Games Database
PlayStation
Sport: Football - Soccer
| Also for: | PS2, Xbox | ||
| Viewed: | 3D Combination | Genre: | Sport: Football - Soccer |
| Arcade origin: | No | ||
| Developer: | Rage | Soft. Co.: | Rage |
| Publishers: | Rage
(GB) |
Released: | 23 Nov 2001
(GB) |
| Ratings: | 3+ | ||
| Accessories: | Analogue JoyPad, Memory Card, Multi Tap | ||
Video
Summary
When Rage inked the deal with free kick specialist and unofficial 'hardest-working man in football', David 'Becks' Beckham, it did so at a very prudent moment in the Sarf Londoner's career.
The game was not given much external attention, aside from the general sneering that seemed to accompany everything David Beckham did at the time. Then he played very, very well against Germany in the World Cup qualifiers, and the entire country was suddenly queuing up to tell whoever would listen, how great a player he or she thought the England captain was. Rage immediately doubled its mastering order for the game and suddenly, the relatively low profile game (when compared to Beckham’s other exploits) was splashed all over the mainstream news.
Now you may or may not know this, but Rage has a history of making successful soccer games. FIFA ’97 for the SNES and UEFA Striker and Striker 96 for PSone were all produced in Liverpool at Rage Studios.
David Beckham Soccer is a cross between an arcade football title and a virtual fanzine-cum-scrapbook. Let’s deal with the latter of the two first. Rage has included a wealth of information about the player. Full career history, lots of pictures, interviews and profiles are all included. There is also a feature called ‘Train With Beckham’ that enables players to follow the man through his daily workout.
There are Career, Friendly and Arcade modes to set you off playing, with Arcade mode comprising of a series of challenges, including a beat-em-up style Survival mode and a beat Brazil mode. The gameplay itself is akin to Electronic Arts’ FIFA games. Arcade quick-fix playability has taken precedence over a drawn out simulation, and the end result has met up to the initial brief well. In this game, scoring wonder goals from 35 yards is as frequent as a well-constructed, flowing, passing move on goal. Both playing styles suit, and thus David Beckham Soccer accommodates both types of gamers.
The game has lively commentary from Jonathan Pearce, interlaced with Ron Atkinson’s impressively surrealistic interludes. Our favourite quote from Ron is “They’ve gone one down meaning that they’ll have to chase the game and try and equalise.” Brilliant Mr. Atkinson, just brilliant!
Graphically the game holds up well, and is as good an example of a last generation PlayStation sports title that you will find. The menu operating system is unique to the game, which is frustrating at first but takes little time to master. Rage has opted for a system that is browser-led, with square button for ‘back’ and circle button for ‘forward’, as opposed to the standard ‘X’ for yes, ‘square’ for no and ‘triangle’ for back.
David Beckham Soccer is quite simply a must for fans of the man himself. It has everything you could ever want to know about his career to date, and succeeds in making the gamer feel part of Becks’ world. As a football game it plays pleasingly and delivers a dose of spectacular football magic in record time.
This is David Beckham’s signature game after all!
Key Features
The game was not given much external attention, aside from the general sneering that seemed to accompany everything David Beckham did at the time. Then he played very, very well against Germany in the World Cup qualifiers, and the entire country was suddenly queuing up to tell whoever would listen, how great a player he or she thought the England captain was. Rage immediately doubled its mastering order for the game and suddenly, the relatively low profile game (when compared to Beckham’s other exploits) was splashed all over the mainstream news.
Now you may or may not know this, but Rage has a history of making successful soccer games. FIFA ’97 for the SNES and UEFA Striker and Striker 96 for PSone were all produced in Liverpool at Rage Studios.
David Beckham Soccer is a cross between an arcade football title and a virtual fanzine-cum-scrapbook. Let’s deal with the latter of the two first. Rage has included a wealth of information about the player. Full career history, lots of pictures, interviews and profiles are all included. There is also a feature called ‘Train With Beckham’ that enables players to follow the man through his daily workout.
There are Career, Friendly and Arcade modes to set you off playing, with Arcade mode comprising of a series of challenges, including a beat-em-up style Survival mode and a beat Brazil mode. The gameplay itself is akin to Electronic Arts’ FIFA games. Arcade quick-fix playability has taken precedence over a drawn out simulation, and the end result has met up to the initial brief well. In this game, scoring wonder goals from 35 yards is as frequent as a well-constructed, flowing, passing move on goal. Both playing styles suit, and thus David Beckham Soccer accommodates both types of gamers.
The game has lively commentary from Jonathan Pearce, interlaced with Ron Atkinson’s impressively surrealistic interludes. Our favourite quote from Ron is “They’ve gone one down meaning that they’ll have to chase the game and try and equalise.” Brilliant Mr. Atkinson, just brilliant!
Graphically the game holds up well, and is as good an example of a last generation PlayStation sports title that you will find. The menu operating system is unique to the game, which is frustrating at first but takes little time to master. Rage has opted for a system that is browser-led, with square button for ‘back’ and circle button for ‘forward’, as opposed to the standard ‘X’ for yes, ‘square’ for no and ‘triangle’ for back.
David Beckham Soccer is quite simply a must for fans of the man himself. It has everything you could ever want to know about his career to date, and succeeds in making the gamer feel part of Becks’ world. As a football game it plays pleasingly and delivers a dose of spectacular football magic in record time.
This is David Beckham’s signature game after all!
Key Features
- Hidden teams hand-picked by David Beckham himself
- Unique David Beckham Training mode to perfect your skills
- Awesome super-stadiums with realistic crowd atmosphere
- Intuitive control system for beginners and expert users alike
- Comprehensive mix of modes for shot and long-term users
- Fluid motion-captured player animation
- Accurate new set-play system for free kicks and corners
- Realistic in-game commentary, supplied by Ron Atkinson and Channel 5’s Jonathan Pearce
