remark. You can play this for hours and hours and not even be close to finishing it but is that what you really want? Still my only advice to those interested in this game is: rent it! Let’s hope that this is the last time I’m giving this advice because some might think I have a contract going on with video stores forcing me to tell you: RENT RENT RENT! Enough conspiracy for now, the only thing I’m leaving you with is this: decide for yourself if you’re really into this, otherwise leave it be.

The basic premise of FIFA Street hasn’t changed in this, the second iteration. Players still create their own baller and put them on a traveling trio of soccer playing nomads who wonder the corners of the globe looking for the best and brightest soccer challenges. Rather than dubbing this mode the standard “career mode” FIFA Street 2 gives it the ‘80s gangster movie treatment with the “Rule the Streets” moniker. Still, it’s where you’ll find the real meat and potatoes of the game; at least if you’re playing by yourself, but like most Street games FIFA Street 2 is best enjoyed with a few buddies.

Somehow, my players can bust out insane bicycle kicks and juggling miracles one moment and then suddenly trip on their feet the next. If my high school coach saw so much bunching on the field he'd probably have an aneurysm. I love soccer, but this is insulting.

Over the past few nights I've found it difficult to face the oncoming doom. See, I've been assigned to review FIFA Street 2. Scratch that, I asked to review it. After the monstrosity that was the original FIFA Street, I felt it my obligation to see if EA had redeemed itself with the sequel. If redemption is equal to the amount of tricks one can pull off in a given soccer game and not having the worst announcer in the history of videogames, then EA at least isn't going to hell.

In the end, I have to say I am vastly dissapointed. The game is a bit better than the original FIFA Street, but still not as good as I thought it would be. As a fan of the Street games, I had high expectations for this sequel, knowing what the original was like. I appreciate that they expanded the tricks and added some real players to the mix. The new Gamebreaker is nice. But overall the trick controls are just as difficult, if not more. Not having online gameplay is a big, big, big issue for me. This is good for a weekend rental, but really nothing more.

You’ll still feel like you’re contributing to third-world debt by buying it of course, and it’s still more soulless than Beverley Knight’s “Piece Of My Heart”, but this time round you don’t have to be quite so ashamed to like Fifa Street, assuming you have the patience to suffer defeat after defeat to finally enjoy the game.

The whole FIFA Street 2 experience begins by creating your own unique player to take through the "Rule the Street" mode, where you play in games and try to build up a reputation as a start player. The better you play, the more skill points you'll earn to upgrade your character, and the more events will be unlocked. The character creation system is robust enough, giving you quite a few different variations on body parts, skin tones, facial features, and clothing to help ensure that you can create your dream player, or simply an abomination of nature (which I opted to do). To get you in to the rhythm of the game, you'll start off taking part in small "kick about" matches, which are pretty much friendly pick-up games where you only need to score a few goals to win. As you work your way through the easier games, you'll eventually unlock the ability to play in more difficult settings, including representing your country in international play.

European Football purists aren't likely to enjoy FIFA Street 2 any more than they did the first game in the series. Like its predecessor, this is an arcade-style game in tune with EA's other alternative sports titles, such as NBA Street. As such, it's more about flashy tricks than the actual game of soccer, although it's entertaining enough for what it is. The artificial intelligence is improved and ball physics are much more realistic than in the first game, but while FIFA Street 2 makes a good first impression, it gets bogged down by unresponsive player controls and repetitive action.

EA's Street franchise started off as the company's response to the arcade hoops antics of Midway, and in the case of NBA Street, it was one hell of an answer. But instead of sticking with one sport, EA literally went Big and tried porting the concept over to other, less street-worthy sports, like football and soccer, both with mixed results.

Att FIFA Street 2 är ett EA Sports Big spel råder det ingen som helst tvekan om. Det är precis så välbyggt som vi vant oss vid. Deras vägval känns som vanligt lite trist och fegt, men det svårt att klandra dem för det. Deras försäljningssiffror imponerar och varför skulle de vilja ändra på ett vinnande koncept? Spelet är alltså välgjort men ändå saknas något och det är djup. På grund av sitt väldigt enkelspåriga gameplay är FIFA Street 2 som bäst under dina allra första matcher då alla finter imponerar, men efter det finns det tyvärr inte så mycket att lyfta på hatten för. Spelet krymper snarare än växer ju mer du spelar det något som gör att det omöjligt att ge det ett betyg på den högre delen av skalan.