The football fever is in the air. Football is the most popular sport in the world and in terms of excitement, no other game comes close to it. I was among the millions of viewers before Scholes shattered my dreams recently (damn you petite Red Devil, damn you). And since I am an avid gamer, I decided to try out the latest in the Fifa Street Series. Released some time back, the new game called Fifa Street 3 is based on street football and features some of the biggest footballers in the world. The game focuses on tricks and style more than accuracy; it's a game that is meant to bend the rules of the sport and give the gamer an exaggerated experience. Read on to know more about it.
Game Summary
If you are new to the series, let me tell you that this is football in a new avatar. This is a quick and fast-paced version of the otherwise tactical sport. You won't find any major set-ups here; no star player will wait for the right opportunity to kick a ball through and give it to the striker. This time, it's a little more glamorous. Every player has the ability to unleash a range of tricks. The tricks are to keep possession of the ball before lobbing it to the teammate who does a mid-air summersault to kick it in to the goal at blazing speed and accuracy.
This unreal form of football was a major hit when the first Fifa Street game came out. This time around with its third iteration, the game is weak in a few key areas. As always, EA has presented the game very well and made sure that you take notice. However, at its core, the game lacks depth and gets repetitive very early. The concept is very simple: the best footballers in the world battle it out in a small field and produce goals that defy the laws of gravity. The rest is pure football; you score goals and win, but only in Fifa Street 3, you do it with style.
Gameplay
There are a few game modes. You can start a quick match or take up a challenge or go online, head to head on the PSN. Let's start with Quick-Match. You choose from a number teams including Germany, England, France, featuring the likes of Peter Crouch, Rooney, Henry, and Gattuso. Choose the goal limit, arena, and the ball type (a new way to advertise) and you are off to go. The controls are simple: you perform aerial flicks and ground drags. There are 5 players with different abilities: Playmakers, Tricksters, Enforcers, and Finishers.
Playmakers: These are the best passers in the game and come in handy when it comes to long passes from wings and taking long shots.
Enforcers: These are the best defenders.
Tricksters: These are the most skillful players in the team who perform the most amazing tricks.
Finishers: The best goal scorers in the game, they can shoot from pretty much anywhere.
The player can perform tricks by pressing the triangle key or by moving the right analog stick; he can fool the other players by dragging the ball below his feet or flicking it over his head. And doing all this earns the player style points. These styles points fill up the Game-Breaker meter. Once the meter is full, you can perform much better tricks and score goals with amazing accuracy. Thus, the better your tricks, the better your chances are of filling the bar fast and scoring more goals. The rest is fairly simple -- win by scoring 5 goals (this is the default target but can be increased). You can also raise the difficulty level by choosing another game mode which counts only 5 headers. A real big issue with the gameplay is that it is just too hard to defend. There's an aggressive tackle option as well, but still the game's defense is weak.
Multiplayer
The single player is long but gets monotonous very soon and the real fun lies in the multiplayer mode. I played the game over the PSN and had fun for the first two hours but playing the same thing again and again got the better of me.
As mentioned earlier, the main issue with the game is the lack of depth in terms of gameplay; it gets repetitive very soon. But it's good fun online and can keep you happy for a few days.
Presentation
The presentation of the game is top notch. The players look pretty awesome -- it's as though they've just jumped out of Team Fortress 2. The player models are well done and so are the arenas, with attention to the minutest details. The tricks look great when performed and can be viewed in replay. Good graphics fit the game's theme with cell-shaded characters. The music is also good and features many genres. Fast songs have been chosen to suit the fast-paced gameplay.
Final Verdict
The Fifa Street 3 has got the good looks and offers nice gameplay; however, it falls short of delivering the value. The game may be awesome but gets boring after the first few hours (I mean one hour). Buy this if you have friends who are real football maniacs and can play with you online on a regular basis.
