RedCard 20-03

"Probably the only game where you can kick the referee in the face..."

Introduction

Red Card is a soccer game, but with a twist. The general idea of this game is to kick, punch and elbow each other senseless, then quickly run towards the goal and kick in the ball using an extremely cool move. Sounds odd? Well, it is. This is the first soccer game by Midway, and they've gone all out to make sure it's not your average game too!

Gameplay

The game isn't easy. It requires a whole new tactic to play, as most gamers aren't used to the excessive amounts of kicking and punching in this game. Usually, in a soccer game, one passes the ball around, waits for an opening and worries about the tactics. None of all that in this game, as it is very well possible to walk forward, karate-kick another player in the head, steal the ball and somersault-kick the ball in the goal. This takes away one layer of skill (tactics, passing), but also adds another (tackling, evading tackles). Evading tackles is very important here, as it will be what you'll be doing most (besides from stealing the ball back). This isn't very hard, as there's an evade-button, which brings us to the next important thing of this game: the Turbo. With this, it is possible to add extra power to the move you're currently making. Shots at goal go through the keeper, tackles become karate-kicks and pushes become headbutts. These Turbos are limited, as there is a Turbo Bar, which slowly fills up over time. If you manage to hit someone with a Turbo, changes are he's disabled for a while, which makes it easier for you to score.

The controls of this game aren't easy to learn, as there appear to be not enough buttons on the controller. Z is used for shooting, which also seems like an odd choice; the A or B button would be a more logical choice. Sometimes your fingers will be tied in a knot because of the frantic and fast gameplay, but you will learn it eventually. Luckily it is possible to manually choose which button does what, but the controls will never be perfect.

The main selling part of this game is obviously the violence, which is actually pretty good. There are many different kicks, punches and dirty moves to pull off, and they look and sounds realistic enough. With the Turbo, the moves get even more brutal and more fun, but even this can't stop the game from getting a bit boring after a while. You'll have seen all the moves, played a few matches and when you take away the violence, all that's left is an average soccer game at best. You can't aim when taking corners, you can't aim when taking free kicks (!) and when you're in possession of the ball, you can't even properly aim your shot. This is a huge flaw in the game. Sure, it isn't meant as a serious soccer simulation, but they could've added a bit more depth than just the violence. All that happens now is waiting for a full Turbo, go to the goal and shoot the Turbo shot (which goes in a lot of the times).

6/10
An original and fun idea, but too many flaws for a higher score.

Graphics/Sound

The game's graphics are better than I expected. The introduction movie, the players, the field and the stadiums all look very impressive. The moves of the players (which is one of the important things) is great and the way hit players fall down is very realistic. The menus, even if not very important, look polished and nice. The way a special Turbo move is executed is also done nicely; you sometimes get a slowmotion “Matrix-style” move, which looks pretty cool. No complaints here.

The sound of the game is another story. Seeing as this is a soccer game, there's no music during the matches. The menus have some tunes, but expect nothing diverse or exciting. The commentators of the matches are actually pretty nice to listen to and it takes quite a while to get bored with them. The sound effects sound pretty good. The slidings, shots and tackles sound like they should sound, but there's nothing extremely good about them. The crowd cheers with you as something exciting happens and sometimes sings some encouragement songs, which is a nice addition.

7/10
Great graphics, but a bit above average sound

Play Time/Replayability
There really isn't a lot to do in the game. You can play a quick friendly match (against a friend or the computer), you can try to complete the World Conquest Mode (in which you can unlock all kinds of stuff; this mode isn't easy!), play a tournament and build your own team. There's no competition to play here, which is a real miss. However, the main question is “will you be bored with this game before you've done everything?”. I think you will be. You'll probably play it a few times (with or without a friend), laugh about the cool moves and then go off to play another game, never to take out this one again. Unless you're the type of person who desperately needs to unlock everything in a game, I seriously doubt this one will last you longer than 2 weeks before you throw it in the closet. You'll probably only play this when you have a friend over and want to play a simple, fast game.

4/10
Not much to do and little incentive to replay.

Final Recommendation
The reason I bought this game was because it only set me back 9 euros. I strongly advise against picking it up at the full price. It's a fun game to play for a few minutes with a friend, or when you're a bit angry and want to relieve your stress. It's not worth much as a game though. It's too bad, because it's an original idea. If only they could've executed it a bit better…

Final Score: 6/10

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 03/08/05