Previews

Posted by: jkdmedia

E3 2006 Hands On Preview

The final was England 1, Australia 0.

Was the dev member taking it easy on the journalist, or was the game so intuitive as to be easy to dive into and play? Or has the journalist spent too many hours playing other console soccer titles, and thus had a sense of tactics?

More importantly, does any of that matter? The answer to the latter is no – it doesn’t matter at all.

Codemasters was showing off Sensible Soccer 2006 on the PlayStation 2 console system during E3 (the Electronic Entertainment Expo) in Los Angeles. Offered the chance to play a dev member, hands eagerly reached out for the controller and the fast-paced action.

The game itself uses big-headed characters, has no licenses but more than 300 different international teams and clubs with 50 different preset competitions. The original title was built for the Amiga system, and while the current skew is on current-generation console, it was rather fun to play.

The control scheme is simple, with the O and X buttons used for passing, tackling and shooting, while the R1 button is the sprint (yes, each player has a stamina bar that appears over their heads), and the left analog stick controls movement, directional passing and after-touch controls that will allow players to bend the ball as it moves through the air.

This is arcade-style football action at a fun level, to be certain.

The game looked light and fun, the action was briskly paced and the game controls were intuitive. In other words, it is well suited to either the veteran console football player or the first-time gamer.

The game’s graphics were not its strongest suit; that would be reserved for the play mechanics.

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