World Tour Soccer (PSP) Review

Sony's made sure that its PSP launch lineup covers all genres, and developer 989 is leading the sports charge. Unfortunately, its charge is nothing more than running across a field into a tree (because NBA and Gretzky are very average games), but at the very least its World Tour Soccer turned out all right. Not only does it play a mean game of soccer/football/whatever the hell this sport's really called, but it looks fantastic as well. Sadly, some nagging flaws and mind boggling omissions keep this one from winning the World Cup.

World Tour Soccer (or WTS) comes up lacking multiple times. It lacks a career mode. It lacks game modes in multiplayer. Hell, it even lacks some players! To add insult to injury, multiplayer can be a little laggy, and the AI is for the most part stupid to the point where you can go coast to coast without anyone coming out to stop you. Also, there really isn't much in the way of commentary in this game, as the announcer's vocabulary is fairly limited.

The good news is that even with all of these complaints I found myself coming back to WTS and for good reason. Despite the fact that the AI is a bit moronic the game's a lot of fun to play. 989 did a nice job with the in-game presentation. The crowd sounds fantastic and the graphics, while not as polished as they should've been, are still easy on the eyes. Player as well as stadium detail is decent, and the animations aren't too shabby.

To compensate for the lack of a career mode 989 tossed in some really cool options and unlockables. There's the standard quick game (where the computer randomly picks the teams for you), Exhibition (where you have more control over the match options), and there are several cup modes that allow you to earn tokens used to unlock numerous teams and other goodies. Lastly, there's a challenge mode where you can earn points (that can be used to unlock even more cool stuff) by playing flawless soccer, so you'll earn high marks for making excellent passes and performing various maneuvers.

Unfortunately there aren't many actual challenges in this mode, but when combined with everything else that WTS has to offer the absence of a career mode isn't a big deal, especially since this game was designed for portable play. You can turn on your PSP, jump into a game, and then hop out and get on with your day.

Like most PSP games, WTS's wi-fi mode is for the most part a very enjoyable experience. Setting up two-player games is a breeze, and although I noticed a little lag during matches it didn't really lessen the fun I was having.

World Tour Soccer isn't a bad game at all, but its lack of features definitely hold it back, not as much if it were the only PSP soccer game out there, but with EA's FIFA prepared to kick its way onto the hand held in the coming weeks chances are 989's latest is fighting a losing battle. If you absolutely positively need a soccer game right this second World Tour's a solid purchase, but if you wait just a bit more you'll probably have a much better product in your hands.