With the football World Cup is almost upon us, companies are milking what they can out of the fans with constant advertisements of their products and services. Known internationally as soccer, many fans will be travelling to Germany to cheer on their team, whether it be England, France, Brazil or even the USA.
It wouldn’t be a World Cup however, without a new version of Fifa from EA. 2006 Fifa World Cup is released roughly 5 months after its predecessor FIFA 06: Road to Fifa World Cup and is approximately the 26,347 game in EA’s Fifa series. Stats aside, the Fifa series is the only football series available on the Xbox 360 at present, and includes all the official licences, and the chance to take your team through the qualifying rounds and play in the World Cup final.
If you’ve just won the World Cup, or are just looking for a new challenge, then you can always give the Global Challenge Mode a shot. The Global Challenge Mode places you in a scenario in which you need to succeed in order to earn achievements. Passing one of these stages also gives you points helping towards those unlockable extras.
So if you’re a fan of the Fifa series, or it’s just the fact that football fever has hit you harder than a free-kick to the nuts, then read on…
If you had the chance to play the previous incarnation of Fifa on the 360, then it must be said that this is much the same. As well as giving you the opportunity to lift the World Cup, you also have the opportunity to play through some of the fun aforementioned scenarios, where (for example) you attempt to lead your team to victory despite a goal deficit in limited time, as well as having bonus aims to achieve bonus points.
Over time the Fifa series has slowed down the pace of the gameplay in an attempt to give a more realistic football experience. Passing can at times be troublesome, with passes not going to whom you intended causing a real hindrance, and often seeing a great opportunity to attack or score fail. It isn’t just the slow motion pace or deceiving players that can cause a hindrance to the gameplay; it’s also the general flow of the game overall, which seems to be lacking that something which another certain football title has.
Fifa certainly has its fans (although many would argue this is mainly due to their exclusive licences) and is certainly a great game amongst friends, but for a long time now many suggest that the Fifa series has tried to emulate that of the Pro Evolution series, turning itself from more of an action, goal orientated title into a more simulation ‘realistic’ type experience. Well in some instances that is true, but from what we have played that same action, goal orientated gameplay is still there. Players still have the chance to win 5-0 for example, on regular occasions, although it’s slightly more difficult than previous versions it’s still not as difficult or hard to come by as the Pro Evolution series.
It’s still fun when you score a great goal however, giving a reminder of why you purchased the game in the first place, although in saying that, there isn’t an option to save replays in the game at all, which is quite a disappointment.
The game loads up and you are instantly greeted to some, ‘annoying’ music to which you will be grateful for going away once you finally get into a game. When you finally get into your first match, the sound is a great aspect of the game.
Firstly, the commentary is one of the best elements of the game, really adding to the atmosphere and intensity of the game, there certainly isn’t another football game that does it better. The commentators do their job of making you feel like your part of a football match, and that near miss, or last minute save really meant something. As well as the commentary, the effects of the crowd, player chants and overall atmosphere really adds to the experience of the game.
When a player scores, you can really hear the crowd chant, and is something that is vital in an experience such as this, especially in a football game, where it’s the fans that make the game what it is.When the players line up and sing their National anthem it’s clear to see that there is certainly some detail on the players. What the game does do well is in emulate player’s real-life abilities, with many of the players having their instantly recognisable styles of play, and it looks better than before. In saying this we agree that the graphics are nigh on identical to FIFA 06: Road to Fifa World Cup, however (thankfully) EA have cut down on the varnish of the players, and this time around they don’t shine as much like a plastic figurine.
