The concept of the game is simple. Take the old game of soccer, and put it on the streets (although this definition is stretched at times, with some maps being as eccentric as oil rigs). Erase impediments to fast gameplay, like refereeing and set halves, and ramp up the skill level to the absurd. Set it to energetic, ‘euro’ style music, and visually brighten things up by pseudo cell-shading the stars of the game. Sounds good on paper, but is it fun in practice, or more appropriately, in competition?
Yes, it is. FIFA Street 3 is simply fun to pick up and play the game, and that in itself says enough about its appeal. Within seconds, inexperienced players will be wall-running and doing the type of inhuman tricks that would normally land you a million dollar sports shoe contract. There is no story to FIFA Street 3, no manager-esque single player ala standard FIFA installments, but to have such a mode would be to defeat the point of the game. Though the core attraction of FIFA Street 3 is doing outlandish stunts, there is an undercurrent of realism, or perhaps accentuated realism in the game. Even though FIFA Street 3 is a sports game, a videogame genre not usually known for making a point, or having meaning, it implicitly does so, simply from the setting, and approach of the game.
'All those bullets and you still missed! Hah!'
FIFA Street 3’s urban setting may make for a cosmetic change to the packed stadiums of the regular game, but it underlines one important point: this is how real people play soccer. Not with million-dollar contracts, not with arrogant crowd-pleasing celebrations, and not with Rivaldo ‘has-it-hit-my-head-or-my-shin’ diving tactics. Thanks to SBS, we all know soccer as the ‘world game’, and this is true in many respects. People all over the globe play the game on rooftops, in back-alleys, on beaches. The genius of the sport is that it only costs the price of a ball to play. Anything else is optional. There’s a real attitude to disorganised, casual soccer, and FIFA Street 3 captures this, and accentuates it. The urban game isn’t so much about finesse or accuracy as it is about showmanship and style. No-one’s counting the goals, so why bother scoring in any but a spectacular way? Indeed, there is sense while playing FIFA Street 3 that losing to your best mate is not so much of a bother as stopping them scoring a wonderfully juggled scissor kick from halfway down the pitch.
In terms of the mechanics of the game, FIFA Street 3 is nicely balanced to provide good pick-up-and-play action. Choose almost any of the national or pre-selected all-star teams and you won’t experience a huge loss of skill. Even Australia can successfully take on Brazil in the right hands. Players can choose almost any team and feel confident, although we would recommend staying as far away as possible from the woefully ranked New Zealand (did the land of the Long White Cloud do something to annoy EA?). The controls are simple enough for anyone to get a handle on, and spectacular tricks are achieved with the press of a button. Certain players are deemed ‘specialists’, and excel at specific tasks, such as stealing the ball in defense, or scoring, while the big name stars execute unique tricks.
There's a public liability claim in here somewhere...
There’s also the new ‘Game Breaker’ meter, which is similar to the one from NBA Street in that it builds as the player completes tricks, and is unleashed to enable even more outlandish skills and bullet-like shots on goal. There’s a bit of strategy here, though, as the points you’ve earned through tricks fall away unless you make a shot on goal, which then converts them to saved points. You need a full meter of saved points, not immediate trick points, to enable the Game Breaker, and this makes the Game Breaker mode (where only Game Breaker goals count) quite interesting. However, the actual presence of the meter can be a distraction from the actual game (as players often go for trick points in a race to get unstoppable shots at goal, rather than concentrating on the game itself), and it does feel a little like cheating sometimes. Still, there’s always a mode without the Game Breaker, if you grow tired of it.
Speaking of modes, the game is pretty well represented in play choices. There are a reasonable amount of different modes, such as ‘Headers & Volleys’, where you must score by kicking the ball out of the air or heading it into the net. There’s also the amusing ‘Playground Picks’ mode, where players choose one-by-one, Primary School-style, their five players out of ten. Just don’t pick Rooney last - it’ll hurt his feelings. There are a few more modes but they all focus on winning conditions - it seems that FIFA Street 3 would be a prime candidate for some regular FIFA scenario play, like aiming to score with the keeper, or keep the ball in the air for a certain amount of time, but it isn’t in this package.
And that’s pretty much it. All of the modes can be played online or splitscreen, and dedicated rivals can even set up a mini-tournament against each other if they wish. And this is the heart of why FIFA Street 3 isn’t a great game. It’s a game accessible enough for anyone to enjoy in short bursts, but don’t expect sheer depth. If you buy FIFA Street 3 as the only game for your six weeks on a desert island with nothing but a generator, TV and console, then you’ll run out of love for the game quicker than you can give your pet coconut a name. On the other hand, if you get the game for a weekend at the beach house with mates, it will keep you entertained for as long as you can keep out of the surf. FIFA Street 3 was not meant to be played alone. While players can wrench days of lonesome play out of regular FIFA entries, FIFA Street 3 will be all over before you can spell Ronaldinho (although, if you are after about 500 Gamerscore points and you have about two hours to spare, be our guest). However, the game acknowledges this, as most single-player triumphs unlock teams to be used in multiplayer.
Soccer, or basketball?
And that’s why awarding FIFA Street 3 a rating is almost irrelevant. You don’t play the game to get a deep and lasting experience. You play the game with some mates to show off and brag when you win. Everything in the game has been geared towards this goal. The big-name players are here, but they’ve been amplified and mutated into cartoonish lookalikes - immediately pleasing on the eye. The chosen tracks are exciting and active, only lowering in tone to emphasise a pause in gameplay when the ball goes out of bounds, or when viewing a replay (although players may eventually grow sick of the small-ish selection of tracks). The players shout complements and insults at each other in-game, adding to the lively ‘street’ feel. The arenas are alive with interaction, as doors creak open when players run into them, and walls burst when hit by a powerful shot.
In essence, FIFA Street 3 presents a series of missed and taken opportunities. The game, as it stands, is a shallow experience. Playing the FIFA Street 3 for 45 minutes will give you an almost complete picture of the entire game. On the other hand, it presents a kind of immediate enjoyment similar to playing your first games as a child, and will be fun for group play of any type. The problem is that it would be very possible to make this game deeper. What about soccer-parkour street running mini-game? Or simply more imaginative single-player challenges? Ultimately, perhaps the worst indictment of the game is that it could easily be thrown in with regular FIFA installments and make both games all the better for it. If you buy FIFA Street 3, it’ll be a great distraction from the other games in your collection, but a distraction is all it will ever be.
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