New Star Soccer 4

Before I begin writing my prose here (I’d shy away from the word review, because I don’t intend to reach any conclusion other than, hopefully, to pique your curiosity), head over to the New Star Soccer homepage and download the trial. Actually, if the word ‘soccer’ in the title immediately fills you with horror (and not because it’s what our American cousins would call a kick-about) then ignore that. Let’s simplify: if you like football, go download the very generous trial. Give it a fair go, and then if you like it, do cough up the cash and support the indie community.

All done? Right, let’s begin. In the early days of football games, they were always very easy to pick up and play. It didn’t matter if your tactical understanding was so limited that condiments were a useful learning aid with the offside rule – you could be doing mazy dribbles the length of the pitch with insulting ease. Then Pro Evo came along and the genre became more realistic, and the most recent incarnations of FIFA make anything but a slow build up of attack a difficult way to go.


And yet the first time your avatar takes the field in New Star Soccer 4 and tries to take the ball round someone, they’ll be dispossessed depressingly easily. You probably won’t see much of the ball for the rest of the match either, and you can imagine a lot of folks giving up in total disgust. It’s a good test actually – if you’re the kind of person to find this utterly defeating, then you should leave now. For those who are determined to prove their virtual manager’s faith in them was justified, it’s back to the training ground to level up the skills. And that’s part of the game by the way – you level up your skills by practicing shooting, running between cones and passing to markers. It’s a remarkable mix of RPG grinding with sports game in such a daring way that would never be attempted by a mainstream release – in part because it isn’t always 100% enjoyable and it’s not even 50% glamorous.


If it’s not already clear, this isn’t a game where you take control of the whole team – your responsibility is for your avatar alone. Impress the boss in training and on the pitch and you’ll be in the starting lineup – start slacking off or being a bad-boy party animal and it’ll be back to the reserves with you. While recent FIFA games have included a similar ‘Be a Pro’ mode, this is the full package, and probably gives a more realistic simulation of what it must be like trying to break into a professional football club’s first team – tricky, and frustrating with very few chances to make an impression.


But when you do – when you do, it’s incredibly rewarding. When your first goal goes in, you’ll feel like you’ve really worked for it, and suddenly the full price retail football games feel a lot more artificial.


It has its downsides, of course – not just that it’s a bit of a closed book to new-comers. It’s quite pricy for a download only game (though fully deserving) and of course they can’t afford for proper FIFA style licencing, so be prepared for every copyrighted name, from players and clubs to stadia, to be spelled slightly wrong. The engine naturally isn’t as polished as the latest console offering either, with passes often going astray and team-mates behaving with all the co-ordination and finesse of a future Paul Gascoigne.


But you can forgive its rough-around-the-edges approach. FIFA feels like the premiership – lots of money, lots of superficial extras, very flash and impressive but missing a certain soul. NSS4 has that soul in bucket-loads – it feels more like Sunday league stuff – lacking some of the skill and glamour, but a solid, genuine and enjoyable contender. Now get installing that trial.

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