FIFA Street

With the most recent iteration of the fully-fledged FIFA titles taking a leaf out of the street series book in the form of Volta mode, perhaps it is time to cast our minds back to the relaunch of FIFA Street in 2012. This game would come off the back of a trilogy that began its life in the sixth generation of gaming and aim to resurrect a series that had fallen on hard times.

This game plays similarly to the FIFA titles that we all know but with a more brilliant 5-a-side flair to it. There are no referees, no fouls and a bag of tricks that you can use to beat your opponent and show that you are the king of freestyle football.

Closer to the real thing

In past Fifa Street games there was a really gritty feel to the game where you could play like Roy Keane chopping down the more skillful players and that was enough to get by. Then there was the contrasting cartoonish side of the games where you would be able to build up enough points to perform a gamebreaker. Which for those unaware, was essentially the football equivalent of a Dragonball-Z style power blast that rocketed into the net almost everytime. Unless it smacked off the keeper’s head, of course.

However, in this one, there is a sense that the developers wanted to make it feel like the original FIFAs, only condensed to a smaller field with a more arcade-themed control scheme. You still have the gritty European street environments that showcase the different footballing cultures and there still isn’t any commentary or chanting of a crowd. Just the players grunting as they smash a ball into the little goals. Yet you can’t help but feel there is a good deal of symbiosis to the original here.

3 Devoid of personality

The past iterations had their own identity within this series, with the first perhaps being a real cult classic. However, this title seems to be a swing and a miss in that respect. Sure the gameplay is fun, after all it borrows a lot of assets from FIFA 2012. However, the gameplay seems lazy too. There seems to be no difference in how players act whether they are forwards, attackers or defenders. They just seem like cardboard cutouts with different stats assigned to them.

Then the goalkeepers seem to have a mind of their own as most goalkeepers do but not in a good way. They wander aimlessly, make stupid decisions and cost you countless amounts of goals. You’ll score enough yourself for the same reason so it balances out but it hardly creates immersion or promotes a sense of realism.

The presentation also adds to this theme of laziness with a UI that you would probably see in a decent mobile game. This was fine in the mid-2000s and perhaps they were trying to achieve some form of continuity but it comes off very poorly. The one saving grace is the characature versions of the footballers available in the game is a nice touch that sets it apart from the original FIFA series.

Rule The Streets

There is a decent campaign mode that allows you to create a ragtag team and swap them out for the worlds elite with your created player in the line up. This is a mode that has been within the series since the beginning and its nice to see it make a return.

There are also a series of other game modes that are great to play online and locally with friends. These are panna mode which essentially translates to nutmegging your opponent, racking up points and then scoring to bank them. It’s fun and can get quite intense. Then you have futsal mode which is like the main game mode but with deal balls and fouls. It’s more of a novelty than anything else but still a welcome inclusion. Unfulfilled Potential

What is so frustrating about this title is just how good it could have been. The developers clearly cut corners to make this game happen by borrowing assets, making a shoddy, unpolished AI. Then perhaps not spending enough time giving this title a unique feel that didn’t feel like a tweaked version of FIFA 2012. With real time and effort, we could have seen this brand become an annual release and really grow into something special.

Pros

• Decent arcade gameplay
• Varied game modes

Cons

• Lacks its own personality.
• Horrible UI
• Players feel like carbon copies of each other

For many, soccer is the global game – the sport that is played around the world the most without any question. However, while most of us know our soccer from watching in stadiums, the real joy of the game can be found out in the street. That is why FIFA Street was such a revelation when it first hit the shelves. Giving people a futsal style experience, you could play football as it looks in the cinema.

Released in 2005, FIFA Street was a big change from the usual FIFA format and it was a highly impressive title for the time. Close to 20 years on since it was first a thing, though, how does FIFA Street hold up now?

A great concept, fairly well realised

If you have played any of the modern FIFA titles, you will have noticed the introduction of Volta. This is basically FIFA Street in all but name. When compared to the ease of play that FIFA Street brought to the table, though, Volta can feel a touch uneven. You can tell that it is a game mode as opposed to a full title, while FIFA Street managed to rework the game to suit a street-based football style.

You will know yourself if you have ever picked up a soccer ball that playing in the street in a 5v5 setting is way different to playing 11v11. If you wanted to compare FIFA Street to something, it would be something like NBA Street as opposed to FIFA itself.

The actual gameplay itself was very fun, though. Scoring was a piece of cake, and you could pull out all manner of outrageous skill moves and trick shots without having to master any complex combinations. The game was fun enough that it was easy to keep playing, with enough variety in the players to ensure that playing with one star felt different from playing with another.

Fun gameplay, not enough depth (6.5/10)

The problem with FIFA Street was that it soon ran out of gas if you were not playing either with or against friends. The AI was pretty awful to say the least, as it is in most soccer games. However, the more arcade-y nature meant that FIFA Street was a more pick up and play title than FIFA or Pro Evolution Soccer. Even if you barely knew anything about soccer, you could go a team like Brazil and still have fun.

Where FIFA Street fell apart was its boring story/career mode. This was clearly a title that would have thrived in the online-heavy era of the PS3 and beyond. While the FIFA Street series did live on, it was mostly absorbed into the modern Volta experience.

Pros

• Fun and exciting gameplay that was easy to pick up for beginners
• A good variety to the stars, making sure each big name felt more unique
• Easy to score nice goals and to feel like you were having fun

Cons

• Limited entertainment options once you exhausted the co-op/competitive scene
• Career mode was limited in scope, and lacked the depth of other sports titles