World Tour Soccer 2002

Description

Despite being almost a year and a half old, the North American PlayStation 2 has yet to receive a soccer game from any developer besides EA. And while the FIFA series has always succeeded in supplying an adequate game of "footie," the hard-core soccer fan--like any good fanatic--is always looking for grass-in-the-eyes realism. It is with this in mind that Sony has decided to publish World Tour Soccer 2002 in the US under the 989 Sports banner. Developed by soccer-loving European developer Team Soho, WTS 2002 places an emphasis on action on the pitch and supplies a few of the gameplay modes that are missing from EA's popular FIFA series.

Despite the lack of a franchise mode, World Tour Soccer 2002 has a robust selection of gameplay options to explore. You can play an exhibition match against friends and choose from more than 300 teams in 23 international leagues. The FIFA license has been purchased for the game, so all the real players are included with their real names, but club teams such as Juventus and Arsenal will have to be renamed if you have a thing for authenticity. In addition to the rudimentary exhibition mode, you can choose from nine different international leagues to play, as well as adjust the length of the seasons and games to your tastes or enter a number of special competitions, such as super team championships, time warp cups featuring players of old, custom leagues, and a custom cup option that will satisfy those who were unhappy about the alteration of the tournament option in FIFA. As if these gameplay modes weren't enough, there's also a bevy of international competitions to enter, such as the World Cup and its qualifying matches on each continent. The only downside to the game's structure, besides the lack of a franchise mode, is that it tracks just four different statistics per player. Anyone who enjoys watching a player's tackles or steals pile up will be out of luck. But the list of gameplay modes is more than adequate, and for a first-time franchise, World Tour Soccer 2002 can already hang with the big dogs of its genre.