For a long time now EA Sports has had the market when it comes to soccer games. Their FIFA soccer series has sold millions of copies worldwide. Many people have tried to match the game but have failed, which surprises me because year after year the FIFA series is the same thing over and over again yet it still sells millions of copies with each installment. Being a huge soccer fan I decided to break from the norm and buy World Tour Soccer Instead of Fifa.
Does it beat FIFA?
World Tour Soccer for the PSP will give gamers a pretty good soccer experience. However, it isn't better than FIFA. This doesn't meant that it's a bad game, in fact it is a good game in its own ways.
If you played last year's World Tour Soccer 2005 on the PS2 you will know what this game is all about. Where FIFA is more of a simulation, World Tour Soccer has a real arcade feel to it. The gameplay is very quick, and is easy to pick up and play, which is great if you want a quick game of soccer. It is also great for the biggest soccer fan who is looking for a challenge. One thing you will notice is the lack of any sort of league competition. This is one area FIFA excels, it is kind of sad that you cannot pick your favorite team and go on and play a league and be crowned champions. However there are a ton of competitions and bonuses to to unlock in World Tour Soccer!
You will see on the menu screen that there are a number of options and tournaments to choose from. There is a quick game option which randomly selects teams for cup competitions, exhibition modes, multiplayer match up’s, and an excellent though all too short challenge mode. The main mode of play is the cup competition. From here you can choose to play in the World cup, European Championships, Champions League, the Asian cup, the South American cup, the Americas cup and the Africa cup. The goal is to complete all of the competitions on all the different skill levels (Amateur, Pro, World Class and Master Class). Everytime you complete the tournament you will unlock hidden extras like great teams from the past, new stadiums, different styles of soccer balls etc. When you win the tournaments you will also receive tokens so you can buy the teams that are locked, then you can play as the team you just purchased, which is a pretty cool idea.
When playing Amateur you will be able to score goals from anywhere very easily, the AI is not very good at this level and sometimes the computer players will tackle their own team mates! Switch to Pro and you get a better game. The other two settings, World Class and Master Class, are next to impossible to play, the computer teams are way too hard to play against.
The challenge game mode is excellent as well but it could have been so much more. You pick a team to play as and the computer chooses a team for you to play against. The idea is to play the most attractive soccer that you can. String passes together, do skills and tricks with the ball score long range goals etc. Every time you complete a pass, do a trick, tackle an opponent or score a goal you will be given points. Every time you lose the ball, make a bad tackle or concede a goal you will lose points. Every skill level has 3 different point targets. For example, in Amateur, if you score 1500 points you will be awarded a bronze medal and a hidden team.
All in all there are 245 real soccer teams, which include international, club, classic, and special teams, most of which you have to unlock before you can use. I think that is a pretty good feature and it will keep you coming back for more. In addition to the single player games you can also play multiplayer via Wi-Fi, however you can only play exhibition matches during multiplayer which sucks. I think it would have been great to have been able to play each other during the challenge mode as well. For the most part, the multiplayer game was smooth, but every now and then the frame rate drops dramatically which can really hamper the play.
Gameplay
Controlling the players in World Tour Soccer is very easy. You can use either the thumb stick or the D-pad to move, the shoulder buttons are used for tricks and running, and the triangle, square, circle and cross buttons perform the defensive and attacking actions that you would expect from any soccer game.
One thing I love about the WTS games is that you have the ability to deliberately dive. Time it right and you could be awarded a free kick or penalty, time it wrong and your player will be sent off for unprofessional behavior, this is a neat feature. The game moves rapidly and the controls are smooth and responsive, it is a joy to play!
Look and sound
The graphics in WTS are by no means ground breaking but they do their job. There are some rough edeges here are and there, but there is no slow down except during multiplayer which is awesome. The players look like their real life counter parts, so you could pick David Beckham out from a crowd. The cut scenes are good but are very short, when you win a trophy the cut scene will last maybe 10 seconds, which is fine unless you like to bask in your glory of winning the world cup.
The sound is also very good. The commentary is performed by Peter Drury. He is a great commentator from England. The commentary is pretty basic, players names will be said when they receive the ball or take a shot at a goal, but that is about it. The music is pretty decent too, mostly rock music on the menu screens.
Overall
From the nicely presented main menu screen, to the great graphics and cool music, World Tour Soccer looks, feels and sounds like a great game. There are plenty of game modes and hidden extras to keep you playing for hours. While not better than FIFA, the result is still a lot of fun to play.
"World Class and Master Class, are next to impossible to play, the computer teams are way too hard to play against."
Are you serious? Im able to win cups or come 2nd in cups on master class.The trick is to vary your passing etc. so the computer doesnt get used to you. Also dive abit here and there
going back to the days of nintendo 64, i believe that fifa 99 allowed the players the ability to dive. i won many a game by diving in the box in the last 10 minutes. lol. pissed off my buddies but all that matters is i notched another mark in the 'win' column. :D
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