FIFA Soccer 06 user review

EA are going in the right direction.

Review written by
Iris

Fifa, Pro Evolution. Every year they battle it out for console supremacy and every year Konami wins. We, as Gamecube owners have no choice. Unless you have an Xbox or Playstation you will have to rely on EA to bring the footballing world to you. So how does the latest game shape up - does it live up to the surprising hype it received?

Gameplay

Let's get on with the area you really want to know about, the gameplay. Believe me, it does deliver. It may not be at the level of Pro Evolution just yet, but it does pose a challenge for future generations. What EA have done here is totally renovate the gameplay aspects. That means reworking everything from the passing to the 50 yard shot. What you get is a fresher, more appealing game mechanic. If Fifa 05 was a step to the level of pro, than Fifa 06 is a leap.

Passing is crisp and joyful to watch, shots are no longer random but direction orientated and players actually feel like living organisms. There are lots of added gameplay animations added as well like skillful and cheeky passing from players who have that extra bit of ball control. And this leads on to one of the major things that put this game down.

Although the engine is refined and plays well, players of different qualities and standards feel the same. You can hardly feel the difference between Beckham and Earnshaw, except that in the game Beckham is marginally faster - and this is a flaw. In real life, Earnshaw is faster but the developers seem to overlook facts like this and just boost stats for famous players and don't really take into account actual realism - a major let down.

Another letdown is the opponent AI. Unless you play on world class, you will breeze through the game and will hardly find it a challenge. To test my theory, I won the premiership twice with West Ham on professional, scoring 53 goals on the way with just Harewood and Benayoun. Two (in my opinion) standard players, in what was supposed to be the "toughest league in the world".

Presentation

The one area in which EA consistently outranks Pro Evo is the presentation of the game, and this is clear from looking at screenshots alone. The graphics are slick. Players faces are realistic, there are tons of teams, including every single popular team and ones I never knew existed (who knew South Korea had a major football league). Couple this with great popular tracks from around the world and it's clear Konami have still to match EA on this front.

Long term appeal

As a Gamecube owner, you will have no other alternative if you want a football night with the lads, but this game is thoroughly enjoyable. There is also the best in-depth career mode available to any football game yet in this installment which should keep you preoccupied until a better installment arrives.