World Cup Soccer is Macmillan's latest release under their new 'Professional Touch' range. The package consists of two programs and book with an introduction from famous goalie Ray Clemence. The first of the two programs is a football manager type game using the World Cup as it setting. The first thing to do is pick the country you wish to represent. Playing the manager of the country of your choice, you can either select your own team or opt for the default team supplied by the computer. When choosing self-selection there's the chance to really go to town, as you are not limited to players from that country. The cast of players contains many famous names, stars from past and present including Moore, Pele and Ardiles. Each player has three ratings: Strength, Stamina and Speed, each being expressed as a percentage.

Having decided on your team, the program tells you what group you're in, plus who is the host country. You are then presented with several options. You can either view the ratings, position table and fixtures, or play the match. When you select to play the match, a scoreboard appears with a clock counting up to the 45-minute mark. During play, if someone scores, it is announced with a burst of white noise and a comment telling you who scored -- worth making a note of when it comes to reselection. Players may also get injured or booked. If a penalty is awarded you are asked which way you'd like to shoot/dive. Once you have decided, a computer-controlled graphic screen is represented. The referee blows his whistle and the penalty takes place.

The outcome of the first half depends on your team selection skills, while the second half is arcade based. When playing the second half, you are presented with two mini arcade games, 'Header' and 'Shoot'. In Header you control the head of one of your players. Footballs are volleyed over from the left, and you have to move the head left and right to knock one into the goal. The goalie will dive and do his best to save your shot. Next is Shoot, in which you control a football boot defending a large goalmouth at the bottom of the screen. At the top is a smaller goalmouth moving left and right. A football is thrown on from a random position and the aim is to defend your goalmouth while trying to score in the moving goal. Upon losing a football, another is thrown in from a random angle. Both games have a set number of footballs allowed.

After completing both arcade games, a rating is given on your performance. Depending on this you're either awarded extra goals, or the other side are. When you've completed the match, the program gives information on how well you're doing and then it's back to the first option screen. Drawing on experience from the first half, it's possible to restructure your team.

The second program in the package is a factfile containing information on World Cups since 1930. To get at the information you have a choice of teams or competitions. If you choose teams then a year must be chosen and the program offers data on that team's progress. Information on results, attendance figures and venues are given. If you have chosen competitions, a year needs to be input. You can then access the same data presented in the teams' section. As a bonus, a quiz section is provided. One or two player games are allowed and the questions are presented in multiple-choice format. The quiz draws from the large database of facts used by the factfile, so the number of possible questions is massive.

Htmlized by Dimitris Kiminas (21 Aug 2003)

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