FIFA Street 2's newest features seem to fall in the realm of customizability and tricks. Players can create their own pitch from top to bottom. There are hundreds of different ways to tweak the playing field, including the ability to control surface textures. Soccer fans will also be able to create their own player and trick him out in over a thousand different features, from hair and shoes to accessories.
In regard to tricks, FIFA Street had the Trick Stick implemented into last year's gameplay. However, the sequel looks to heighten those abilities by adding new juggling moves into the fold. In Skills Challenge, players pick a superstar from a national team and execute a variety of maneuvers using the right analog stick. The computer calls out movesets, and players flick the stick in certain directions to achieve points. It's a little unwieldy to control at first, but eventually it gets fairly fun, although it still feels like a simple minigame at its core more than a full-on mode.
Gameplay is divided into three modes: Friendly, Rule the Street, and Skills Challenge. Friendly is a simple one-off game. Rule the Street is something of a career mode in which customized players join a squad and work toward international dominance. The aforementioned Skills Challenge allows players to test their trick skills.
The on-the-pitch play feels a little tighter than the year before, in which most of the tricks and moves were cool at first, but rapidly devolved into a one-trick pony before the game disc could get warm in the system. Passes and crosses feel easier to pull off, although one of the biggest issues with gameplay seems to be the goal targeting system, in which a ball carrier can target where he wants to hit the goal by aiming with the left stick. Unfortunately, the left stick is also used to move the player. It's an awkward function, but at this point in the production cycle, it's questionable whether or not it will be fixed before the game hits stores.
The Gamebreaker system from all of the Street games is still intact, with one of the newest features being the ability to shut down another team with one move. With an activated Gamebreaker, if a ball carrier can outpace the three members of the opposing squad and land a goal, the game is automatically considered a K.O. for the opposition. It's another new way of raising the stakes for gameplay.
