6 / 10
31 Jan 2007 at 12:20
Review by: Epiphany
I've played every FIFA (apart from the money making in between ones such as road to the world cup etc) since it was released on the SNES, and it seems like while this games made many leaps forward, its taken far too many backwards.
In EA's attempt to make it a realistic simulation, they've failed on the most basic of points.
They've removed half of the features that made FIFA fun. You can no longer pull off fancy tricks to dazzle your opponent. Not even the simple step over. How many football games have you ever seen when not one player has used skill moves to get past another? For example, as soon as Ronaldinho gets the ball, he flip-flops his way up the pitch and does nothing but skill moves. Not having any in the 360 version is inexcusable.
You have so little control over free kicks its a joke. I say bring back the days of the power bar and the position where you strike the ball.
I've lost count of the amount of times ive passed the ball to a player 5 metres away, yet the AI has decided that, in fact I want to pass to another player directly behind, thats about 30 metres away, resulting in either an interception, or the ball bouncing off of the player i originally tried to pass to.
Through balls are destroyed by the fact that the receiving player is stuck on a rail. Once he starts running, even if you select the player, there's nothing you can do. You can't stop him, or make him cut inside or move towards the ball, you just have to wait until the ball arrives at his feet. More often than not, some brilliant goal scoring opportunities are wasted because the forward stands there like a lemon waiting for the ball, and a defender strolls forward and steals it. They've fixed this problem on current-gen consoles, so why not implement the same solutions on the 360?
Far too many times i have crossed the ball perfectly, only for my forward to try to half volley the ball. Normally this would be fine, except when the balls head height and there's a defender next to him. The defender jumps and heads it away every time, leaving my forward swinging at thin air. There's no option to differentiate as header and volley are the same button.
EA have also removed the option of simply being able to play a tournament or trophy competition outside of a manager season. You can no longer play a league or FA cup with a group of friends. All you can do it play freindlies or play in the EA lounge. This takes away a huge piece of FIFA and is sorely missed.
Its not all bad though. The physics system is excellent, with players having a real sense of weight when they stop and change direction. You can now hussle and wrestle players off the ball. However, even this has its problems as it's possible to be sprinting forward with the ball only to literally be barged backwards off the ball by a defender with no foul given. Players also run into each other, both stumble back and freeze, staring at each other stupidly for a few seconds before being able to move again. It may not sound like a severe issue, but it happens far too often. This is more than likely a side effect of the physics system, but its yet another issue that shouldn't be there.
Graphically, the game is excellent. On a standard TV the graphics are sharp and smooth, but on HD it comes to life. Every edge is crisp and clear and the details are excellent. Using the revolutionary facial design system, the players that EA have bothered to put effort into look very close to their real life counterparts. But this is only true of the top players for the top teams. Luis Garcia of Liverpool looks like a vampire, and 90% of the other players look like aliens or distant relatives of Sloth from the Goonies who have recently taken a bath in baby oil. In an attempt to make the players look sweaty, they appear nothing more than waxy and shiney, with a cartoony edge.
My result?
C+
Its a shame really. It's clearly obvious that EA rushed this game out. What annoys me most is that i can see a great game in FIFA 07. There's just too many bugs and irritating issues that overshadow it. The foundations for a good game were there, but EA must try harder next time. Hopefully FIFA 08 will address most fo these issues...
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