2006 FIFA World Cup Germany Review (Xbox 360) By Graeme Lunn

6 / 10
03 Jul 2006 at 20:32

Review by: Graeme Lunn

Another FIFA tournament almost over, another shameless cash-in by EA. Now England are out quicker than Posh with a credit card, this is bound to find it's way into souped up package deals and online & high street bargain bins everywhere. Why do I own it - most of my friends list have it and it seemed to be the only way I could play football online as everyone would have dumped FIFA RTWC like the hot brick of pants it was. The main issue is that we have no decent awe-inspiring football game on the 360, the only two being terrible or average conversions from second gen versions.

There are some good points here - well, it's football for a start, and perennial FIFA purchasers will always revel in a nice smashing of the Germans (or will that soon be Portugal whom are becoming our hated adversaries of recent times) whilst proving that England ARE really good. The LIVE play is OK, haven't noticed any glitching my end anyways whether playing good quality opponents domestically (yes Hamlet Clan that would be you) or from further afield (apologies here for no gamertags but it seems to only be the Yanks whom dont mind being beaten with a view to attempting to improve and playing with the "spirit of the game").

Attempting to soup up the one player longevity EA have gone right back to the heady days of International Superstar Soccer on the N64. This in a way is great, however, some of these challenges are insanely tough - incidentally if anyone reading this has worked out the Solomon Islands vs. Australia one, please let me know!!) i think the point here was to challenge all gamers at all levels and it certainly does that.

Issues with this game are some poor production values from EA (rushing to cash in by any chance??), with screenshots of replays or substitutions etc popping up when they shouldn't which do ruin the overall feeling of the game. The same-old same-old FIFA issues are here, poor 1994 shot animation, poor control when running at speed, poor control of players, poor shot control and some ways to score which are so simple a 3 year old could do it. I am of course comparing this to Pro Evo in which dedication to perfecting scoring as an art form leaves you with a real sense of achievement whether playing on or off line.

In summary, this is a so-so cash-in effort from EA but yet is still unfortunately the best football experience on the 360. Worth £50, most certainly not, pay £25 and you can be somewhat more forgiving of it's faults. It seems absolutely clear there are a couple of points. Pro Evo if all that it is rumoured to be should oblitterate this, and EA should really pull their socks up when thinking about their inevitable next FIFA installment. My main worry or query is; are two big-hitters in the field of console based football enough, or is it only a matter of time before the makers of Pro Evo, like those of FIFA , become complacent knowing that the brand name will sell millions of units anyway, even if they put Theo Walcott on the box with no intention of actually putting him in the game as ENGLAND27. Do we need ex-developers of age old classics like Sensible Soccer or Striker to come up with something new, or should we be more encouraging of recent daring (but disappointing) outings like REDCARD.

FIFA is the FAT CAT of footie titles, and as an arcade type game is ideal for a pick up & put down title however, expect a short lifespan with little desire to return to the game in later times. For die hards, football lovers, or just people whom feel like it only.

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