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RealGamer :: Xbox 360 :: Reviews :: FIFA Street 3 Review

FIFA Street 3 Review

Written by: Darren Cartledge Posted: 27th February 2008

FIFA Street 3 Score:

6.4 Fair

EA’s soccer showboating series Fifa Street may not have enjoyed the same success as their other Fifa titles, yet that hasn’t stopped it making the leap onto the next-generation consoles. However the game still has a very familiar feel to it!

If you are unfamiliar with the Fifa Street series, the game features 5 aside football action where showboating is the key to success! There are no fouls or free kicks, and because the games take place on enclosed pitches there are no throw-ins or corners! It’s the kind of football kids play on every school playground. Fifa Street also features a player boost system called Game Breakers. Pulling off tricks and juggling the ball causes your Game Breaker meter to fill and once full can be activated to give your team a boost making it near impossible for the opposition to stop you scoring.

Fifa Street 3 features three main modes of play with the addition of quick match and practice mode. The games main mode is Fifa Street Challenge, in this mode you have to complete a series of challenges against different teams made up of international stars such as Cisse, Beckham, Puyol and Gatuso. The challenges usually consist of objective such as being the first to score five goals from headers and volleys to being the first to score 3 game breaker goals, or simply scoring the most goals! It’s all very simple and after a time becomes repetitive and the only reason to keep playing is to unlock the teams to play in the other game modes.

Other modes included in the Fifa Street 3 are head-to-head in which you face another player in a series of matches with you being able to set the winning conditions. These include the same winning conditions featured in the Fifa Street Challenge mode. The final mode included in the game is Playground Picks, in this mode you pick a squad of players, such as England and each player takes it in turn to pick a player until you both have 5 each, just like in school playgrounds!

Fifa Street also features online play, with ranked and unranked quick matches, custom matches that allow you to determine the winning conditions like being the first team to score five goals, and an online version of Playground Picks. Also included in the games online mode is World Challenge in this you pick your favourite national team from the 18 included and compete against other players in matches. If you win then you gain points for your team in the World Rankings table, which runs on a month by month basis.

Overall Fifa Street is very easy to get to grips with, which is essential for a pick-up and play title like this, juggling the ball is a simple case of repeatedly tapping the same button over and over, while tricks and drags are all controlled by the right analogue stick, the ease of the system means you will be pulling off slick moves in no time.

For me the biggest problem with the previous Fifa Street titles is that they were to easy and lacked depth, sadly these two fundamental problems still exist within the latest instalment. Yes the games good for a quick blast against a friend or online but for prolonged gameplay it simply becomes boring and repetitive!

The biggest change in Fifa Street 3 is the way the game looks, not necessarily the games environments but the players who instead of being real character models are now caricatures of their real life counterparts with exaggerated facial features and bodies. The games pitches feature a nice amount of detail such as graffiti, cracks in the concrete, or wire fences that shake when the ball hits them.

Sound in the game is good, the game features a soundtrack that represents the national identities of the teams included, whilst the sounds on the pitch are all very authentic with players talking and commenting on each others performance. It all helps give the game a relaxed and urban feel that goes with the street soccer scene.

While pick-up and play games need to be kept uncomplicated, Fifa Street 3, like its predecessors simply feels to easy and lacking in-depth. The game is good for playing with others, but as a single player title it lacks any real challenge and is too repetitive and won’t grasp your attention like the big Fifa games will!