Midway is known for its great arcade classics and recently it has been releasing a number of sports titles for the PS2 and thankfully the Xbox crowd will also get to chance to play them too. RedCard 20-03 is not just another soccer game--this one bends all the rules and offers a soccer game that’s beyond ordinary.   

Many of the world’s best teams are present and accounted for in the game’s long line-up and thankfully the list doesn’t end there (more on that later).  There are two different game modes you can take your favorite team through. Friendly Play is just a friendly game between two teams of your choice.  Advanced Play includes three different modes: World Conquest, Finals Mode and Tournament Mode.

World Conquest allows players to pick a team and take them through an entire season (it’s a long and brutal road to the World Cup and you‘ll see why). Finals Mode skips the entire season altogether and takes gamers straight to the playoffs (you lose here and you go straight back home). And finally Tournament Mode allows you to set up multiple teams in a competition where only one team remains standing.

RedCard’s controls are easy to get into and it forsakes the confusing controls seen in the more serious soccer games.  Here your players can activate Turbo and sprint across the field at an impossible speed. You can also head butt other players or make sliding tackles just as easily as the opponents can.  And speaking of opponents, the opponent AI is just too smart for its own good.  Sometimes the other players can guess the direction you are going and knock you down before you make your pass.

Although the game’s difficulty level can be changed, RedCard is still quite challenging in the Amateur setting.  To add to this, your opponents often get away with the most unusual things.  For instance, there are times when your goalkeeper can catch the trickiest of shots, but simple shots to the goal are sometimes missed.  It’s almost mind boggling how the opponent can easily deflect your super power kicks but totally not catch the weaker shots you happen to unleash.

The game’s visuals are not the game’s biggest attraction, although they are somewhat nicely done in certain places.  Backgrounds, for instance, look sharp and detailed especially when the game takes players beyond the usual boring stadiums. In fact, the game takes players to unusual locales such as Antarctica or a Martian base.  And player models, although sometimes cartoon-like in nature, move realistically . . . although you won’t find too many recognizable faces in the line up.

Unlike serious soccer titles, the sound effects in this game push more towards the arcade style rather than go for realism.  You won’t hear the crowds cheer or sing, but you will hear players taking a nasty tumble or the whistle of the referee when he happens to catch an infraction.  Instead you’ll hear blips when you activate Turbo and goals are met with a jovial music as well as the popping of a firework or two.  But the commentary, done by a two-man team, just repeats itself and offers little or no insight during the match or in the half time period.

RedCard 20-03 takes the sport of soccer into a whole new dimension and is arcade-styled sports action at its most fun.  While the graphics and the sound could have been handled a bit better, there is no denying that this is an entertaining title and a great party game.

Gameplay: 7.8
With a solid frame rate that moves the action along nicely, the action is aggressive and quick.  Thankfully the controls are not a complicated mess . . . although gamers will often make reasonable button mistakes.  You can configure the controls to your liking, though.

Moves such as Turbo give the game a neat little boost, as does the fact that you can switch off the referee and play by your own rules.  Yet nothing is as cool as pulling off specialty moves seen in a slow motion Matrix-styled action.  It sure beats the usual bicycle kick.

Graphics: 7.6
Imagine playing on an ice field in Antarctica and then imagine the surroundings and backgrounds to be smooth and nicely rendered.  RedCard isn’t a spectacular looking game but it’s decent enough to do the trick.  There are also five different camera views that bring you closer to the action. 

There are not a large number of recognizable players in the game (the UK’s David Beckham and the USA’s Brian McBride being among the few) but the players are rendered adequately.  They look especially good during close ups or when the slow motion specialty move is in action.

Sound: 7.2

Almost immediately gamers will notices the lack of realistic stadium sounds or anything else found in other soccer titles.  While the kicking and sliding tackle sounds are present and accounted for, mostly you’ll hear a number of odd sound effects (specifically when you’re using Turbo).  Thumping music is played in the Pause Menu screen and when either team makes a goal.

Skipping the elaborate televised-style coverage, the running commentary never focuses on specific players (or mentions the more notable players by name or position) or offers something resembling a play-by-play. However, and this wins big points in my book, the commentary language can be changed in the Option’s Menu from English to French, German, Italian or Spanish).  Oddly enough, the commentary is livelier in the other languages than they are in English.

Difficulty: Medium
Despite the fact that you can tone down the game’s difficulty, the game can be really challenging even in the Amateur setting.  The computer-controlled opponent is always a step ahead of you but not so much that it becomes really frustrating to put up with.    

Concept: 8.0
Midway has opted for an entirely new playing experience and keeps all of the things soccer fans love about the sport yet twisting it enough to give it a unique spin.  In this game the matches get, in the words of one of the commentators, truly aggressive.  It’s interesting to see players tackle and head butt everything from other players to the referee.

There are also many things to unlock that go beyond the players-with-a-big-head secrets.  There are a large number of strange settings to play in and interesting new teams such as playing as a swat team (in full riot gear and everything).  On the downside, though, the customize team option isn’t as cool as having a Create-A-Player option.  All you can really do is change a player’s name and jersey number. 

Multiplayer: 8.1
Sports games are a thrill to play against a group of friends and RedCard allows you to play a two-player match in practically any game mode available.  However, if you want to include, say, up to four players (you can choose sixteen in total), you could do it through Tournament Mode.  In this mode a group can select the teams of their choice and play through a process of elimination.  And with many secrets to unlock--including new stadiums and new teams--this is what party games are truly made of.

Overall: 7.6
While never taking itself seriously, RedCard 20-30 is one of those fast-paced arcade sports games that is hard to put down no matter what insane possibilities it throws at the player.  That alone is what gives this game its edge and a unique slant to this particular sport.