Soccer Life II (PS2)

You might not have the ball skill, dazzling celebrity girlfriend or piles of cash in the bank, but you can still know what it feels like to be a world-class galáctico, without ever setting foot on the pitch.

Soccer Life II PS2 is a management game with a difference. Set in the turbulent and exciting world of European football, it allows players to experience the ups and downs of life as both a successful team manager and a superstar footballer all at once. Select an unsigned protégé or choose a real life football legend from over 5000 FIFPro and JFA licensed superstars, then embark on a mission to train him and manage his career until he becomes the stuff of sports legend on the pitch.

Gamers have total control over their players' careers, from selecting training regimes and the area and position he'll play in, to the type of treatments to administer after injuries. You can even bark commands during matches, red-faced from the dugout. Other new additions include fully 3D character models, vastly improved player customisation tools and the possibility to select specific rival teams and their individual players.

However, as readers of any celebrity gossip magazine will know, the actual football is only half of the story of any superstar player's life. Soccer Life II PS2 allows you to experience first-hand the celebrity lifestyle; the cars, the women and of course the endorsements, that turn players from mere sporting heroes into international mega-brand phenomena. You decide whether your hero dates a string of celebrity hotties, or settles down in that luxurious country manor house and raises a family. It's up to you whether he opens a themed restaurant chain, lends his face to a range of clothing or starts breeding race horses to help keep the cash flowing. Soccer Life II PS2 offers a winning mixture of serious management, strategy and player customisation, as well as its unique aspirational lifestyle simulation.