Articles
By Mr Shoosh
Published: Mar. 4, 2007 11:40 AM
With the greatest show on earth upon us, it’s inevitable that EA brings out its latest FIFA World Cup game. But what have they done differently this time?? In recent years, EA have left a bitter taste in many a gamer’s mouth with disappointing games made even more frustrating by flawed online gameplay. The FIFA series has always had the insurance of impenetrable licensing although football (soccer) purists will never lower themselves to taste that “arcade” flavour and continue to sing the praises of PES. With the recent success of the superb FN3 (bar the questionable online settings) EA have surprised many by producing a quality game and following a half decent FIFA ’06 and somewhat poor RTWC, FIFA WC ’06 would have to get the nod as the best FIFA game to date. Although unfortunately the live settings are still somewhat questionable.
First things first, FIFA WC will never have the depth of the standard FIFA and its abundance of leagues and nor should it. This is all about the excitement of the World Cup and EA have done enough by packing in 120+ teams (nations) and plenty of features to make this game worth considering. The presentation is solid, menus are easy to navigate and there’s a nice animated planet earth as a back drop. One of the things you don’t immediately notice (and for good reasons) are the game’s loading times.
Every gamer knows the real test is in the gameplay itself and EA have surprisingly injected a dose of realism into its latest FIFA. The pick up and play feel is still there, but it’s now more a case of pick up, practice and play. The opposition team’s AI is on the whole tighter, but your own controls are where the game has really stepped up a notch. EA seemed to have stripped back some super-human player characteristics that have incurred criticism in ancestors of this game. Simply pushing B in defence will no longer clear the ball to your centre, but rather hit it out for a corner or throw in as you would expect in reality. Slide tackles are riskier and the importance of timing is greater than ever.
EA made a risky move by bumping up the level of character inertia. The momentum you carry whilst running dictates how well you turn, tackle or shoot. Your player is slow in responding to a quick 180 when running with the ball, tackling is one thing, but running away with the ball afterwards requires balance. This might increase your own swearing at the TV (guilty) but it’s for the good of the game. Passing is solid, shooting involves a somewhat challenging targeted zone in your power bar and then there’s the through ball…. Finally EA have delivered an actual through ball for a FIFA game!! It actually kicks the ball into space and its implementation is spot on. The added realism makes for a more rewarding game. Possession is key, passing backwards is more common and tactics are nicely controlled by simple use of the d-pad.
EA have continued to experiment with the controls of spot kicks, but this too has been stripped back to basics. No guides, no arrows, just your basic power bar and a little intuition. Some may argue this is a page out of the Pro Evolution book, but I think it’s more a case of natural evolution.
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