The main shortcoming of the original game was the lack of gameplay modes. After only a few hours the only reason to come back to the game was the multiplayer, so naturally the noticable addition in this sequel is the amount of different ways you can play the game of football. The actual gameplay hasn't changed at all though, which means the game is very arcadey and simplistic. It's as simple as X to pass, square to shoot and circle to long pass. The simplicity is beneficial to WTS2 because anybody can pick the game up and start scoring in only a few short moments. It seems at times that just about anything can happen in the game as well - we've scored headers whilst lying near the ground, curved shots in from seemingly impossible angles, and conceded an own goal by facing the wrong direction. This isn't frustrating though because it keeps the game feeling fresh. Nothing is impossible, but you're certainly not going to be able to score a goal by running in on the corner of the penalty box, ala FIFA '97.
More glitz but basically the same game.
Once the main menu loads up it's clear that Studio London has learnt a lot about the PSP in nine months. The game is better presented and even the main menu is a lot clearer. There are five gameplay options including Play Now, World Tour, Medal Mode, Exhibition and Multiplayer. Once again, the meat of the single player content is in the World Tour mode, which features matches that take place on six continents. Each match has a different challenge, and you won't only have to win the match but also satisfy the requirements of the challenge to progress. In total, there are ten different challenges that keep the game feeling different from your traditional soccer title. You play against a different nation every time, and you can choose any team you want to take them on with. Once you pass the challenge you will be awarded either a bronze, silver or gold medal. Aside from the World Tour mode there is also a medal challenge option. The Medal Challenge option features the ten different challenges with eight matches in each match type. The difficulty increases as you fulfil each challenge.
Whilst the ten different challenges are pretty self explanatory, they all help to add to the variation in the game. The ten challenges include; Classic Challenge, All Rounder, Shot Clock, The Zone, Totally Outnumbered, Time Attack, Challenge Plus, Pass Clock, Check Point, Player Tag. This means that even if you're five goals up, then you'll still be feeling pressure because you still have certain conditions to fulfil. The Totally Outnumbered challenge is a lot of fun, but all rounder requires you to pass to every player on the team before you can score, including the goalkeeper which becomes pretty frustrating.
Speaking of frustration, it becomes even worse when it comes to the multiplayer. The multiplayer is where the largest enhancements have been made for this follow-up, and the game supports four player ad-hoc as well as online multiplayer. A game share mode has also been included, but unfortunately it just includes a demo of the game for other players, rather than a quick fire soccer game which is a large disappointment. Aside from the obvious frustration that a multiplayer match provides (when you lose or when a certain Italian player falls down in an obvious dive for a penalty) the online multiplayer is unfortunately not as simple as it should be. Currently, there's only one lobby, and you need to have a network gaming handle to play online. This means you need to visit yourpsp.com and sign up. However, whilst signing up you need to enter a network access code, so what should have been a quick connection turns into a twenty minute ordeal, or longer if you can't find your network access code. The online lobbies were pretty barren as well, it seems like World Cup fever hasn't caught on in this game just yet though which is a little disappointing.
You'll be scoring a lot...
The developers of World Tour Soccer 2 have also secured the FIFPro license, which means that all the real player names are in the game, so you will be playing as Beckham rather than Backdamn. The developers haven't stopped there though, and the attributes of each player are used to full effect, so when you're in control of Viduka you're much more likely to score a goal than if you're shooting with Emerton. Ironically enough, the first player to recieve a yellow card in my team was Lucas Neill, so maybe the developers had a little foresight in that respect. The team stats are up-to-date as well, with each team receiving a five star ranking according to their skill. Just in case you're wondering, Australia is ranked four stars and England is given five stars (bit of an over rating for both teams in retrospect). There are seventy one nations represented in this game, which is a downgrade over the 245 teams that were in the original game, but this is what happens when you focus more on the World teams rather than club teams.
Each player also looks relatively similar to their real life counterparts. Graphically the game hasn't really been upgraded that much, the stadiums have a bit more detail and the animations are a little more advanced but the game looks very similar to it's predecessor. The sound effects are pretty standard which is pretty much what you expect from a soccer title. It seems like the commentator mentions the name of every single player at some point though which is quite extraordinary, by a quick calculation we'd say that's about 800 names at least that were recorded. The commentary has improved overall and the commentator makes a few more statements about the challenges of the match. The crowd gets quite involved whether your team is winning or not though, which is a bit surprising.
Not a guaranteed goal...
There is plenty more content in this game than in the original game. There are thirty three achievements to unlock which range from scoring a hat trick in a game to beating a player online. If you manage to achieve all of these requirements then you will unlock all star teams for each of the continents and an all star global team. Aside from this the World Tour mode is lengthy and trying to get gold on every challenge could take months. The multiplayer aspect of the game could keep things refreshing, but only if the game becomes more popular online.
World Tour Soccer 2 is an arcade soccer game through and through. It is perfect for the PSP because the matches are less than ten minutes long and there is a lot of variation in the game play types. However, if you're looking for a deep simulation game then this isn't the soccer game for you. If you take it for what it is then World Tour Soccer 2 will provide a lot of entertainment. A worthy follow up.
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