The Dominator reviews All Star Soccer for Sony Playstation
Distributed by
Eidos Interactive Limited
Price: £39.99
Players : 1-8 (more than two players will require a Multi-tap controller)
Memory Card required
All Star Soccer
Dazzle your opponents with quick-footed silky skills, annoy them with your
elaborate celebrations and dish out your retributions when the ref's not
looking...
This game gives you the chance to lovingly create your ultimate All Star Squad.
Create your players, create your tactics, create your identity and don't forget
to colour the players' boots !
Soccer is a funny old game, of two halves, where heroes are made and dreams
are shattered.
Playing the Game
All Star Soccer is an average football game mixed with an excellent array
of options and facilities to alter every degree of your custom-designed team,
as well as the usual throw-ins, penalties and tackles, plus commentary
impressions from Alistair McGowan.
Controlling your players
The player nearest the ball will be under your control, and as shown in the
screenshot above, he will have a circle around him indicating this. There are
control methods for with and without the ball.
Control System with Ball :
TRIANGLE - Tap TRIANGLE to chip the ball. Press TRIANGLE to perform high kick.
Holding down TRIANGLE increases power of high kick.
CIRCLE - Tap CIRCLE to pass to nearest player (in the direction the player is
facing). Hold CIRCLE for longer passes.
CROSS - Tap CROSS for short low kick. Holding down CROSS increases power of low
kick.
SQUARE - Hold SQUARE to increase player speed.
DIRECTIONAL PAD - After Touch - top spin, back spin, left/right swerve. After a high/low
kick you can apply after touch using the Directional buttons (relative to the
direction of ball flight).
Control System without Ball :
TRIANGLE - Hold TRIANGLE to perform header/diving header when ball is in the air.
Holding down TRIANGLE increases power of header.
CIRCLE - Tap CIRCLE to perform sweeping tackle. Hold CIRCLE to perform sliding
tackle when ball is on the ground. If ball is in the air, holding CIRCLE will
move player into position and control the ball.
CROSS - Hold CROSS to perform volley/overhead kick when ball is in the air.
Holding down CROSS increases power of volley/overhead kick.
SQUARE - Hold SQUARE to increase player speed.
DIRECTIONAL PAD - Pressing a direction aims headers/volley.
After Touch - top spin, back spin, left/right swerve. After a header/volley
kick you can apply after touch using the Directional buttons (relative to the
direction of ball flight).
R1/R2 - Select nearest player.
Options
One big bonus of this game is the mass of options available to the player,
all described below.
Main Menu
From here you can customise your team (see View Squad ), go to the Game
Play screen, alter the Game Type (choose between Friendly, Cup, League,
Custom Cup and Custom League ), load/save settings, go to Sound and Vision
screen, or go to Select Teams screen.
Select Team
Your team is selected by using the directional buttons, and then appointing the
team selected to the player number, or designating it as a computer player,
depending on the number of players taking part. The computer will add random
teams to make up the required number of teams for cup competitions.
Once done, you can move to the Fixtures team.
Fixtures
This screen shows the fixtures for the next round of league/cup matches, and
the current league tables. You can save your current position before continuing
to the Environment screen.
Environment
Available only when playing a friendly match.
1. Random environment.
2. Weather conditions (Dry/Fog/Rain/Snow).
3. Select Stadium.
4. Referee Type (Lenient/Normal/Strict).
5. Continue - go to Controls screen.
Controls
This screen allows you to change the button configuration of the Controller
and assign which Team/Players are controlled by which Controller. You can
control the whole team or any number of players in a team, up to 11. Any
combination of Users can control any combination of players.
Game Play
In this section you can choose whether to have Extra time, No extra time or
a Golden Goal shootout, alter the length of the game (5/10/20/30/60/90 minutes),
control the strictness of the referee, choose a continous clock or time for
stoppages, and toggle the following options on/off : Offside, Bookings, Injuries,
Penalties, Fouls, and Violence.
Sound And Vision
On this screen you can toggle replays on or off, and adjust the volume for
the Presenter, Music, Sound Effects, Crowd and Commentator.
One other useful feature is to alter the camera angle of the pitch. A choice
of eight camera angles allows side-on, diagonal, or direct third-person
viewpoints of the game. I prefer the latter, and after half-time, instead of
having to play down the pitch, you can turn the pitch 180 degrees and continue
playing up the pitch.
View Squad
This option allows you to customise any aspect of your squad. You can assign
attribute stars to an individual player, swap a player with a substitute or
customise a player.
By customising your team, you can alter the kit design, the look of each player
in your team, including making them look like Eric Cantona, and the team's
formation tactics.
Gameplay Tips
To run faster when in position of the ball, tap the low kick button (CROSS)
to knock the ball in front of you.
The best form of defence is to stand off from your opponent and not to
commit yourself to a slide tackle unless you're certain of winning the ball.
You can't win the ball if you're lying on the ground. Players automatically
back-off from opponents when in range, so use this to your advantage by forcing
them to make a move or deliver a well-timed tackle when in position. Tackling
from behind rarely escapes the ref's attention.
When the ball is on the ground, holding down TRIANGLE or CROSS as your
player runs onto the ball will make him kick it first time.
Scoring more goals than your opponent is the best way of winning.
Graphics, Sound and Playability
The graphics are very colourful, and move just as you'd expect for a football
game, with the added bonus of flashy camera pans as goal kicks, throw-ins,
free kicks and penalities occur, all with no slowing down of speed.
The sound is nothing major to write home about, but sets the mood well,
and the highlight are the commentary impressions from Alistair McGowan, my
favourites being Stuart Hall, Graham Taylor and the bad jokes from Eric Cantona.
Playability is superb once you get used to little things like the after-touch,
receiving the ball from the goalkeeper, and passing WITHOUT losing it to another
player...again! :)
The game retains all the aspects of playability you'd want included, although
for me it seemed to start off hard, but then I put that down to me being not
very good at football games. Looks like I'll just have to keep practising...
Overall
Overall, if you like to play a football game with more options than you'll be
able to make use of in a lifetime, are not bothered about games chock-full of
facts and real-life information, and want that humorous touch that no other
football game provides, then this one is for you.
I'm not a particular fan of football in the real world, and my main experience
of football games has been limited to Sensible Soccer and Kick Off
so I didn't think this one would be for me, but after a great deal of playing
with it, it seems to logical follow-up - a game also that doesn't try to be
clever, and makes you laugh at the same time.
Now all I ask is for Eidos to make a game based on the classic TV gameshow,
It's a Knockout and bring back Alistair McGowan to do the Stuart Hall
impressions!
If you're after some more info on Eidos's games, you can check out their
official Website at
www.eidosinteractive.com
Graphics : 4/5
Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1997.
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