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> Results: FIFA '07
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"This is the Season". That's the bold slogan EA Sports has attached to the latest annual release of their soccer franchise. Intended to evoke feelings of friendly team rivalry, passion for the game, and hope for your favorite team's success, I see another meaning ﾖ this is the year that brings the FIFA franchise closer to the critically-acclaimed gameplay of the Winning Eleven series than ever before.
Every year, EA hypes up some new feature they've added to the game, but they usually manage to break something else in the process. This year is different, as the physics and artificial intelligence systems ﾖ the fundamental building blocks of any sports title ﾖ have been reworked to provide much more realistic matches than the old arcade-style "pinball soccer" that FIFA was previously known for. For example, as the ball now behaves more like a real soccer ball that interacts with player bodies, the developers have been able to implement handball fouls, something that happens quite frequently in the real game but no other videogame has managed to pull it off. Other highlights include finer control over your first touch, and making use of the right analog control as a "trick stick" for fancy moves. Incidentally, it's now much harder to pull off a trick depending on the player's skill level, a change that again better reflects the real world. This does all amount to a steeper learning curve, especially for people who haven't looked at FIFA for a while. Online is a big deal this year. As well as playing basic matches over the internet, FIFA 07 features current scores from real games around the world, and downloads a new audio podcast every week with commentary and discussion of the weekend's games. Much of the discussion revolves around the new Interactive League mode, whereby fans of a particular team can hop online to play the same fixtures as the real squad. In general, I found online play to be a mixed bag ﾖ my first game was an awful laggy mess, my next was as smooth as playing offline. If you do choose to stay offline, there are plenty of other modes to hold your attention, from the quick exhibition game to the tournament (cups or full seasons), the long list of "EA Challenges", and an expanded management mode. The FIFA Lounge also returns, which is a neat mode that tracks all the games you play whenever your friends come over and keeps score for you over several sessions. Presentation is the usual EA Sports affair ﾖ lots and lots of licensed music from hip bands around the world, and a flashy user interface. It's this interface that knocks FIFA 07 down a few notches for me, however ﾖ it's oddly slow. At times it makes it feel like I'm operating the controller through molasses, and leaves me wishing for a more streamlined UI. It doesn't help that the game makes several trips to the memory card for length saves and loads between matches. The in-game graphics themselves suffer a similar fate; they look quite nice but at least on the PS2 there is some slowdown whenever there are a lot of players on-screen at once. Match audio fares better, with improved commentary accuracy and excellent crowd noises with team-specific chants. So, is it better than Winning Eleven yet? Not if you just look at the intangibles; the pace and flow are still better in Konami's game. But FIFA 07 provides the total package, with the licensed teams, the options, and the presentation, and for me at least that gives FIFA the edge. To switch sports terminology, the ball is now in Konami's court.  Other Platforms The GBA version is terrible and should not be bought under any circumstances. The career-focused DS version is pretty good but not much of an improvement over last year's release and lacks online play. On the PSP, you have a small-screen version of the home console title with a couple of extra training mini-games, but online play is said to be problematic. The PS2 and PSP versions can link up for some management mode interplay. The PS2, Gamecube (sans online play), and Xbox titles are all basically the same game and my review applies to all of them, while the Xbox 360 release boasts a supposedly redesigned game engine (bringing along some apparent gameplay differences) along with improved graphics (and a drastically reduced number of leagues represented). The PC version falls somewhere in-between, with the same graphics engine as the older consoles but more customization options, though it is missing a few features such as FIFA Lounge. 
As a real sports title, the standard content description applies ﾖ there is no objectionable content, and playing the videogame version can encourage an interest in getting outside and taking up the real sport. To keep that "E for Everyone" rating, all the music in the game is radio-friendly stuff.
In any game, things change when going online, as despite the best efforts of developers, jerks can still find a way through with obscene nicknames and trashtalk. FIFA 07 is the same, although it should be pointed out that you're far less likely to hear someone on the PS2, as the number of players with microphones is far fewer than on the Xbox. You're far more likely to run into bad sports who quit as soon as they're behind. It's also worth noting that the PS2 version requires a nominal credit card payment to play online, or you can go with a free, sponsored option that requires giving information to a soccer website. Comments? Chat about it in our forums! Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Browse Amazon.com's selection of "fifa soccer" themed games Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: FIFA '07 |
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