"I used to love that game!" #3 - Back 2 the (Fifa) Street

Building on the huge success of the original, Fifa Street 2 was a much-loved title on the PS2 and original XBOX. EA enjoyed almost total monopolisation of the 'small-sided football' market, due to the little variety of options out there.

Games like this never really captured the imagination of football fans.

What did Fifa Street 2 had over the other games that tried to tap into this market? High production values were a key part of it. As EA are a big company with huge funding they could make a very good game, without flaws and market it well. The other two games are almost unknown (though I had both) because they had no marketing and lower production values. This made the game less glitchy, more accessible and just a generally better game. 

Licenses are something that generally don't bother me, but knowing the players makes the game more comfortable. Fifa Street 2 had a unique career-mode type mode, where you start off with a bunch of rag-tag unknowns and your player, slowing bringing in better players as you beat better teams. It was fresh, innovative and a whole lot of fun. The time you get the first professional you recognise is an awesome moment. 

Gameplay-wise, the game is slick and easy to control. Standard Fifa controls apply, but with a twist. Using the right stick the player initiates 'beats', skill moves to take you past players. The more elaborate and difficult tricks earn more points. Beats are used to go past players, but gain points so that you can earn GameBreakers. This is where your shot becomes insanely powerful and accurate, but for every player you beat with skill, your shot counts as an extra goal. Beating all outfield players then scoring wins you the game instantly. 

There are many different match-types to add variety to the game. Standard time games, first to 3/5/7 goals, panna, first to a certain score and more. My personal favourite is panna, where nutmegs count as a goal, so it would be like a normal first to 10 game, but nutmegs, or pannas, count as one goal each.

As well as a fantastic game, FS2 had one of my favourite soundtracks on a video game of all time. Songs like this:

That I still enjoy to this day.

In conclusion, Fifa Street 2 was a game that I loved as a kid and would probably still enjoy know. I hope that nostalgia hasn't clouded my view, and it is genuinely still a good game.

Games You've Never Played #2: Nothing is Impossible

Due to the huge amount of strategy games that over-saturate the PC market, it takes something either brilliant or unique to stand out. For example, Rome Total War stands out due to it's fantastic quality, whereas Impossible Creatures stands out because it's unique.

So what makes it so unique? Where most strategy games have armies with standard military units, in Impossible Creatures the player designs their own army of nine creatures by combining two animals to make one. If you've ever wanted to lead an army of camels with a gorilla head into battle, then this game is for you. There are 50 animals in the game at the start, with 15 extra free to download and various player-made mods to further customise the game. Each animal has a unique balance of stats and abilities which makes it impossible to make the 'perfect' creature.

In order to balance the game, there are 'research levels', which cost resources to research. The best creatures are at level 5, so they aren't available to build until late on. A creature with better stats might cost more resources to build, making it harder to build lots at once. Coal and electricity gathering are a huge part of the game and if you get left behind in resources, you'll be left behind in battle. Finely balancing your resource gathering, researching, building and creature building are key to victory.

Combat is fairly simple - there are three types of attacks, melee, artillery and ranged. Melee attacks are generally more powerful but you may have to get close, obviously, which often gives the ranged units a defensive advantage. Ranged units however, have a huge problem with artillery units. There are a lot less ranged and artillery than melee units, so choosing them carefully is important.

The game's story mode is fairly unspectacular, but helps you to learn the ropes. Where the game really shines is multiplayer. Unfortunately, official servers and support for IC multiplayer no longer exists, so you might have to find some friends to play with over LAN, or use other software in order to connect over the internet.

Despite the game being over 10 years old, it is still fairly good graphically and importantly, the gameplay is still unique, varied and freaking awesome. If you've never played the game, I recommend you download it immediately. One of my favourite games of all time.

This Month's First Free Game on Xbox - Defense Grid

When I saw this month's free game was a tower defense game, I was a little disappointed to be honest. It's not that I dislike them, I just wanted to play something different. I read the description and it sounded okay, but I wasn't particularly looking forward to playing it. Nevertheless, I downloaded it and....

It's alright.

If you're looking for a game that is inventive, innovative and defines a genre, then this game really isn't for you. Defense Grid is a fairly generic 3D tower defense game, with few innovations. There really isn't much to differentiate it from most other tower defense games. That being said, it is well made, well balanced and quite addictive. It isn't a bad game, but it isn't brilliant either.

You play as a nameless character defending a nameless planet (presumably Earth, but I don't remember it being mentioned) from aliens. As far as plots go, it's pretty thin and cliché; an alien invasion that you have to stop. You've done it a million times before, in all types of games. That's essentially the plot - there isn't a lot else to say here.

Gameplay-wise, it is a very well-made game. For a free game (or 400 Microsoft points now) it is incredibly balanced and fun. There are only ten towers that each can be upgraded twice, allowing for strategic use of resources gained by killing aliens. Each tower has it's downfalls but all can be very useful at times. The tower design isn't the most spectacular, as many are fairly basic ideas. Gun Towers, Laser Towers and Cannon Towers for example. The first couple of levels are fairly dull, which almost put me off, but I'm glad I didn't. Some of the later levels are impeccably designed, requiring the user to make a pathway for the aliens to help them. This works brilliantly with the level designs and makes it strategic and fun, but very challenging at times. Some of the last levels are devilishly difficult. Me and some of my friends have been hooked - it's such a shame there is no way to play multiplayer or a level designer so I can share levels with friends, however that would be asking quite a lot of the devs. 

Graphically, there can be no complaints. Set in the distant future, Defense Grid illustrates a dystopian future beautifully. It isn't vibrant but the graphics are clear and are as good as some full console games that cost £40. This is a huge thing for a free game, as they usually rely on good gameplay rather than worry about graphics, but developers Hidden Path Entertainment have combined both well. The aliens, of which there are 15 different types, are detailed and their movement is smooth. 

The game is not the longest, as there are only 20 different levels, however there is some replay value. There are different 'challenge' modes for each level that take time to master and complete and then there's always achievements to be gotten. There's also a substantial amount of levels in the DLC packs, which if you enjoy the game might be worth downloading. 

All in all, Defense Grid is a generic but addictive, cheap but fun tower defense game, that for the very good price of absolutely nothing, is a bargain. Even now, for 400 Microsoft Points, it is worth picking up and trying. It doesn't do anything outside the box, but what it does it does well.

Gameplay: 89%
Graphics: 88%
Lifespan: 64%
Innovation: 40%
Accessibility: 70%

Overall: 80%

Thanks for reading.