Actua Soccer 3 PS1 Review

Actua Soccer 3 would be the third entry in the iconic actua soccer series released for the PlayStation in 1998 and this game would be a vast improvement over the previous two titles in the series with more teams to play as with a list of over 25 Leagues with a total of 450 teams and over 10000 players featured. 

And you also had the ability to customize your squad, customize the system player's stats and attributes while utilizing various tactics to create better formations and different types of both attacking and defensive styles and would also use full motion capture from Iconic players such as Alan Shearer and a few other English players from the likes of Sheffield United and a couple of other teams that would create the whole look and feel of how the game played plus the game would also be commentated by the legendary Barry Davis and even Martin O'Neill. So it tried to create a more authentic experience that while still had arcade elements it gradually started the try and focus on more simulation style aesthetics. 

And this game would also be the final entry in the actua soccer series as by the time this game was released you started to see the likes of the FIFA series take off and even the International Superstar Soccer series to become a dominant force within the football genre itself and while the actua soccer games were great at the time, unfortunately they did pale in comparison compared to the growth and the dominance of those two popular series. 

As the games in the actua soccer series played very very differently to those gaming giants. 

The actua sports series itself would still go on to create a number of different games with actua tennis, even with actua ice hockey and a couple of other games under different names before eventually finishing up towards the latter end of the PlayStation's life cycle, say around 1999 early 2000s. 

But it had a good run during the early years of the PlayStation as it was one of the first sports series to truly become dominant on the platform and even just in gaming in general as Actua Soccer was considered to be the first full 3D game ever seen on a console that revolutionized the way we play sports today all though while it was quite clunky it still proved to be a very popular game selling a ton of different copies and even going as far as being added to the PlayStation Platinum Collection and then the sequel actua soccer 2 would also improve on many dynamic features of the original but again would still suffer from the same kind of clunkiness and poor quality AI that was a hindrance or considered a hindrance in the original game. 

So where does the third entry in the series stack up compared to the previous two?

 This game tries to go for a complete overhaul compared to the original two games and from a realistic standpoint it does have better graphics in terms of the character models it definitely is a lot more lifelike and the plays very differently although in saying that even though it has a lot of positive features it is still somewhat lacking in certain departments because the game is quite difficult to pick up and play. 

There's not really a beginner standpoint for this game as such if you're an absolute beginner coming in you will struggle to get a feel for how the game actually plays. 

Even though it does play very much like the original two games but by that point when this game was released the control systems and even the way it used certain features was starting to become quite outdated especially when you compare it to the likes of even the iconic FIFA 98 and then even Iss Pro 98 which in itself became completely dominant in the football genre for many years and it completely changed the way how soccer games are played. 

Now it's not to say that actua soccer 3 is a bad game it still is a good game in its own right, it's just the plays very very differently and it just wouldn't be as fluent or even as easy to pick up and play as the likes of the other two games as I mentioned as it still has a lot of issues and flaws that were prevalent that you would have noticed from the previous entries in the series. 

But it doesn't take away from the overall experience it still has a great atmosphere. 

The one thing the actua soccer series did get right was the atmosphere or the sound effects even the commentary like with Barry Davis and you had Martin O'Neill and it just it felt like a very authentic soccer experience. 

It's just the atmosphere around it was really well done and that was the thing that I always found with all of the three games that was the one thing that it really did well, just to play a factor of the game just wouldn't be as easy to pick up and play compared to the original games as such even actua soccer 2 I found to be wee bit easier to pick up and play. 

But it's still a good entry point and again these games while they may not be considered as the best games in the soccer genre they also did have to pave the way for many future entries from other types of Brands and soccer games that we now see and play today and I do believe that if these games didn't exist, the soccer games that we played today wouldn't be the same or they would feel very different. 

So it is a testament to these games of the foundations that they set for everything that was meant to come after it and it is worth while going back and playing these older games just for the nostalgic feel alone and I highly recommend that if you want to go back and play soccer games give the actua soccer series a try and see for yourself while it may not be for everybody you still will find some enjoyment out of it. 

As for me it was definitely a big part of my gaming background especially with the PlayStation over the years so that's why I would always consider them and even recommend them for that fact alone and I would love to know your thoughts on actua soccer 3 for the PS1 and what did you think of it back in the day. Is it your favourite entry in the actua soccer series and what do you think of these football games in general? 

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the games in this series so be sure to share it in the comments below and be sure to keep watching to see more content on other games similar to Actua Soccer 3, you can check out the blog where we will be diving into the iconic elements of these classic video games and as always keep those gaming memories alive...