Although this game is awful in this review there will be positives and so if you really are a fan of the series then you may like to view it as something of a post-mortem, kind of a “I’m sorry your loved one has died but by the way didn’t they have a great set of lungs?” sort of affair. In terms of why this was allowed to happen then I’m afraid I really can’t offer any more reasons for this than your average pathologist. But I can tell you how a quality video game series was destroyed, and so with surgical masks firmly donned let us proceed.

To start with those crazy folks up there at Electronic Arts have flown in the face of the ‘if it’s not broke don’t fix it philosophy’ by changing almost everything that Fifa Street Fans used to associate with the game. Gone is the MC commentator, gone is the trademark Fifa graphics engine and finally (and this is truly criminal) gone are the features fans loved such as create a player and rule the street, if this game wasn’t broken before it definitely is now.

As a fan who has always been on the EA side of the Pro Evo vs Fifa debate it is insulting that a successful game in the franchise should be cheapened so. However it’s not that I believe they have done this on purpose, it is clear to see what EA were looking to do in taking a game that has always lived under the shadow of the main Fifa titles in a bold new direction. The problem is the direction isn’t the right one and even if it was it has been done in a half assed ‘get it out now’ manner that should be considered as little more than an insult to fans of the game.

The realistic characters in the game have been replaced by exaggerated caricatures which maybe could have looked cool if they had been done differently but they don’t. Half of them bear little resemblance to their real life counterparts and for the life of me I don’t understand why this was done in the first place. While the fluid gameplay remains the sound effects and music are truly irritating, limiting any enjoyment of the games better features to the ten minutes or so you can stand to listen.

In its own arcade-like fashion the game can be fun to play, with a bit of practice your team can link up very well and it’s a game that is very easy to learn and with movement quite easy on the eyes. One of the bonuses of using a graphics set that a Ps2 engine could play is that on next-gen consoles the gaming tends to be a smooth experience.

Aside from this the game has little going for it and I for one will be concentrating on the other releases from EA’s superb Fifa series while trying to forget this ever existed. Fingers crossed EA abandon this disaster and return to what they do best, pretty, fully licensed and realistic football games which are a delight to play. Everything this game isn’t.

Michael Mould