With the Euro’s over, the start of the new season over a month away and Fifa 13 not out until the end of September; football is hard to come by over the summer period. So why not hit the streets with EA sports Fifa Street. This is the fourth instalment of the Fifa Street series which was first introduced in 2005 and the last Fifa Street title released was four years ago. So it goes without saying that this game was quite highly anticipated by the fans of the series and also bought up quite a bit of interest for new fans as the previous titles had not done that well compared to the mainstream Fifa series but as the series has developed, the expectations of all their titles released under the Fifa brand has increased.

The game features all the teams from the English Premier League, German Bundesliga, French Ligue 1, Spain’s La Liga, Italian Serie A and the American MLS. On top of this they have a selection of 20 international teams to choose from. All of these teams of licensed and feature both the home and away kits as well as extra Fifa Street kits that are more casual then the official team shirts. There are many different game modes including 5-a-side, 6-a-side, Futsal, Panna rules, Last Man Standing and even customer games where you can choose your own rules. 5-a-side and 6-a-side are very easy to understand and play, the objective is like a normal football match, to score as many goals as you can, however you earn skill points for performing tricks and beating an opponent. Futsal is similar to the previous two modes however in Futsal you don’t have walls to around you so you have to make sure you don’t run the ball out of play. Last man standing is a simple game mode to play in which you have to score a goal in a smaller goal that doesn’t have a keeper protecting it, each time you score a goal, you lose a player. The objective is to be the first team to score with every player. Finally, Panna rules, this is probably the most skill based mode on the game. This goal you earn points by beating players with skill moves but you have to bank your points by scoring a goal and if the other team scores before you then you lose all of your skill points. You get 1 point for beating an opponent, 2 points for an air beat and 3 points for a panna or “nutmeg” you also then get an extra point for the goal you score. You have to spin, step, move, wiggle and leave your opponent on the floor as you skip past them towards the goal to earn points.

The game features a new “Street ball control” ability which can be used to draw defenders to you by doing skill moves on a stationary ball before going out of the street ball control mode and using standard skill to get past them. Fifa Street does not have the same type of career mode that the main Fifa titles offer. It does however have “World Tour” mode. In this mode you create your own team, choosing name, kits and colours, badge, and players. You can create yourself and friends in the game and start your journey to become the best street team in the game. You will play a variety of different game modes with the world tour career and you will also enter into competitions and take on some of the best in that area of the world. For each match you play and the amount of “beats”, “air beats” and “pannas” you get you will earn XP for each player you have created for your team. You will use this to unlock better skill moves, special moves and also to upgrade their athleticism, defending, dribbling, goalkeeping, passing, shooting and speed. You can also download your friend’s footballer to have in your team if they have played Fifa Street themselves. The more you play it, the better your players become. In other Fifa titles you couldn’t use a created team in a ranked match online. In this one you can, you can use your created team to take on people all around the world. The game has a similar online league system to that of Fifa 12 in that you earn promotion up the divisions by winning matches. But be sure to upgrade your players as best you can in World Tour mode before attempting the online modes. Overall, Fifa Street is very fun and enjoyable to play against your friends and people online. The career mode and Xbox live matches linking is a good added bonus as its great fun testing your ability with a squad you have build and created from scratch. Fifa Street is available now for Play Station 3 and Xbox 360.

Review in association with Duracell Gaming Accessories, which are available from Amazon, Play.com and Zavvi.com Review by Thomas Thompsett, White Room Games.