LOS ANGELES--NCSoft is breaking into the sports genre with the upcoming release of Soccer Fury, a free-to-download, free-to-play urban take on the beautiful sport that will be released in 2007. We got a look at the game's trailer at the NCSoft booth at E3 today, and it looks as though it's turning out to be a fast-paced footie title, with plenty of urban attitude for good measure. Oh, and did we mention you can elbow people in the face? Yeah, there's that, too.

The demo movie, generated completely with Soccer Fury's in-game engine, according to producers, started off with a cool-looking lady running through a variety of skillfull dribbles with a soccer ball. Before she can finish off her little demonstration, a group of similarly hip-looking folks arrive on the scene, looking to play a pickup game. First on the scene is the slick-looking Fish, who takes the ball from the lady. Before he can go anywhere, though, a third character named Farrell approaches Fish and goes Jet Li on him, serving Fish with a devastating spin-kick directly to the dome.

There in a nutshell is the difference between Soccer Fury and more traditional games of soccer such as Winning Eleven and FIFA Soccer, and even urban arcade soccer games like FIFA Street and its sequel. While those games focus on the skill and grace of moving the ball up and down the field and making well-placed kicks on goal, Soccer Fury will also let you use punishing attack moves to pummel your opponents, perhaps even before they have a chance to get to the ball.

On the pitch, Soccer Fury will be a fast-paced 3-on-3 multiplayer online soccer battle, with goalies controlled by the game's artificial intelligence. Players will be able to create a character from scratch and customize them with an array of hairstyles, tattoos, and clothing and accessories choices, to create a truly unique online presence. As you play the game, your character will progress and pick up new moves, and not just soccer moves--he or she will also be able to pick up new martial arts attacks. And it won't be just your player that improves over time; as your team of friends gains experience, you'll be able to earn new team tactics and moves, including the old "everyone gang up on one guy and beat the living stuffing out of him" move. Yeah, we like the sound of that one, too.

Visually, Soccer Fury's game engine is looking fine indeed, with intricately detailed characters and animations that really convey both the finesse of the soccer and the impact of every punch and kick. As you might expect from the game, urban style is the name of the game for the characters we saw in the demo; it looks like you'll be able to create exactly the kind of streetwise character you'd expect to see in such a game. Additionally, the game's soccer pitch (such as it was) featured a grey and gritty downtown cement lot, with impressive-looking textures that really added a sense of grime to the overall feel of the game.

Soccer Fury isn't due for release until next year, so there's obviously a lot to learn about the game including how it will control on the PC, and how the game's "free to play, pay for extras" price structure will work. Nonetheless, based on what we've seen so far, the game's arcade feel and exciting mix of finesse and fury looks to be adding up to a winning combination. We'll be bringing you more on Soccer Fury in the coming months.