Football is apparently a funny old game. Any team can beat any other on any given day, which is what makes a sport where 22 vastly overpaid men kick a bit of leather around a muddy field such an enthralling spectacle.
Tell that to a lower league football fan, mind, the night they’ve been relegated to League 2 and their chairman’s sold off the ground and chances are they’ll not quite see the humour.
It’s no great secret that for the last half dozen years, Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer series has been the best football game. EA’s FIFA titles might have consistently had all the real names and competitions, but the PES series has been more widely respected purely because it managed to play a decent game of football.
The gap between the two, however, has narrowed over the last few years. And with a new console generation to contend with, EA are no doubt hoping that they can steal the crown from a lazy Konami who are beginning to simply churn out a very slightly tweaked version of last year's release over and over and over.
They say:
IGN: "One can’t help but wonder just how good the whole package could have been if EA Sports had just held the game back until the online Be a Pro Mode was finished."
Pro G: "We have a lovely looking and functionally excellent game, but it's just not got that certain je ne sais quoi, that va-va-voom."
Gamespy: "Spot on control, great atmosphere, more features than ever and balanced gameplay should send this one to the back of any soccer fan's net."
We say:
The first thing you'll notice is the sheer beauty of FIFA '08 on PS3. Though zooming in close will show the odd glitch, setting the camera at a standard playable position will dazzle even on a bog standard TV.
Players jostle for position realistically, arms flailing as they try and shield the ball they just chested down after a dodgy forward pass. It looks like the kind of football you see on TV almost every night of the week.
Presentation wise, FIFA '08 packs in the standard high level of detail that EA are famed for. Big name commentators churn out the kind of dull phrases that they utter in every real world game. It's the kind of experience that draws you deeper and it’s only when the replays start that you’re sadly popped back out.
Unlike a real life game of football, the replays here still suffer from some ridiculously jerky visuals. Watching Christiano Ronaldo speedily jink his way through a back line should be a joy to behold. But here, it just looks like a big jerk-a-thon mess.
But it’s not all about good looks of course. If it was, why would EA have potato head Wayne Rooney as the game's mascot?
This year FIFA maintains its regular progress out on the field. EA's obviously been back to the training ground this season, as this year the challenge is something else. Unlike previous titles, which were famed for daft high scores, you’ll struggle for goals during your first half dozen games.
You can’t simply knock the ball forward, urge your speedy little striker to run onto the ball and coolly slot it past the keeper all nice and easy like. This time you’ll need to lovingly craft moves from the back, creating space, drawing out defenders leaving gaps to exploit and timing through balls to absolute perfection. Plus, the keepers are difficult buggers to beat, being more Shay Given, than the usual David James.
The "Be A Pro" mode, which allows you to play matches as a single set player is obscene amounts of fun, even playing as a dodgy left back. There's a slight miss though in the lack of career options for this particular mode. Imagine taking control of a lower league striker who has just turned 17 and taking them all the way to the very top over their entire career?
FIFA's online offering makes up for this hiccup with some solid gameplay and absolutely nothing in the way of lag. It beats the latest PES effort by a mile.
Minor niggles let FIFA '08 down. The dodgy slowdowns on action replays and the lack of a rematch option when you've just been thumped online mean that EA still has a little way to go. Still, if you have to choose between it and PES this year, we know where our money's going.
FORMAT REVIEWED
PS3
OTHER FORMATS
Xbox 360, PS2, PSP, PC, Wii, DS
POSTED...
Thu 25 Oct 2007 at 1:34am
