If you're looking for a game that's well worth the money and is so addicting you can't stop playing it, get this.
You start out as a 16 year old with the world at your feet. You can customise your character's name, nickname, hair, body, skin and boot colour. You must then pick a club out of the hundreds that the fans on www.newstarsoccer.com contribute. The database itself is incredibly accurate and is regularly updated to accomodate transfers and leaving players. The next stage of the game is the trial, in which you must use a Sensational-Soccer-based engine to accomplish certain tasks and build the base of your skills (from physical things like pace, tactical ones like positioning, other attributes like flair and then the main skills; passing, heading, shooting, set pieces, tackling and dribbling). Now that you're in a club, it's time to play.
The interface is entirely user friendly and you can change options at any time should you feel the need for a joystick, new controls or a higher difficulty. From this interface you must train up your skills, be popular with your friends, family, team-mates and boss and generally manage your life. You can get a high profile in the media which results in you gaining sponsors to boost your bank account. With this money, you can go gambling, buy houses and flash cars, or buy people presents. As you go along, with time you'll get a girlfriend, who you can marry and even start a family with. The possibilities are amazing and every so often a scenario will occur, when you will have to choose between one thing or another. Each has it's consequences and benefits, but some are downright sneaky.
Once you feel you've trained up enough, it's time to impress the boss. Occasionally you'll get a game, in which you'll have to take your chance or else stay on the subs' bench. If you manage to cement a place in the starting line-up, either as a defender, midfielder or striker, you can take on the world. Guide your club to new heights, win the world cup, become world player of the year and become an international superstar; this game allows every person who dreamed of becoming a footballer to live that dream.
The match engine isn't perfect, but it is still playable, nor are the graphics or sound, but this game is truly a special one. The amounts of stuff you can do is incredible, and to top it off, the game's writer, Simon Read, is always active on his forums, taking on board suggestions and always releasing content patches, which include commentary packages to cartoon graphics. And then, if you score a great goal, you can send it in to the website and maybe win a reward for your efforts.
And this is all for about £10 ($19). This is a bargain game and incredibly addictive. Move over EA Sports, because you may dominate the market, but there's a new game in town which has a smaller fanbase, but the word is fast spreading.
If you're not sure, head over to www.newstarsoccer.com and play the first ten games. Make sure you do, because after that you'll be hooked. A great game indeed.