It’s a classic two-touch passing attack. The ball is laid forward to the striker, who receives the pass and touches it to the side. The midfielder is moving on a sprint. Takes the return and blasts it at the goal. Just when you expect to hear Luis Tapia’s prolonged cry of “goooooal,” the keeper levitates horizontally, snatching the ball from the air and curling around it as he hits the ground.

MLS ExtraTime 2002, an Xbox soccer (or football) game release from Konami and ESPN The Games, has superb animation, though the game is not always faithfully rendered.

It is difficult to move players to receive long balls from the keeper. They stand in one place and allow defenders to pass them and win the ball. The game also has some stability problems. One on occasion, the camera shifted down the field, with an attacker, one defender and goalkeeper fighting for the ball. After some gyrations, the camera was able to find the action (this is a follow cam – it is supposed to track the ball and action) down inside the six. The attacker was whacking at the ball, it dribbled a few feet and then stopped without anyone touching it. All three players converged on the ball and repeated the scenario. There were horizontal lines running out of the goalmouth across the screen. After three kicks (no control was allowed) the ball finally crossed the line, and the goal was awarded. The replay camera showed the same action, and video disruption. Once the ball was centered again, play resumed normally.

An international friendly between the United States and Russian has the play-by-play announcer (Jack Edwards) referring to the players by uniform number, not name. It gets very old to hear “3 to 9, back to 3, 1 has it, shoots, 1 has it and clears” over and over.

The game controls will take time to learn. Fortunately, this game includes a training session where you can practice your skills while a John McEnroe-sounding coach screams at you.

This is an option-rich program. There are more than 100 teams available, MLS as well as International squads and club teams. The camera is very well done, and the replays are amazing. You can stop the action and rotate the camera 360-degrees around the ball to view the play set-up from a variety of angles. The game features several different modes of play: match, MLS season, League (16 teams are selected and games are played in a round-robin match format), Cup (tournaments) and Scenario. In the latter, you are dropped into the middle of a game and given a certain task to accomplish – like scoring with a certain player. This is great for developing situational skills.

You can set your style of play, change formations, edit or create players and teams, substitute players in your lineups, make trades, and customize uniforms.

One very nice aspect is that this is one of the first games that seems to have gotten the off sides rule right.

The player animation is remarkable. Juggling, trapping, heading, bicycle kicks and slide tackles are incredibly well done. There is a tendency for some players to simply stand waiting for commands, though most do move with the flow of the game.

The game features analog shot control, meaning you can actually aim your shots. The game also delights in use of through balls, and options them well to the controls.

Environments are nicely rendered, and the lighting and weather effects are excellent.

Despite some minor flaws, this is good soccer program. The action is fluid and somewhat realistic, making this an enjoyable game to play.

This program is rated for Everyone.

Gameplay: 8
The action is fluid, and the replays are well managed. Some of the players don’t seem to have the reaction time of others, but that is the nature of the beast.

Graphics: 8.3
The animations are very realistic. This game doesn’t make use of lighting effects on the field very well, but the weather effects are well rendered.

Sound: 7
Calling a player by the number is understandable when it is a created player. It is also understandable when a team is meant to represent a nation or club, considering that rosters can change quickly. However announcing a game using only numbers is annoying after a quarter of the game. The sound effects (slide tackles, kicking the ball) are exactly what one would expect from this type of game.

Difficulty: 7
There is a learning curve of perhaps 30-40 minutes to understand the manipulations of the controls. The game features three difficulty settings, which should challenge any player.

Concept: 8
This game has a nice options package, and an incredible variety of teams.

Multiplayer: 8.8
The computer AI is quite good, but this game really takes off in multiplayer mode. The game will support up to four players.

Overall: 7.8
This is a solid game that has some stability problems but excellent overall animation. This may not be the “golden goal” of soccer games, but it definitely does find the net.