FIFA Soccer 06: Road to FIFA World Cup

FIFA 06 – Road to the FIFA World Cup as the title states, is in fact based on the qualifying stages of the World Cup and not on Premier League teams or clubs of that nature.

The game is still unfinished and has some way to go until its release in little over a month and yet by what has been seen from screenshots it still even at this stage looks visually mind blowing. Not forgetting that in essence this whole game has been made from scratch, it’s not a simple case of copying and pasting some of the coding from FIFA 06 on the Xbox; oh no, each player has been made from scratch and has been modelled to the Xbox 360's specifications.

And of course the one thing you will notice from every screenshot you see on this game is that every player is instantly recognizable. Using the 360s power every single minor detail has been enhanced to such a degree you will think you are controlling real people, from Beckhams tattoo to Edgar David’s glasses, nothing has been spared in the graphics department on this version of FIFA 06.

Also the animation looks very good. Tackles, overhead kicks, stadiums all look amazingly realistic, as well as the crowds of football supporters who not only look amazing but also sound fantastic and bring the atmosphere of a real game off football to your TV screen, on surround sound the noise they make is almost deafening. The replays are one of the best aspects of this game, with goals being viewed from loads of different angles and the slow motion really adding realism to the game.

But graphics aren’t the most important aspect in a football game. What every football gamer really wants to know is what will they act like on the pitch. Its no good if they look like the real deal and then play with the IQ of a goldfish; luckily it seems that FIFA has also been given a major facelift in the gameplay department, with players becoming more responsive, more manoeuvrable and generally a lot more realistic to use. Like previous games you can use the triggers to speed up or sprint and then use the right analog stick to do little tricks like step overs. Of course not much has been changed with the controller set up so FIFA fans will instantly recognize the set up.

The commentary is now voiced by two new vocal legends to the game, and like usual they always have clever things to say, as well as some comedy mixed in just like any other FIFA game. But unlike some of the Pro Evo games the commentating will no doubt be as accurate as it always is. This looks set to be a big risk for EA, but one which may just pay off, with fully licensed players and teams and graphics that any game aspires to, this really does look set to be the benchmark for all next generation football games.