Sven Goran Eriksson's World Challenge - PlayStation

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Sven Goran Eriksson's World Challenge (PlayStation)
Also for: PC, PS2
Viewed: Combination Combination Genre:
Strategy: Management
Sport: Football - Soccer
Arcade origin:No
Developer: Anco Software Soft. Co.: Anco Software
Publishers: 3DO Studios (GB)
Released: 24 May 2002 (GB)
Ratings: 3+
Accessories: Analogue JoyPad, Memory Card
Features: Vibration Compatible

Summary

From Anco, the genius behind many a football management sim, including the Alex Ferguson Player Manager series, Sven Goran Eriksson's World Challenge delivers a whole new experience to 3D football games by delivering super-fast game play with one of the simplest player control settings, making it easy to pick up, and hard to put down.

Available for your delectation just in time for the start of the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea, the coolest Swede in Britain (yes, that includes Ljungberg, Larsson and Ulrika-ka-ka) gets behind this 3DO-published festival of football. Eriksson wouldn’t put his name to any old soccer title: he has far too much integrity, and anyway, he’s far too cool to do something so short-sighted. The Sven-dorsed World Challenge for Psone does not disappoint. Anco and the man himself have vast footballing knowledge and experience, and despite World Challenge not being strictly a management game, the developers have come up with a winner.

Herein lies an authentic recreation of the World Cup tournament, including qualification stages as well as the lucky 32 who made it through to the finals, the former feature being something gamers have missed out on this time around with certain other recent World Cup-based offerings. If the mood takes you, then you can take the Ivory Coast to the finals after all!

All the stadia that play host to the matches throughout the finals are featured, all lovingly recreated in great detail. The control system in-game is a delight to use, and there are some neat touches you can utilise when your team is in possession of the ball, such as through-balls, ‘the ball over the top’, and a super-sensitive after-touch feature when unleashing a shot which can make your goal scoring feats more spectacular than ever.

3DO have timed the release of Sven Goran Eriksson's World Challenge nicely, coming as it does in the second half of May 2002. It makes an ideal warm-up for the real competition, and is such a fine game that, like the PlayStation’s Road to the World Cup 98, will last for a long time after Summer 2002 has gone.

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