Actua Soccer 3

A very simplistic version of indoor soccer played against the computer or another player.

Actua Soccer Club Edition is a re-edition of Actua Soccer, released with the 20 teams of the English Premiership instead of international competitions. New commentary was recorded and some Premiership historical data was included. All remaining aspects of the game were unchanged or just tweaked. The rest of the game is well known to fans of the genre - it was the first fully polygonal football game on the market, which allowed an unprecedented graphical realism and (technically) unlimited camera angles.

Following the success of the first Actua Soccer game, a sequel was likely. The game is fast-paced with more of an action than simulation feel, and an emphasis on ground play rather than heading. A young Michael Owen provides motion capture to produce realistic player motions and actions - the different builds and styles of players are taken into account. 64 top international teams are featured, as are 24 distinct stadiums, with weather conditions having both visible and noticeable playing effects. This was one of the first games to feature 2-man commentary, with former England captain Trevor Brooking joining Barry Davies in the analytical role.

Stars 2001 (in either one of the F.A. Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga and LNF flavours) is the sequel and last title of the short run of EA's Stars series, a spin-off from the mainstay FIFA titles. Instead of digressing into several leagues, Stars focused on only one (giving each team individual kits and stadiums) and allows the player to improve his team by enhancing the players' abilities or in the transfer market. However, to do so, first the player has to win Star Points on the playing field - by scoring, not losing and having a clean sheet in both goals against and sending offs. Occasionally, there might be some Stars Challenges, which require the player to fulfill a task (scoring five goals, for instance), which will grant more star points, at the risk of possibly losing them if the requirements are not met. After the player completes a season (which includes the league, cup, European cup, international cup and legends match, against an all-time squad), the player can save the team, customize it and then play against other human-controlled custom team, the winner being able to select (well, steal) key players from the opposing team. Commentary is provided by Richard Keys, Martin Tyler, Clive Tydesley and Andy Gray. Music is provided by one of the leading record labels of the house music scene, Ministry of Sound.