When Konami says things like, "We have the best soccer engine in the world," you have to at least pay attention. Now, given that that soccer engine is the world-renowned ISS engine, you also have to take the claim seriously. But when that engine is attached to ESPN MLS ExtraTime you also have to ask yourself, "Why?" The MLS is nice enough, but even MLS fans are more interested in International Soccer than the 12-team little ball of cuteness that is the Major League Soccer organization. That said, this is still going to give FIFA a run for its money in the graphics and gameplay stakes.
The game features gloriously fluid player animation with over 500 individual character animations -- which means turns, sliding tackles and even dramatic penalty dives are all seamlessly incorporated into the action. The players move smoother than a liquid butter limbo dancer sliding under a bed made of lard. And that's awfully smooth.
The MLS license is obviously limited by the number of teams available to play, but it does feature good players, and if you don't like them, you can always create your own with a full-featured player customization mode. Apart from tweaking their abilities (naturally there's a limited skill "budget"), you can also make them as pretty as you like.
In fact, the ESPN license plays as big a part as the MLS -- with ESPN announcer Bob Ley providing play-by-play commentary, along with in-game graphics, interfaces and menus that provide statistical information contributed by the ESPN MLS ExtraTime broadcast team. Add to that the fully integrated bilingual commentary -- English from Bob and Spanish commentary by Louis "Goooooaaaaallllllll" Tapia. Buena, no?
Although the game engine features multiple pass systems, realistic animation, separate ball/player physics and individual zone/man assignments, it's the pacing and fluidity of the passing game that really separates it from the pack. It's simply a dream to control, something that's enhanced dramatically using Dual Shock2 controllers. And to top it all, if you don't like the MLS, you can always play international squads with fake player names. We can't wait for the final version.
