gawagaa

This game takes me right back to being 12, pleading with my Dad to bring back an Atari ST colour monitor from school (only had a mono screen), so that it could be a kick-off 2 weekend, using 3.5" floppy disks to save goal replays and endlessly trying to get better so that I could win a World Cup tournament.... For core gameplay, Revival delivers on the look & feel of the original Kick Off series, and evolves in certain areas, perhaps even to its detriment for some users, (the game mechanics being more analog & consequently more expressive – or more difficult depending on what side of the fence you sit) I do find some sympathy towards this and perhaps the controls could be refined or customised a little so that they're more intuitively picked up by first time users. I personally find the game hugely addictive & fun. Would I be saying that if I wasn't already emotionally invested in this game because of its legacy? perhaps, perhaps not. Like a dissonant musical chord this game is going to either rub some people completely the wrong way, while for others it will arouse enough intrigue to get over the initial 'this is a bit different' factor to find something beautiful underneath. Perhaps I'm naive in thinking that Revival has the potential to attract a new audience, ok it's never going to get a massive mainstream gamer audience, but all for the better, in an era of Internet subcultures, niche is hopefully still sustainable in some way or fashion. My main point is don't let the naysayers get you down, if you enjoyed the original Kick Off & Kick Off 2, there should be something for you here. If you're new to top down football games and want to dance a new dance, there should be something for you here. Most negative ratings seem to be from the release in June which patches have since addressed with more on the way. If the cash-grab criticism towards the developers of this game had any truth, support & active development would have died long ago. Shine on all you crazy Kick-off'ers