Games People Play by Brad Pilcher

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Site created 12/15/97.

page created: 3/20/03

Games People Play
by Brad Pilcher

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REVIEWS
World Tour Soccer 2003 & Pride Fighting Championship As so many videogames recently have increasingly mimicked big screen action dramas, the titles that recreate a small screen experience are occasionally getting looked over. I'm actually not referring to small screen franchise titles like The Simpsons Road Rage. Those types of games can be quite good, but they're less recreations of the small screen experience than take-offs from successful boob tube series. But for years, videogames have been taking a staple of television and making it interactive: sports. Still, it wasn't until next-gen consoles that featured DVD-sized storage and enhanced graphical abilities came out that such interactive sports titles could really get the job done. Nowadays, the Madden franchise sets the standard for pro-football and EA Sports has made itself the crème de la crème of the sports gaming genre. Sony and THQ, however, have recently offered up some stiff competition of their own. World Tour Soccer 2003, courtesy of Sony's in-house development team at 989 Sports, is the second release in the WTS franchise begun last year. 989 Sports has had something of a reputation as a sports title developer without the ability to compete with other players like EA, but I feel like they've gotten a bum rap. For one thing, EA has licenses hanging out its nether regions and more than a little money to pour into the development. 989 Sports, meanwhile, has to work with a little less in the license and funding department and still put out quality games. By and large they succeed, but still the impression lingered. So what did they do? 989 started over and pumped out a whole new franchise for a sport that gets overlooked in the states but is a huge seller overseas - soccer. Enter WTS 2002, a title that was surprisingly solid with replay value to match anybody else's offering. It wasn't as simulation perfect as other titles, certainly, but it was fun. That's what counts. Now the 2003 incarnation manages to integrate a more simulation feel without giving up any of the fun, and that means a title worth having on your shelf. Let's focus on what this new version adds to the mix. As far as game modes are concerned, a few new additions increase the replay factor, but of particular note is the new career mode. Customize the look and feel of a miserable school team. Win your way up the ladder to the professional level and then you can rack up some serious cash to use in buying and trading new players. It puts a bit of a challenge into it, requiring you to earn your way into the full team management options and it allows for individuals to dig into the depth without abdicating the fun party atmosphere of some friend-on-friend competition. Then there's the control mechanics, particularly the way goalies play and the way you track other players. As opposed to last year's version, the ball doesn't automatically go to the player in whatever direction you kick it. You'll have to line up your passes as well as your shots, but in a field as big as this one you'll have to track where your teammates are. There's an on-screen radar option, but you'll prefer arrows that point to where your off-screen compatriots are positioned. This is the kind of addition that every sports game should integrate as a no-brainer. Goalies, on the other hand, are hit and miss. Sometimes it's a bit easy to stick a ball past them. It's rare, but it's something that comes up. Most of the time however, these guys are realistic and block the shots they're supposed to it. It adds to the realism and keeps you from just blowing teams out 7 goals to zip (an oddity that cropped up in WTS 2002, though it was fun). Presentation-wise, the graphics are a spectacular cacophony of pitch perfect stadiums, solid player animations and overall TV-like visuals. The sound is just as good with a nice balance between all the elements, with the one exception being a lack of on-field audio mechanics. It would've been nice to get a better sense of what it sounded like to hear the players grunt and heave as they moved across the field. Still, this is presented as you would get it on TV, and that is a total success. The only failure is in the stat tracking, an area that is woefully inadequate. Some players won't care (I being one of them), but it is nice to be able to track these things. The storage capacity of next-gen consoles makes this an easy must, and 989 Sports would do well to emulate other franchises that feature stats galore. Then of course there's THQ's new offering, Pride FC a simulation of mixed martial arts fighting. This isn't pro-wrestling, nor is it boxing, nor is it Tekken-esque dueling, nor is it straight up street fighting. It's all of the above, with maybe a little less Tekken influence. Anybody who's watched no-holds barred fighting a la Ultimate Fighting Championship knows two things. It can be brutal. It can be short. That's pretty much the case with Pride FC, a solid simulation if there ever was one. The truth is, that may turn off some gamers. Sure, there's an incredible realism in the timing of this game. It's essentially the best simulation of mixed martial arts fighting on the market, but MMA is something that can literally last fifteen seconds or go for thirty minutes. In a game such as this, especially if you're not playing with two adept fighters who've mastered the art of timing, it's more likely to last in the seconds and not the minutes. For some, that will translate into fights ending so quickly you'll wonder when the fun was supposed to kick in. But for those of us who appreciate these kinds of games, and you know who you are, there's nothing better than Pride FC. The timing factor is spot on, and so subtle you could just as easily miss it. The graphics are solid, with blood being the only weak spot. Indeed the create-a-fighter option is so rich that you'll spend more time making your guy than fighting three or four fights with him. If you like that, count it as another plus here. Indeed, the bottom line is that Sony and THQ have come away with winning franchises here. It's just a matter of time before they become leaders in these niche genres.
PREVIEWS
Amplitude continues a musical trend Speaking of Sony's upcoming releases, two titles in particular are worth exploring. Amplitude, a sequel to the popular party game Frequency, may end up being the game you love despite yourself. Sure on the surface it strikes me as one of the worst of concepts. All you have to do is punch buttons on time to hit the triggers that unlock the various tracks in a song. Do it fast enough and you'll score huge points and get to the end of the song. Do it too slowly and you'll end up out of gas before the last chorus, assuming you hear the last chorus. Despite all of that, Amplitude grows on you much as its forbearer did. We're talking about one of the most popular party franchises out there, and so why not? Who can get the highest score? What's your favorite song on the disc? As musically oriented games go, there probably isn't anything better than Amplitude. Or at least, there won't be. The game is due out in mid-March. It's features include four difficulty levels, some pre-set DJs or "Freqs" and the option to customize your own. Then there's the music, featuring twenty songs from top artists including Garbage, Pink, and David Bowie. The soundtrack alone is probably worth a rental, but something tells me you'll buy it for those occasions when a crowd has gathered at su casa. Brad Pilcher bradpilcher@thedigitalbits.com

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